April, May saw ‘No Sale’ for many businesses. Many foresee various challenges to open businesses in the ‘New Normal’, once the lockdown eases. Advertising has dried up in print and some have also decided to shut shop.
NO ONE KNOWS IF THERE IS GOING TO BE A SECOND WAVE AT ALL.
Coke spends $4B in marketing. They have stopped all non-digital communication. According to their senior management ‘, They see no scope in any broad-based communication’.
Furthermore, Google, Twitter, Instagram have reduced their ad rates to attract customers as well as keep the ones ongoing.
What can should your marketing strategy be to sail through this turmoil smoothly?
Because of the lockdown restrictions, the consumer spends are very limited, pipelines drying up, it’s a survival story, and sustenance is the key. Currently, all resources are prioritized to keep a company afloat, this conservation of resources has affected the marketing spends. There are a lot of questions as we sail through these uncertain times.
What do you sell when no one is buying?
We strongly recommend:
> Don’t spend to push product sales at this time.
> No chest-thumping on CSR activities that are being done.
Audiences view: this is the bare minimum that is expected out of companies
> Don't do anything that is not innovative
Scrunch your budget, use only on mission-critical communication.
Preserve and retain your customer for the day when things return to the ‘near normal’.
Spend time learning and predicting what the near normal and new normal is going to be.
somewhere between the near normal and new normal you will have to find the sweet spot which works for you as a company/brand.
How will businesses survive in this cash crunch?
Today, all companies are in crisis mode.
Communication efforts are to be focused on retaining customers.
Giving them a sense of ownership.
Stay focused on critical goals, in the current scenario anticipating the future.
A message that after the pandemic, your product offerings will be ‘safer’, ‘sanitized’, and ‘secure’.
This is to do with people having a positive outlook, ‘This too shall pass’. People are looking forward to the Q3 as festival seasons are nearing and hope that all industries will pick up from there.
It is not too late to reinvent the way we work.
In this lockdown we have seen companies working from home who never believed they could.
People still need to communicate, we all have to adjust to the ‘New Normal’.
Now it depends on industry to industry how fast they can adapt a new change and how innovative they are with this new change.
It is not so much on the capability but the ‘cope-ability’ of a brand or business
This pandemic has instilled fear in all, whether customers, associates or employees, contractors, vendors. So it is paramount for a brand or business to be innovating, accepting, and adapting to the new normal. Their focus should be cope-ability along with a layer of empathy, to instill trust in their employees, and retain their customers.
More creative, data-driven and focus on digital
Many industries who ventured into digital from the periphery, will now have to make digital a key medium to work with.
Understand consumer behavior with the constraints of isolation - they are restricted from going out that makes OOH a big failure, No Newspapers, No malls, No cinemas. However, the web is still being consumed at the same rate or more leading to many digital possibilities.
Clients should depend on agencies as growth partners, to be involved jointly in the innovation and adaptation of communication in this 'New Normal'.
The one thing that is not going to change after the pandemic is Human relations. There is no replacement for that. Empathy will be foremost.
To cope with the changing scenario MarComm departments should adapt to:
Enabling communication through technology.
Testing & Experimenting: Technologies, Tonalities, Colours, and more.
Standing out creatively within the Digital crowd
Digital is more than campaign implementation on various mediums and data analysis It is important that to sustain this economic low, we are foresighted and work towards making our business adaptable & future-ready. This is especially relatable as we witness decreased communication and encounters with strangers, tighter travel limits, hygiene limitations, and a new social consciousness; thus leading to more opportunities for remote, greater, and well-developed e-commerce, logistics, including e-health services to operate.
Media & Alternate advertising Media with Popular Advertising Platform.
A shift in consumer behaviour
Being restricted to stay at home for extended periods of time has led to the consumers trying out services from all over the world on a platter. While many services were always available online, consumers still preferred personalized attention, like seeing a doctor in person or a gym trainer in person.
With consumers finding services received online as effective as those received in person, a service provider's competition is not restricted to the local borders. This has made the consumer all the more aware of his privacy and data security making it a priority.
Thus, in order to sustain, brands need to offer a better and safer digital experience to their customers.
The economies are changing, and so are the consumers’ priorities and demands. Guess who is set to win? The first mover!
Change is here. The next step is to accept that. So, take this moment and opportunity to make a meaningful change, refocus and reinvent the company's culture.
This is the time to reset budgets, implement cash preservation measures, and stabilize operations while understanding the new economy and forecasting measures to beat competitors.
We at the studio are here to work with you as a dynamic solution partner through this crisis management, do get in touch with us for your creative branding and marketing communication needs. write to us at hello@pavanjava.com