20 LONGISLANDPRESS.COM • JUNE 2020
AUSTIN WILLIAMS PRESIDENT EVA LAMERE MAD WOMAN
BY CLAUDE SOLNIK
As president of Austin Williams, an
advertising agency in Hauppauge with
nearly 50 employees, Eva LaMere has
been leading her company and helping
others through a huge economic
disruption. She talked with the Press
about marketing and branding during
a pandemic, and how it’s possible to
find opportunity in adversity.
How are brands adapting in this
environment? The brands that are
successful in adapting in this environment
are acknowledging that they
have a responsibility to help their constituents.
Whether it’s reassuring, allaying
fears, demonstrating that they
are going beyond what they would
typically be doing, they’re expressing
the heart of their brand, being true to
themselves in an authentic manner.
Can you give some examples? BNB,
a bank based on Long Island, is a
client of ours. They’re very much a
community business bank. When the
PPP Paycheck Protection Program
funding came out, there was a lot of
turmoil. BNB was right there. They’re
also our bank and they helped us get
funding. We worked with them to put
a TV spot together that was all about,
“We understand what’s happening
to business. Nobody knew this was
coming. But we’re here for you.” This
was not about, “Come to us, open a
checking account.” It was, “We’re the
bank for small business and we’re here
to help you.”
How do you even make a commercial
today? That was a challenge. We
produced five TV spots in the past two
months for our clients, about pivoting
the message. We did it using existing
footage from previously shooting commercials.
We created opportunities.
They were more somber. We used existing
stock footage. We did voiceovers
remotely. In the case of BNB, we used
Kevin O’Connor, BNB’s CEO, as the
voiceover. We felt it was important
that the message come directly from
him. He recorded it on his iPhone, sent
it in, and we enhanced it.
How are marketing agencies adapting
and helping clients? I think the
most important characteristic for a
marketing agency is to be a leader for
their client. Consumer sentiment is
changing by the hour. They want
to hear from brands. They want
authentic messaging. We have to
be able to pivot and lead them in
the direction it needs to be. We’ve
been able to be nimble in producing
materials.
What are some messages clients
want to get out? Orlin &
Cohen Orthopedic Group wanted
to communicate that they were
still open for urgent situations.
Orthopedic pain doesn’t stop in a
crisis. There were people
in pain who wanted to
figure out where
to go. We created
materials to get
that message out,
whether it be
digital or print.
It’s all about
working quickly
and being able to
pivot. Gone are
the days of, “Let’s
have this creative
brainstorm and
figure this out.”
It’s about being
proactive.
Are clients
cutting back?
We have not
seen that. We’ve
seen, perhaps, a
shift. As listenership
for traditional
radio declined, listenership
for streaming audio
like Pandora and Spotify
has increased. Outdoor
advertising isn’t as
high right now. So we
might shift dollars from
outdoor advertising to more TV. We
didn’t experience clients cutting back,
but they looked to us to help them shift
their dollars based on changing media
behavior of consumers.
Why advertise amid all this disruption?
Every study of advertising
during a recession demonstrates that
market share increased for companies
that do. There’s less noise out there
and better rates. Even though some
businesses have shut down, consumers
haven’t shut down. We may be
shopping online, not in a store. Brands
we have a connection to will survive
and thrive.
How are you and Austin Williams
modifying how you operate? We were
never big fans of work-from-home
policy in an agency environment.
We believe agencies are successful
when they can collaborate and
brainstorm. We have seen
we can be efficient and
creative and work in
a very productive
manner in a remote
situation. We use
Zoom for bigger
meetings, we use
Google hangouts
for smaller
meetings.
Of all that has
changed, what’s
an example of
something you
see continuing? I
think companies
across the board
are recognizing
the importance
of technology in
their business for
communication.
We didn’t use Zoom
before this. We didn’t have
many videoconferences. That’s
going to be more prevalent in
our business, investing in the
technology that allows us to
be efficient and allows us to
communicate.
CORNER OFFICE
Austin Williams President Eva LaMere is helping clients adapt
to the COVID-19 age.
/LONGISLANDPRESS.COM
