The importance of marketing during a crisis
lab/l • May 29, 2020
When the Covid-19 pandemic hit, businesses found themselves performing a chaotic juggling act of keeping their commercial plan on track whilst balancing the safety of employees and customers and turning their proactive marketing strategies into reactive campaigns.
Many high street retailers were quick to re-think their emphasis, concentrating on “work from home” fashion and “pamper yourself skincare” as staying in became the new going out. Now, several weeks from the start of lockdown, those same retailers have turned their efforts to promoting homeware ranges tapping into the fact that we have all been looking at our home furnishings 24 hours a day and resenting the colour scheme that worked perfectly for the pre-corona times. These brands have maintained their presence, their familiarity with customers and kept some sense of normality in otherwise very un-normal times. They understand that by building their relationships with customers through empathetic marketing it translates into a loyal and willing to spend customer in the months ahead.
The latest ad from KFC, produced by Mother London is a great example of this. Using video compilations of our questionable attempts at recreating the popular fast food against the soundtrack of all by myself shows a brand with humour. The ad is wrapped up with the strapline, “we’ll take it from here,” a friendly approach at recognising what we have been through whilst promoting the return of their delivery service. Our efforts were never going to quite measure up were they?
Software and tech firms have benefited exponentially with brands like Zoom and Houseparty creeping into our vocabulary like we have been using them for years. They have managed to get you to rely on their products in a “how did we ever manage without them” kind of way and consider them as replacements for events like meetings and networking permanently. In terms of our responsibilities for climate change, only real solutions which make our lives easier are going to change majority behavior and hopefully this is one area where it will.
Being able to adapt your marketing is crucial during a crisis but one thing is certain going off the radar during these challenging times just puts you further behind your competitors when our (new) normal returns. As lock down easing has now begun, it will be the brands who remembered their customers who will see financial gains in the next twelve months.
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In March last year at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic we had strong words delivered with conviction and displayed on a lectern for the world to see. The messages were short, colour coded and gave a clear picture as to the important factors during this crisis. However, it wasn’t long before these changed, the person delivering them read them in the wrong order and it started to become confusing. It has now returned to the original message, and one that has been held for several weeks, but unfortunately the damage has already been done. The underlying principle of marketing is to know your audience and communicate with them effectively. Many organisations have had to change their working practices and adapt to the changing landscape ahead of them. The businesses that succeeded have remained true to their brand and their audience and connected with them effectively. Retailers who have placed more focus on their apps, social media and websites rather than their stores have strengthened their customer relationships and continued to deliver their key brand messages effectively. Whilst those slower to act (or those who haven’t said anything at all) have unfortunately failed and as a result our high streets will look markedly different when the new normal is implemented. Banks, consultancies and professional services who have embraced a more flexible approach to client interaction have also prospered using digital marketing to consistently communicate key information to reassure their customers. If you change the way you do things you can’t expect your customers to guess, they need to be informed and this has to be both clear and consistent. Internally, businesses may be chaotic and reactive but outwardly, it is imperative they remain true to their core brand principles and get the right message across to their clients in the right way. If you would like support with marketing communication or any other aspect of marketing, then give us a call on 07307 136278 or email hello@labelmarketing.co.uk Find out more about our services or contact us
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