Time to tweak the way you market

Peter Field, Author, Strategist and Marketing Consultant, once said, ‘The only sensible course for any advertiser who wants to maintain a presence through this recession is to be putting money into long-term brand building.’ While it is critical for brands to remain visible throughout the pandemic, here’s how COVID-19 will likely change how they market themselves.

Hazel Jain

Cost of going dark

An Institute of Practitioners in Advertising study stated ‘Following a budget cut, the longer-term business harm for a brand will be considerable. A brand judged to be on the way down, because it has fallen silent, will rapidly see this manifested in word-of-mouth, which will accelerate the perception of failure’.

Changed messaging

In order to orchestrate a successful marketing activity during a pandemic though, brands need to tweak their messaging and talk about how they are helpful in everyday life, about their efforts to face this situation, and offer a reassuring tone. Confidence-building is at the core of the sales idea.

Shift in media

Media consumption during the pandemic has increased overnight and it will likely stay high for the months to come. Whether it is print, digital (web, TV or social media) or webinars, the audience engagement with brands is seeing a drastic shift, perhaps permanently. Now is the time to capitalise on this frenzy so its benefits can be reaped.

Secure the best position

As the economy begins to restart, brands will need to be ready at the starting line. They will need to hit the ground running, and leave no stone unturned in marketing their product smartly. To be able to do this, companies must utilise their marketing messaging well by showcasing intelligence, empathy, flexibility, and a collaborative attitude. Such a strategy is bound to go a long way.

Long-term benefits

Businesses that continue to maintain share-of-market during a slowdown have shown longer-term improvement in profitability that outweighed short-term savings. A McGraw-Hill Research showed that those that maintained or increased advertising spend during a recession had higher sales than those that didn’t.