 Hello everybody, welcome to ad week together. This is our daily live show at ad week where we are bringing together our staff members with our readers and with our viewers every day at one o'clock Eastern time here in the US. I see that we've got people tuning in from the Netherlands from India, from Portland, from Seoul, from Amsterdam. So thank you all for joining us today. I really appreciate it. Today we're going to be talking about a few interesting things. We have a staff member here today, Co-im, who is our department's editor. You also might know her as the voice, as the co-host of our podcast. Yeah, that's probably an ad which comes out weekly. And I think a new episode just dropped today. Co, thank you so much for being with us. Yeah, it's really nice to be with you and with the ad week community. I'm here in Seoul. Yes. So yeah, Co has such an interesting perspective, not just as an ad week editor, but also she made the decision recently to go to South Korea to be with family. She also is a certified yoga instructor and very kind of connected with the wellness phase. So we're going to be talking about a couple of things today. One is an inside view from South Korea, which I'm really curious to hear from you, Co, about how things are playing out there compared with your experience in New York. And then we're going to dive into how the coronavirus is affecting the wellness industry. And I think there's some good news, bad news there, right? So Co, for starters, can you just tell us a bit more? I know that it was a big decision for you to take the flight back to South Korea, just with some of the risks of traveling these days. What made you decide to go back? Yeah, I mean, unfortunately, I had to address a personal family matter. So it wasn't an easy decision to make, like you said. And I really weighed the risk of getting on a plane, going through multiple airports. But I also knew that I was coming home to family and that South Korea is in a relatively good state in terms of flattening its curve. So I was very vigilant about traveling, had my mask on, had Lysol air sprays, and wiping everything down. And when I left New York, we were just really starting to do the social distancing, maybe doing one day on, one day off of going into work. But it feels like it was a little too late, as we probably all can feel and read about. And here, strangely enough, restaurants are still open. People still go to the store without feeling any hysteria. They go to the pharmacy and wait in line when it's their turn, depending on their birth year. And you can see in this photo that they're not necessarily socially distancing, but they're all wearing masks. And that's kind of been part of the culture in Korea, this idea of cleanliness and community and really thinking about what is my place in the world. So people are being very responsible. You're not going to see people hosting parties. We have sanitizers in private office buildings and also sanitizers in public streets. So there's no shortage of materials that people need. There's no hysteria. There's no price mark. I was able to order a couple of extra that you see over my right shoulder on Korea's version of Amazon coupon. And it came within days. So you don't see people hoarding and stocking up the way that they are in the US? No. In the storefronts, you see packs and packs of toilet paper, but nobody's really taking them because they're just kind of going about their day normally. It's a weird sense of normalcy here. It's not really a new normal. It's just an adjusted normal. And I go to the store with my grandma and there's plenty of food, fresh food. We're not having to kind of eat out of cans, but there is a lot of delivery. So there is, I don't see a lot of people on the buses and in the streets as much, but people are out and about. And where, can you give our viewers a sense of where South Korea is on the coronavirus curve in relation to the US? Because this is my understanding that it was one of the first countries that really was hit hard with this. Yes, one of the countries that was hit hard, but also responded very quickly. So what a lot of experts point to was South Korea is very kind of rigid testing and giving information very directly. So maybe they saw more cases early on, but it was also because they were testing an enormous amount of people, even if you were kind of asymptomatic. When I traveled here, before I left the airport, I had to go through a whole system of downloading a government issued app in which I have to self-diagnose and report any symptoms every day. So this calls to, and I recommend it to take a test. And I wanna just throw this out for our viewers who are watching on LinkedIn Live as well as Facebook. If you have any questions for Co, please feel free to drop them in the comments and I'll try to pick one out to ask her. So Co, I wanna ask you a little bit about that. You just this past week took a coronavirus test, right? You went through, I think a walk up or drive through clinic. And can you tell me what that process was like? It was very easy. My doctor friends back home in New York said that it would be a lot easier for me to get access here and they were right. I was called and recommended to take a test, but also people who come to Korea after the 25th are kind of required to take the test. Either way, I went to the neighborhood clinic here. The neighborhood I'm in is like the Jersey city of Seoul's like Manhattan. So I went to the neighborhood clinic. I was told that it would take an hour. It took 20 minutes for me to get swapped in the nose and the mouth. All I had to do was show my passport, give them all my essential information. And then they said results up to two days, but I actually got a text message on a Sunday about 12 hours later. This is the text message that I got saying that I am negative, but to continue to wash my hands, cover my cough and also wear a mask. And I imagine that was a relief again after traveling to get that news. Yes. I mean, even just taking the test felt good because a lot of people are in limbo in the US. I was like, do I have it? Do I not? Am I asymptomatic in carrying it and potentially giving it to my grandmother or my sick dad? So it was a huge relief for me to get negative results. The only time where you're like, oh, I feel good being negative. Yeah, exactly. I know it's interesting here in the US we have a coworker who was able to drive up and take a test for them and their family. And this person lives in the South and it was very easy, kind of like what you described. But then I have family in LA and then also here in New York who may have really strong symptoms but can't get a test because there's a shortage. So it's interesting how the testing is so different depending on where you are, but congrats on getting that result. I hear that it's a lot of peace of mind when you're able to actually take the test and know one way or the other, right? Yeah, it's interesting. And it's a lot more, a peace of mind. Exactly. A peace of mind. And you mentioned this too, that once you landed in South Korea you were asked to download an app and you've been logging your symptoms every day. Is that the case for everybody or just for people coming from New York? I believe it's the case for everybody. My brother came in from Guam as well and you get a little kind of paper certificate that says you've been successfully quarantined at the airport. They check your temperature at the airport. If I come back to the US, I'm only given the option of a possible screening and I wish that there were more measures in place already so that we don't have to keep backtracking. And did businesses ever close there or have they stayed open the whole time? So restaurants never fully closed. Shops are still open, mallers to open. Again, not a lot of people go out. This is a Starbucks that young people go to and they sit relatively distant from each other unless they know each other. Schools are closed. So my cousin is finishing her college degree online and they probably will extend that school is being closed. My uncle works at the airport. His hours are being reduced but I think at least there's some movement happening here and you don't hear about drastic massive changes. Yeah, I wanna pivot and talk a bit about the wellness industry. So I know you've, as I mentioned, you're a yoga instructor. You've also done some really fantastic live meditations for our readers in recent days and weeks. I know you ended today's podcast with a meditation. What can you tell me about how the wellness industry is faring and adapting at this time? Yeah, so I'm a very community-oriented person so it kind of saddens me that we can't be together in person. However, technology is offering an alternative. So just in the way that a lot of conferences or meetings are now held over Zoom, a lot of yoga teachers and meditation teachers are turning to video conference platforms. We're seeing that a lot of people are downloading and using meditation apps to try to gain some sense of regularity and have some space. So the story that Diana Pearl wrote, she also mentioned that Headspace, for example, is letting in healthcare workers have access to their app for free. There are other platforms like PopSugar are breaking news reported. Kitty Lundstrom wrote about how they fast-tracked their new fitness app called Active by PopSugar so that people could have classes that they would normally go to the gym for. So a lot of people are able to turn to these resources even within the agency world, the agency culture is changing and Havas New York, Eric Oster just wrote a story about how they're going to be through an app on the mobile phone, not only going to providing a meditation, but also Kundalini yoga on Instagram Live every day, which I think is a tremendous resource, especially when it comes from the company overview and knowing that, okay, we're in this for the long run and we also need this right now. Yeah. It is interesting to see. And tomorrow we're actually gonna talk about this a bit more just agency culture and agency life right now in the time of Corona. And it is interesting to see corporations turn their attention to these sort of wellness apps and resources. I was just talking to our CEO at Adweek this morning whose wife is a corporate wellness instructor and they were worried that her business would suffer with so many people going remote, but the opposite has been the case. It's grown threefold because businesses are really recognizing the need for employees sort of mental, emotional, physical well-being in order to keep doing their jobs well. I think it's interesting you mentioned Headspace and the story that Diana Pearl wrote because some interesting things came out of that. One is that Headspace let us know that they have a meditation called stressed and that that was downloaded 13 times more than the previous 30 days. And so you can just watching some of this data you can kind of get a sense of the public mood. Also, I think they were really smart in pivoting their content. They created a new series called Weathering the Storm that's purely to help people get through Coronavirus and they're looking into creating resources for kids and sort of explaining to kids what's going on and helping them not feel so anxious about it. So it's, I think it's neat to see how quickly people have been able to create content to fill that need. Another thing that came up too is just the tone that we're seeing in communications from the wellness industry. There's an app called Breathe with three E's that we talked to their marketing director who said that they're really trying to keep an optimistic tone. I'm wondering what you're seeing there. You probably get a lot of emails from different studios. How do you feel it's being handled? What's the best approach on the marketing front in terms of how you talk to your customers right now? You mentioned how a lot of companies are providing for their communities including our own, we're trying to figure out what to do. And I think once that voice comes from a place of and I wanna switch this because authenticity is used so much but right now I think the tone of generosity is key. And when grief is optimistic, that's great. I think just in the same way that I think it's wonderful that all kinds of yoga are offered and I have my preferred, I have my knowledge. It's the same thing with tone. Some people might want a more realistic tone. So one of my teachers on Instagram Live really talks honestly about how this is a trauma. This is a collective trauma, individual trauma. It's okay if you're hurting. It's okay if you don't feel great. Other people might need a little cheerleader for their day. So without I think pivoting too far and seeming like you're trying to fish for too much and having the view that we're as a PSA I think is more of what we're seeing right now and what's working deep. Do you think, is there, how effective can wellness classes be when it's delivered purely digitally? Is there something lost in not having the physical space? So when you're practicing together, there's the human element of oxytocin and touch and adjustments if they're welcome but there is still this feeling of community that you can tap into. And once your brainwaves get to a lower level and once your parasympathetic nervous system is still calmed with somebody's voice or music or whatever movement it is, it can still be effective. Of course, I miss being around people. I'm sure a lot of us do, but there are still ways to feel like we're together, especially I think in live classes, you still feel like you're not catching them at a later date or you're really with them in a virtual room. Yeah, and I've noticed a lot of stories have come out across the country and I'm sure globally in the last couple of days about gyms and fitness studios and yoga studios just streaming their classes for free and actually opening up these classes that might have been quite pricey and just putting them out there. I wonder if you think that there is a long-term opportunity here if it might be introducing people to this space who will stay connected even after the pandemic passes. Right, so as long as they're still paying their instructors, I'm on board with this. You give people access to say the Peloton app for 90 days. You're going to have a connection with all the teachers. Already your brand awareness is up. Now, when you do that conversion is going to be interesting, right? So are you trying to pump it up at the beginning and seeming insensitive? But I think for most of the brands, they're really the fitness brands, they're really seeing this as a win-win opportunity, really being able to showcase what wellness can do for you but also being able to reach a wider base and hopefully a larger customer base for them in the long run. Yeah, and I have an interesting question from one of our viewers on LinkedIn. It's Isabelle Bernier. Apologies if I butchered that name. But she says, how about massage therapists, osteopaths, physical therapists, those who touch as such an important part of what they do? I wonder if you've seen anything there if they have any recourse. I haven't been able to speak to many massage therapists but I will say Reiki healers. You can still do that virtually or over technology. So Reiki is this kind of energetic healing. So I think unfortunately for those massages, facials, the physical self-care of haircuts and manicures pedicures are going to kind of be on pause for a while, but this is also an opportunity for us to get really in touch with ourselves and maybe do self-massage or try putting on a manicure or letting your hair go and letting your hair down for a while. That's kind of what I have to say. Yeah, absolutely. And just a couple of comments I'll share. Jason Hakes said generosity is so needed right now, really great advice. And then Sean Sean Lee said that acknowledging all the feelings and thoughts we have is the first step into accepting what's so. And I think that's a big thing too, that dovetails with business is the long, if you're leading a business, the longer you're in denial, the longer you're waiting to actually adapt and move forward. So I think it's so important personally and professionally to kind of get in touch with those feelings so you can accept what is and then be really smart about how to move forward. So Co to end, I would really love, we always share a bit of advice at the end of this show and I'd really love to, I'd love for you to share a piece of wellness advice, maybe something that has helped you sort of stay well and centered during all this or a resource that our viewers could use. Yeah, thank you again to all our viewers who are tuning in and I really do hope you're well. Going back to the idea of accepting what's happening, whatever is happening, one thing that's helped me is a mantra or a phrase that's helped grounding and anchoring me and right now my mantra is okay. I talk with my therapist via Zoom and I came up with this mantra over our session and it's radical acceptance like okay, this is happening, now what? This is happening, so what? This is happening, okay. So I love that for myself right now, if there's something that appeals to you, stick with it and if it stops working, then you can switch. There's no right or wrong way right now. You're doing what you can with the resources that you have and my resource for myself right now is my movement practice, my Instagram live and then this mantra of okay. I love that, Co. And I'll share what's been working for me. One is I'll say that with, I'm a calm app subscriber, I've subscribed to them for years, but actually this week I made the decision to subscribe to Headspace as well, another meditation app that we mentioned just because I figured with all the money I'm saving on cooking at home and not getting my lunches at work every day, I can afford to spend a little more on wellness and also an app that's been an unexpected tool for me has been WhatsApp and a few friends of mine in the neighborhood started a WhatsApp group called Brooklyn Moms in Quarantine and it's just a place for us to share resources for working while keeping our kids engaged and just a chance to check in with each other. And so I think finding different ways to stay in community all day long is really important. It's definitely helped me. So anyway, so speaking of community, thank you all for joining Co and I today. We really appreciate it. Co, I appreciate you. When you held up your phone, I could see the time was 211 a.m. So, so I really appreciate you staying up late. I want you to go to bed right now, get some sleep and we'll look forward to seeing you back in New York really soon. We filmed a lot of great episodes last week that I think are still really timely. So you can find other episodes at adweek.com slash together. We have episodes devoted to retail, to the streaming industry, to the publishing industry. So check those out and then tomorrow join us again at one o'clock Eastern time here in the U.S. 2 a.m. in South Korea and we're gonna have our agencies editor, Doug Zanger joining us from Portland. He's gonna be speaking with Maria Skelefi. She is the head of learning and development at mother at that agency. And so they're gonna be talking all about agency culture and the jobs outlook right now. So don't miss that one. Thanks again for being with us and I hope that you all have a great day. Bye.