Coming Out of COVID, Part 1: Brand Marketing Strategy
Charting a path forward after the pandemic will be easier if companies focus on a few known principles in new ways.
COVID has been a ****. It’s affected our lives on such a significant scale that we probably won’t really come to grips with it for at least another few years. It will take that long (probably) for things to balance out from what I call the “quarantine quantum tunnel” — the accelerated changes to our lives caused by the pandemic.
Many of these changes were already afoot; COVID just gave them a pretty savage shove into hyperdrive. For the average person, it was a lot to absorb. For companies, it was probably even more complicated and thus felt even more accelerated. Then, after a year of leaping forward 5–10 years in terms of behaviors, things appear to be going “back to normal.”
So… what now?
Companies need to hold fast to three principles to ensure they navigate the post-COVID era. These principles aren’t new, and they don’t require an MBA or a Ph.D. in rocket science to understand. The trick, as always, is how well they’re executed.
Understand Consumer Behaviors
Attention is the currency of today’s marketing landscape. If you don’t have share of mind, you’ve got no chance at share of wallet. Before COVID, there were some pretty clear shifts in where consumer attention was going:
- Streaming & Connected TV Devices
- Video Games & Online Gaming
- Mobile e-commerce
“Cord-cutting” was accelerating before COVID, but being stuck at home for an entire year pushed a lot of new customers towards streaming TV. Video games were already a leading over-index for younger audiences, but mobile gaming and gaming spectatorship exploded during COVID. Older people with more time to kill downloaded games on their phones, and a lot of people tuned into gaming channels (e.g. Twitch) to watch competitions and be a part of their preferred game community. E-commerce was already a runaway train thanks to Amazon, but during quarantine, a lot of us discovered the value of mobile delivery and pickup apps. We also had no shortage of options (Instacart, DoorDash, Shipt, Walmart…) which meant more people were willing and able to increase their online shopping behavior in categories like groceries.
These rates of change may not hold post-COVID (e-comm shifts likely will), but that doesn’t mean marketers shouldn’t be assessing the trends and identifying new ways of thinking about their company’s marketing mix. The first step in earning attention is to go where that attention is plentiful. “Fish where the fish are.”
Offering Value For Attention
It’s not enough to simply show up, though. We are increasingly wary of advertising, so companies need to dig deeper to connect with desired audiences. That means paying attention to how people are behaving and adopting similar behaviors for your company’s presence.
For example, the loss of physical events like sports competitions and concerts, couple with the rise of gaming has led to a burst of live-streaming. Consumer brands should be thinking about how live-streaming can become a core part of the content strategy. These are “lean-in” moments when you have a chance to make a deeper impression with people versus a six-second video. Take advantage!
Similarly, people are willing to give their time up for advertising if they think the value exchange is fair. So give them something for their attention — interactive opportunities abound in places like streaming and connected TV. You don’t need a polished thirty-second spot to make an impact anymore. Why show up to a costume party in khakis?
And the days of being able to overlook the direct-to-consumer component of your business are gone. No, you don’t need your own mobile app necessarily, but you do need to control your presence on third-party apps where your brand is sold. It’s not always the most glamorous marketing, but defending the “digital store shelf” is critical. An Instacart user searching a local retailer for your brand or products is a person waving their hand saying, “I’m interested in you.” Make sure you’re connecting with them at that moment and making their experience hassle-free.
Re-Model Your Measurement
COVID is going to create a lot of headaches for marketers looking to benchmark performance. Annual benchmarks are going to be askew. Trend analysis looking back over multiple years is going to look funky. Future forecasts are going to be even more difficult to deliver accurately. As always, context is crucial. Any measurement models need to properly couch the “COVID consideration” for stakeholders. It may mean you have two analysis references — one for historical benchmarks and one relative to the COVID timeline — but that’s what will separate leading brands from laggards.
Key performance indicators should focus on attention earned, consumer sentiment, and intent-based signals. Did our marketing plan earn more attention? Was it positive? Did it help to catalyze action?
2021 (and 2022, frankly) is going to be a weird year for those of us in marketing. There is a lot of uncertainty, a lot of change, and perhaps even more pressure than usual. That’s why it’s important to remember to keep it simple: focus on understanding consumer behavior, offer value in exchange for attention, and assist people considering your brand to take action with less friction.
Everything has changed and what matters remain the same.
