What's next? Brand and marketing post-pandemic
First… MASSIVE thanks to everyone for their insight and positive feedback on our first article in this two-part series, “Brand and marketing in the time of Coronavirus” (you can read it here if you missed it).
This is the second part of our feature insight during this extraordinary time. This time we’re reviewing predictions from various industry leaders and specialists for what brands, marketers and business owners can expect to face post-pandemic. Thank you to all those who have contributed their time and insight. It’s awesome to have similar minded friends, founders and business owners within our network.
Special thanks to:
Elizabeth Lichten, Founder, Pink Mingo
Farshad Kazemian, Founder, The Ethical Butcher
Harvey Hodd, CEO and Co-Founder at Blueprint
James Newell, Founder, Clear Sales Message
Matt Klein, Cultural Researcher & Strategist, kleinkleinklein.com
Luke Lang, Co-Founder, Crowdcube
“Consumers are going to need support from the brands they love, and people will be turning to their most trusted brands to lead the way and deliver content that shows true consideration for the consumer.”
The storm will pass… but the world will be a different place.
People will feel differently and act differently. But what will that mean for brands and the way they market their products and services? What will actually change and what will stay the same? And how can brands make sure they thrive in a post-pandemic world?
There’s no doubt that different industries will see different effects as we progress out of the COVID-19 era but there have been some fundamental changes that will affect all brands, no matter their size, audience or current offering. From online conferences and virtual networking to shopping for essentials and a new-found appreciation for efficiency — brands have quickly found new ways of doing things and consumers’ expectations have, unsurprisingly, risen at the same rate.
Consumer behaviour is constantly evolving, but there are certain behaviours that Coronavirus appears to have expedited. Some are obvious, others less so, but what’s interesting is to see how brands are already starting to plan for the new normal.
Now more than ever, empathy and prioritising customer experience will help brands stand out and build a loyal customer base. We expect this to continue way beyond the pandemic era. Brands who are doing their absolute best to provide a good service during these trying times are already seeing forgiveness from new customers and appreciation for their efforts. Brands who can continue such high levels of service, engagement and transparency will ultimately win.
Changes to brand and marketing — post-pandemic
Depending on your industry, some of these changes will affect you more than others, but as we know, it’s wise to be aware of how your community, your clients and your suppliers may be affected too. Even if your industry isn’t directly affected now, it probably will be at some point and there will be changes you’ll need to consider to keep pace with competitors.
As always, the best thing is to be aware of what’s going on around you. Think-long term and take action.
One of the biggest developments we see coming out of this situation is the importance of brand experience. In 2019, a report from Salesforce, found that 84% of consumers said the experience a brand creates is just as important as the physical product or service it sells.
With the shift to new ways of communicating, many brands have gone out of their way to enhance the customer experience and keep the trust and loyalty of their community. Now that consumers know what’s possible, they won’t want to settle for any less.
In addition to a rise in expectations, consumers will see clearly how much time they were previously wasting and how valuable their time is. Brands who can help them remain efficient and give them their valuable time back will be the ones that win.
Here are the other changes we expect to see…
Local sourcing to be more important
With reduced manufacturing and transportation possibilities, we’re all learning to shop a little closer to home. Locally produced products have almost become a necessity for retailers and consumers who are concerned about products originating from countries where Coronavirus has spread.
In 2018, a European Shopper Insights Survey by IRI found that 55% of UK consumers prefer to buy local brands. This is a trend that was already noticeable and is likely to continue post-pandemic. Hopefully — it’s definitely about time — this will also mean we see a reduction in some of the pointless and ill-considered marketing collateral such as branded pens and stress balls seen in abundance at trade shows and events. Think different. Perhaps, instead of another another branded pen or tote bag no one needs, perhaps consider donations or partnerships with a worthwhile cause that aligns with your values?
Personalised (but not with technology)
Technology has come a long way with helping brands automate certain processes. This is great, but just because you can automate a process doesn’t mean you should. Often the biggest problems arise when the wrong processes are automated. Definitely automate your order confirmation emails and security updates, but don’t automate your customer service calls unless you can do it really, really well. If you try to automate when you shouldn’t you won’t just lose a customer’s lifetime value, you’ll lose that customer’s recommendations too. Is that really a risk worth taking?
In 2018, Retail Dive found that 70% of consumers still prefer human interaction versus bots. However, they also stated that the use of technology can make customer service more efficient and enable a company to deal with demand faster which, of course, helps improve customer service to a degree. We see both being extremely important in the future as customers put even greater value on their time and expect far more from customer service experiences.
For brands, it’s going to be about finding balance between personalisation and automation. Whilst we’re on the subject, ‘personalisation’ means personal to you as an individual — not you as a part of the demographic group of 18—35 year olds, or vegetarian males. Stop sending emails that are supposed to sound ‘personalised’ but actually alienate a large group of people because you’ve tried to go too broad with your targeting. We envisage more brands starting to recognise that demographics such as age, gender and location are simply not enough to base engaging messages on anymore.
“It’s in a brand’s best interest to see their audience less as a user and more as a human... Shifting perspective, language and treatment will increase empathy and consequentially effectiveness when sharing messaging and creating stories around a business’ offering.”
“We’ve all had a rude awakening to how strong or vulnerable our businesses are. If you can develop an online / distance version of your offering then you are wise to do so.”
Increase in online purchasing
A shift that surprises no one, but that has been rapidly expedited by Coronavirus, is the fall of high-street retail and the rise of online shopping. People have recently been forced to shop online and realised how easy it is. When it comes to certain things — and many brands have thrown all they have into making the online experience flawless — it’s unlikely that the trend will reverse given its convenience.
That said, we don't see retail dying; far from it, in fact. Humans crave human interaction. The majority of us don’t want to sit at home and buy everything we possibly can online but our reasons for going out will change. We expect to see an increase in retail complexes like Coal Drop Yard in London where the experience is pleasant and stores are beautifully styled concept stores instead of ‘cram in everything you can’ stores. We also expect to see a growing number of hospitality establishments popping up as people prioritise experiences with friends and family over material objects.
When it comes to marketing, not only is a good online presence going to be a necessity, people are more likely to judge you based on online brand perception. In this world, search visibility will become paramount as businesses seek to cleverly optimise for Google search results. Weak content will become more obvious and quickly turn customers in the direction of competitors doing a better job.
Online experiences will determine success. E-commerce was already 15% of total retail and was expected to reach 30% by 2025. That will probably come a lot sooner and brands must be prepared to optimise the entire online experience for their customers. From first brand engagement to returning items, the system must be as smooth, hassle free and as beautiful and human as possible.
Lastly, whilst budgets are low there has been a decrease in ad costs across many social platforms. But as we enter into the post-pandemic world and spend starts to increase it’s likely that we’ll see even more brands competing for ad space. Knowing how to use social media effectively and putting a proper social media strategy in place to avoid overspending will be key.
Anyone considering spending their marketing budget on Facebook/Instagram ads at the moment would do well to read this article: Why you should be buying Facebook ads now.
D2C at the forefront
Direct to consumer (D2C) brands are nothing new. We’re pretty sure it’s the way things were going, the current situation is merely speeding things up. It’s easier now than it ever has been for brands to sell directly to their customers and avoid the cost of third party retailers. We predict growth in the D2C arena post-pandemic as brands will have spent time figuring out different, smarter ways of reaching their customers when they had no other choice. As people shift a lot of their spending to online, D2C brands are getting a significant boost and the chance to build brand loyalty for the future.
As an example, we’ve realised how easy it is to buy toilet paper online from brands like Who Gives A Crap (great idea right?), why would we go back to lugging it around the shop post-pandemic? That said, as more D2C brands appear and competition increases, brands will need to be aware of how discount and promotion strategies work and how to attract their ideal customers online.
Digital connection
Will this be the end of in-person networking/events, the death of the humble physical business card and thereby indirect decrease in the opportunistic referrals many businesses rely on to keep their pipeline filled? We don’t think so, but it has opened up the possibility for far more events to be moved online. Smart businesses are already scrambling to find the best way to stay in touch with their customers online and stand out in what is already a crowded space. Brands that find new ways to communicate and stand out short-term are also likely to be the ones who fare better long-term. B2B brands may notice the difference more as they shift from in-person to online conferences and many find them to be more efficient and more accessible to their audiences.
Purpose, care and transparency
With the growth of organisations like B Corp it’s obvious that having purpose is becoming key to brand success. This study found that 63% of consumers prefer to purchase from purpose-driven brands and 74% said that they want more transparency in how companies highlight issues like sourcing products, ensuring safe working conditions and enforcing policies on animal testing.
“Making a positive impact while doing business will become more and more adopted and we will see more mindful and caring brands. I hope once this is over the world will become a better place for all of us — to live, to work, to play and to care more about each other and about our planet.”
We expect to see a significant rise of brands who genuinely care and who build positive impact into their business models. An economic model, designed specifically for brands like this, already exists — The Doughnut Model. The Doughnut, or Doughnut economics, is a visual framework for sustainable development. Here’s a great one-minute introduction to the Doughnut, by the brilliant animator Jonny Lawrence.
We asked good friend and Marketing and Communication Consultant, Elizabeth Lichten, for her thoughts on the future of brands and their responsibilities post-pandemic, here’s what she said:
“Just like in the world wars and other major conflicts, technology and science will take massive leaps forward by rapidly scaling to triumph over the enemy. The big tech companies that dominate now, will continue to dominate after this crisis. But now is their chance to be the heroes, rather than the privacy pinching villains some have played in recent years. Many are already developing apps to help us navigate the current situation. Apple, Facebook and Google donating face masks to health workers and Amazon is promising to distribute at-home coronavirus tests. This will have a trickle down effect in terms of what we expect of businesses, especially big businesses, going forward. To succeed in a post Covid world, brands need to be radically transparent, purposeful, demonstrably community-minded, fair to their employees and above all human.”
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Adaptability
Without doubt, there will be an increased awareness of what is possible within the blink of an eye. Everyone now knows, ‘change’ can come from anywhere at any time and dramatically impact business, any business. Being adaptable is key to surviving difficult times when they come. The more adaptable and resourceful you can encourage your teams to be, the better your chance surviving crises.
“One question: “What do I want to be known for?” This is a critical question to ensure perceived differentiation and value within the marketplace... The way in which your brand was showing up now takes on new meaning... brand building it iterative, one must adapt to survive. ”
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Real over polished
We’ve come to realise just how much is possible with the resources we already have. And as a result we’ve seen that quickly-put-together, but real and emotional, stories often travel further than perfectly polished brand videos that spent months in production. Given that trust in advertising has never been so important, brands who are able to show their human side and connect with their communities on a more human level will win. Undoubtedly. This also gives small brands a chance to get creative and compete with the bigger brands.
“For many of us, the pandemic has made us appreciate our similarities and has drawn us together — I think this will be reflected in how we reach out to clients and how we ‘behave’ going forward.”
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Don’t sell without earning the right to do so
You are allowed to sell. Most businesses wouldn’t survive if they didn’t. But you have to earn the right to do so. As a consumer, if all you ever see from a brand are sales messages you’ll probably start to tune them out and inevitably award your attention to a brand that doesn’t bombard you with the same old…
There are brands we follow (and buy from) because we love the content they put out into the world, we share their values and we appreciate the way they tell us about their products without going into full on sales mode every time. Because they do this so well — when they do promote a new collection, we’re not frustrated. In fact, we are more likely to click through and potentially buy.
If all you do is sell, it probably won't work but similarly, if people don't know what you want them to do, content marketing won’t work either.
Find balance.
Earn your right to sell, then sell.
“I believe that there will be a far far deeper focus on storytelling/actual relationships - all as a form of retention. There will not be a focus on growth at all costs - every brand will relay far more on their core customer base, and to keep them engaged and profitable, it will require real relationships vs just an email with a sale CTA.”
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Timelines and budgets
You might have seen the Giffgaff ad that was turned round in less than a week, or the stories around Cadbury’s Easter campaign adjustments. There will undoubtedly be many marketing teams out there, big and small, who have had to scrap their campaign ideas and come up with something new, fast.
The fact that so many have been able to turn their campaigns around, despite a remote workforce, begs the question: do we generally spend too much time planning and trying to make the most of absolutely everything we have instead of focusing on the best way to get the message across? Are there too many months spent ‘perfecting’ a campaign when we should have let the initial idea speak for itself? The same applies to budgets, over the past few months, marketing budgets have been cut dramatically yet brands have still found innovative ways to tell their stories and keep in touch with the customers. Inevitably, this leads into a reassessment of marketing channels… and potentially the relevancy of large agencies charging similarly large fees.
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Marketing channels
For a considerable amount of time people are going to be understandably cautious with their spending. And as the shift away from blatant selling continues we’re likely to see more brands turning to storytelling and providing additional value other than their products/services. Strong words, a defined online presence and action-backed values will become key.
A lot of brands have quickly adapted to using social media as their main point of contact with their consumer and we don’t see that trend going anywhere. Brands who haven’t put as much time and effort into social media before will start to see the benefits of having a constant connection with their audiences.
“Social media usage has rocketed with more people on their phones, looking for engaging content to keep them busy. Consumer-led brands will need to harness the power of social media to engage with their audience. Consumers are going to need support from the brands they love, and people will be turning to their most trusted brands to lead the way and deliver content that shows true consideration for the consumer.”
Now and in the future we expect to see a rise of email communication. But, it’s got to be good. It might sound simple, not particularly exciting, but the power of email should not be underestimated. Well-crafted newsletters can build community, brand and fuel business growth. Here not only the content, words need to be well considered but the design will need to be easy on the eye and able to cut through the noise, consistently.
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Less but better
Even before the Coronavirus outbreak, conscious consumers were seen as the biggest threat to clothing and footwear retailers in 2020. GlobalData lead retail analyst, Sophie Willmott, noted that 48.9% of consumers asked about their new-year intentions in 2019 were making a conscious effort to buy less stuff. This trend has been irrefutably sped up as people are shifting their focus to the things that really matter in life and cutting out the unnecessary due to decreased income.
‘Less but better’ refers to both your product and your marketing. If people are buying less it’s likely they’re spending more time researching and deciding what to buy. Be there but don’t put them off. The quality of the content you put out should reflect the quality of the products/services you offer.
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Brand building and community
There have been some significant brand fatalities over the past few weeks but one thing we’ve noticed is the increase in support for those who have built strong, loyal communities. Building a brand has never been so important and Luke Lang, co-founder of crowdfunding platform, Crowdcube, puts it best…
“COVID-19 has highlighted the resilience of some brands who are not only going to survive this pandemic but could actually thrive after this crisis is over. I see customers rallying around businesses they believe in; businesses with a purpose, who value and inspire their communities. People are buying their products, using their services and urging others to do the same during these challenging times; this is no accident, these forward-thinking businesses have put their customers and broader community at the heart of what they do for years; now their customers are repaying them with loyalty and advocacy that is priceless right now.”
