🌀 Don't treat a crisis like a campaign

Charla Schlueter sits in front of me, meticulously shuffling a deck of Magic: The Gathering cards. Each time the door beside us opens, she greets the newcomer with a smile and their first name. 

Schlueter’s the owner and operator of Gamers’ Haunt, a little game shop in Asheville, North Carolina. After Hurricane Helene hit in 2024, my son and I visited weekly in search of something the shop gives away for free: normalcy. 

But we’re not actually in Gamers’ Haunt. Not properly. We’re seated in the two-room kung fu studio that’s graciously allowed Schlueter to host a makeshift shop after a pine tree rudely inserted itself into her roof during the hurricane. 

Despite the change in venue, the studio is packed wall-to-wall with Schlueter’s regular customers. It’s game night and the turnout is high. They’re here for a bit of normalcy, too, but they’re also here to support Schlueter and her team. 

This is the kind of community your social media director would commit crimes to have. It’s fiercely loyal and consistently engaged.

And it’s anchored by Schlueter’s unflagging friendliness, which is belied by only two things: The way she absolutely annihilates my 9-year-old kid in Magic. And the shrewdness with which she leverages her business influence to help this community. 
 

Takeaways from a Typhoon

I recognize that building a community is a different exercise for a mom-and-pop shop, but if you zoom out, there are lessons here for brands of any size. 

I sincerely hope you never need these lessons, but you should consider them before a crisis hits. 

1. Take care of your community. 

When disaster strikes, it’s okay to worry about your own business. Put your own oxygen mask on first. But once you’re safe, your next thought should be your community. 

Following the storm, Schlueter and her team created free decks of Magic cards for people who lost theirs during the storm. 

And while that’s a kind thing to do on an individual level, it isn’t just about replacing material goods. Without their cards, community members can’t join in on the weekly games.

“If you lose your Magic deck, you lose your community. So I think there’s a lot more tied to it than just belongings.”

2. You don’t have to fix it all.

In the aftermath of a crisis, the scope of what needs to be addressed can feel overwhelming to those who want to help. 

Take a deep breath. You don’t have to fix everything. Find an area that you can address and focus on that. 

When our schools were shut down for several weeks, kids needed something to occupy their time. (Keep in mind, we also had no electricity during those weeks.)

Comic Envy, a local favorite comic shop, responded by offering a sale on children’s books and comics.

As the parent of a 9-year-old, I can tell you that the sale was deeply appreciated. 

3. Don’t treat it like a campaign.

Throughout October, a community care station with showers, laundry machines, and potable water was set up in the parking lot of a nearby grocery store. 

It was quietly paid for by Pratt & Whitney, an aerospace company with a manufacturing plant in Asheville. There were no signs announcing this. No banners stating that it was proudly sponsored. No brand awareness was being generated.

But word gets around. And locals remember these things. 

A version of this originally ran November 2024. You can read the whole story — and get two more lessons — on the Marketing Against the Grain blog.