How has your company been impacted by concerns over the coronavirus--or the virus itself if a worker or client has been stricken--in terms of business, your staff, client relationships?
We have been incredibly fortunate that everyone at tango Dallas & Austin have remained healthy – so far, the same holds true for clients and partners. Our hearts go out to those who are directly impacted. Our clients have great work in progress and deadlines to meet – we have adjusted our workflow and sometimes the creative in order to comply with national, state and local orders – and to keep everyone safe and sound. For example, what might have been a live-action approach could be switched to some incredible motion design – which can be executed by our design & VFX teams from home.
The well-being, health and safety of people is clearly top priority. What measures have you taken to protect your staff and collaborators during this challenging time?
Both Dallas and Austin are now under local “Shelter in Place” orders. Last Monday (3/23), we made the decision for our teams to work exclusively from home and go to the office only for specific needs. Luckily, our artists, producers and staff have been incredible – we are in constant contact with each other and thanks to very thorough prep and strategy from our head of technology – we have had a very seamless time working remotely. We do a morning check in and fun “roll call” and understand that there are less pants being worn – but otherwise everyone is in their normal roles tackling normal business – we want people safe and home.
How have you adapted your behavior, practices, policies, approaches, ways of thinking and doing business in response to the pandemic?
Flexibility and problem solving are part of our DNA but at no time have these two things been more important. We’re having to work in some creatively different ways to get things done – as I said – on production – there are challenges given the new shelter in place orders – but with every challenge is an opportunity for a creative solution. We are all in this together and everyone wants the same thing – to produce great work safely. I feel a real coming together in our industry – understanding necessary changes in how we work, dealing with postponements and cancellations, problem solving and working faster for clients who still need to create new spots or add quickly to an existing campaign. We’re navigating the new normal, adapting every day with safety for our team, our clients and their clients foremost in mind. It might be the only time in our history where work should come second – and we hope that changes soon - but we are so proud as always of each and every job we are working on!
Were you in the midst of a particular project when the coronavirus outbreak hit and how did you manage to deal with that situation?
Yes, we had several projects going on. Thankfully our team has worked remotely for years all over the globe, from Berlin to Brazil. So we are used to working quickly and were able to pivot to meet their needs. And as clients begin to add new work to be relevant to the crisis, our team is fully setup to respond from production through post.
What’s your biggest takeaway or lessons learned from your experience dealing with coronavirus concerns thus far?
That tango has the best team I could ever ask for. Despite all of the incredible pressure, ever-shifting day-to-day needs of our clients and restrictions for doing them, balancing work needs with kids out of school, family needs and staying healthy (and sane). Everyone on team tango has had incredible attitudes, positive outlooks and is dedicated to our clients. It has given me a whole other level of appreciation for what we can do – and that we are a team and a family no matter where we are physically in the world.
Contingency plans have been prepared by many in light of the situation. Please share any aspects of those plans or tell us how your short and long-term business plans have been affected.
Right now for tango – things are fairly normal, but I do think it’s too early to tell and fully answer that question. Clearly jobs in during March were for the most part already in motion at the beginning of the year. We are assessing each day as we see how this will carry into the next month with the recent announcements on the restrictions in place through end of April.
It’s said that strength emerges from adversity. Do you see any silver lining or positive dynamic emerging for our industry/marketplace from this global health crisis?
Not to sound too cliché but doesn’t every crisis give us an opportunity to focus on the things that truly matter – friendship, partnership, family and making the most of every moment?
Have you deployed your company’s creative and communication skills to address the pandemic (PSAs, educational videos, other initiatives)? Please tell us about these efforts.
Stay tuned for something coming from our team at the end of the month!