Do you remember where you were when you heard that Queen Elizabeth II had passed away?

How about the invasion of Ukraine, the date we went into lockdown, the death of Princess Diana  or 9/11?

As a business owner, it can be difficult to know how to respond to such events and different businesses have taken different approaches.

Looking at how businesses are currently dealing with the current situation, you have some businesses who haven't acknowledged the death of the Queen at all.

There are businesses who've put a post up on social media with a simple 'RIP' Statement with their thoughts on the Queen.

On the day of her death, the BBC had a designated landing page with the announcement on when you arrived to their website.

Similarly, I've seen black banners on websites and tv channels.

The ones that have stood out to me the most are the stories. The anecdotes of people who've met the Queen, their reminisces of having met her and in particular sentimental or funny stories.

In the case of the Queen's death, illustrations of Paddington bear with the Queen (a nod to her tv appearance with him for the platinum jubilee) have also been very effective and having not met the Queen this was the route I chose.

As for which is the right approach? It depends on your business, your audience and the occasion but I do think some acknowledgement is essential.

Unfortunately, we live in a world of trolls who will use your post as an opportunity to tout their own agenda (in this case the anti monarchists) so if you are posting on social media and have a particularly large following it may be worth switching off the comments.

I would also suggest doing so in a way that is tasteful. Vodafone have received some criticism that they deliberately chose an image of the Queen that fitted with their branding (she is wearing their branding colours). It's possible this was accidental but its a lesson in not using the occasion for self promotion.

Your post should be a tasteful and heartfelt acknowledgement which shares in the current feeling which your clients can relate too.

The above assumes that it is the death of a public figure, but in a world where countries still think it's acceptable to invade and terrorism is still prevalent, not all of these suggestions will be appropriate.

In such cases, try to hold off on anger and revenge and remember that kindness is your strongest weapon and empathy your greatest strength and you won't go far wrong.