Branding strategies helped businesses in pandemic in a way you wouldn’t have even imagined. Before knowing about how branding has helped businesses in pandemic, first let’s see about branding. So, what is branding according to you? Everyone has different definitions for branding. If put in simple words, branding is nothing but it’s a nuanced art of actively shaping your brand. Branding goes way beyond just logos. Branding is much more than a logo or visual element.
Marketers may struggle to know where to begin in times of crisis. People have gone into defensive mode in only a few weeks, focusing on themselves, their families, their employees, their customers, and their communities. This is reflected on social media, with requests for fellow people to obey official safety rules. People have transcended political boundaries to form bridges inside their homes and towns and to unite against an unseen power.
It is vital to be aware of your brand experience and to have a lot of brand strategies in place to generate the brand experience that you desire… A good brand does not appear out of nowhere… It is a well-planned and strategic plan.
You can take examples of any brand like coca-cola, lays, Himalaya, bata, etc… We know about these brands because of their powerful branding. In simpler words, branding is all about making strategies to make your brand visible to the customers. There is no going back to normal, we have to embrace new marketing techniques
1. By keeping an eye on what your consumers desire (and need).
During the Covid-19 epidemic, the already digital-first society became even more digital as a result of social distance limitations and lockdown prohibitions. As consumers, we are accustomed to receiving what we want when we want it, owing to services such as Uber, DoorDash, Amazon, Facebook, and others. As customers spend more time online, there is a decrease in the amount of spontaneity and serendipity that goes into purchasing decisions.
To develop a brand, we must first understand what our customers anticipate. Did you know that organizations that thrive at customer journeys have a clear competitive advantage? According to Salesforce’s CMO Survey, 84 percent of customers believe that the experience a company gives is just as essential as the product itself.
2. Through Demonstrating empathy and transparency.
People are feeling exposed right now. Empathy is essential. Recognizing the difficulty of their consumers, several banks, for example, have moved to waive overdraft fees. SAP has made its Qualtrics Remote Work Pulse technology available for free to businesses that are fast-moving to new ways of working. Such examples demonstrate humility in the face of a power greater than all of us.
The subtleties of brand voice are more nuanced than ever before. Brands that take advantage of this period for commercial gain will perform poorly. Better to follow Guinness’ lead in the run-up to St. Patrick’s Day, when the corporation moved its emphasis away from festivities and pub gatherings and toward a message of longevity and well-being.
3. By prioritizing honesty as a motivator for action.
During the epidemic, customers became accustomed to companies displaying empathy. Whether it was a Super Bowl advertisement honoring physicians and nurses or a YouTube video emphasizing the significance of vaccinations, consumers were accustomed to dealing with corporations that prioritized people before profits.
Customers expect and desire an authentic tone of voice from companies. The epidemic has increased the value of truth. It has never been more important to keep customers informed.
A brand should be associated with excellent ideals, not simply great products, and the best way to express these values is via messaging and tone of voice. It’s critical to be true to yourself and not overdo it. Otherwise, It will appear like you are pretending, and customers will see right through it.
4. By Using media in a more agile way:
Marketers will aim to establish stronger rapid-response operating models both internally and with agencies in order to swiftly pivot creative messaging as conditions change. Access to remote production and creative ability will become increasingly vital as the crisis progresses. Nike, for example, quickly adopted a new message: “Play within, play for the world.” And, in order to foster social distance and demonstrate a commitment to public safety, Chiquita Brands removed Miss Chiquita from their emblem. “I’m already at home.” “Please do the same and protect yourself,” the Instagram message stated.
Aside from being innovative, marketers should consider adjusting their media mix as the mix of real media channels utilized by consumers changes rapidly.
5. Faster product cycles are required due to hype cycles.
We learned the value of agility and creativity when your children were unable to study at school and you and your husband were unable to return to work. Brands should strive to be innovative and stay on top of the newest trends in order to adapt to their consumers and avoid falling behind. As brick-and-mortar locations were forced to close due to the pandemic, companies were compelled to become more adaptable and imaginative in order to maintain sales and consumer interactions from plummeting.
Nike, for example, concentrated on digitally communicating with their clients by providing free training videos on YouTube. It also made its Training Club app free, allowing the brand to gain 25 million new members in the fourth quarter. Nike witnessed an 83 percent increase in digital sales in 2020 as a result of its creative efforts. This was one of the business strategies that helped many companies to keep in touch with their customers and gain profit simultaneously.
Businesses were using these branding strategies to cope with the pandemic. Unquestionably, the digital transformation agenda is being driven to accelerate as we see how swiftly customers and workers have adopted digitally-enabled journeys and experiences. These were the business strategies that helped businesses in pandemic.
During these difficult and unusual times, brands must all think, operate, and lead in new ways, and we must all learn together with both confidence and humility.