Before Christmas 2019 I shared a post called: “How to build your brand across 13 categories in 2020”.
That seems like a lifetime ago now.
Brands and businesses are now facing dramatically different challenges.
Ardmore’s Digital team recently joined a Facebook webinar that shared research and advice on navigating COVID-19 for FCMG, Financial Services, Retail and E-commerce businesses.
Here are the highlights:
1. Boston Consulting Group (BCG) COVID-19 Action Plan
Additional Resources from BCG:
2. Boston Consulting Group (BCG) Cross Functional Efforts Required For Near Term Recovery
3. Navigating COVID-19 for FCMG
4. Navigating COVID-19 for Retail
5. Navigating COVID-19 for E-commerce
6. Navigating COVID-19 for Financial Services
A Marketing Action Plan
So, from a marketing perspective, what’s the advice?
1. Find empathetic ways to help your customers, which will in turn build goodwill
Translink “Free Travel for Health and Social Care Workers”
Joe Wicks “PE With Joe” YouTube Series
Meet 6 Independent Businesses Responding to Crisis with Compassion.
2. Craft messaging and tone of voice around reassurance rather than product messages
Lidl “Look after yourselves and we’ll look after the shelves”
Translink “Cashless Payments” & “Social Distancing”
3. Build brand awareness and stay top of mind
Guinness “Sofa”
Audi “Keep Distance. Stay Together.”
4. Get campaigns ready for the recovery phase
I believe that for many categories COVID-19 will induce a ‘hard reset’. This means that when we emerge into the recovery phases brands will race to relaunch to regain their customers and acquire new customers where it was previously much more difficult.
It’ll be an interesting and challenging time for marketing to prove its worth.
Need help with your COVID-19 marketing engagement or recover plans? Book a FREE 30-minute online chat with one of our senior team members to discuss how your brand can navigate the next few months and beyond.
