A marketer's guide to sail through the Covid-19 waves

With the sudden outbreak of the fatal pandemic at an alarming rate, the entire world is experiencing massive operational disruption spanning all industries—be it consumer goods, retail, travel or hospitality. Brands are trying to contribute in every possible manner, be it sharing dos and don’ts against coronavirus or being empathetic in terms of providing them with necessities. As the precipitous storm of the deadly virus has taken over the market, with industries crashing far and wide, marketers are under tremendous pressure to showcase moral responsibility towards this public health crisis wave.

While some healthcare-related businesses are able to thrive, some are bearing the brunt of this unfortunate crisis. And, for these brands and businesses, staying afloat in a rapidly dwindling economy has become crucial. Here are a few ways that will help brands to stay relevant in the time of crisis:

1. Express your support:

Where we are right now is absolutely an uncharted territory for every individual globally. In these testing times, brands need to focus solely on extending their support to users. Aiming solely on profit or thinking in terms of numbers will not do any favour. Instead, it may backfire altogether. Therefore, a big no-no to overselling. Support doesn’t have to be extreme, it can be a social media post expressing solidarity to donate or offering services or products to people in need of help by exploring contact-less avenues of accessibility. This also works well for PR.

2. Use your brand value to create awareness:

Amid the public health threat scare, brands can use their power and enormous user base to create awareness. As a result, they’ll be able to communicate effectively with users. However, at this crucial time, brands need to remember to not make the awareness approach sound like an advertisement. The attention should be on spreading awareness and sharing precautionary measures. For example, brands such as DineOut, Mcdonalds, and Bobble AI have given a makeover to their brand face, i.e. tagline and logo, which has come across as a ‘statement’, promoting the idea of much needed ‘social distancing’ and ‘hygiene’.

3. Engage in digital branding content:

The announcement of the global recession, shutdown, and shift towards working from home has been an eye-opener for various organisations that were not prepared for this sudden transition. It has left many with the question— how do we lead virtually in the time of uncertainty?

Brands should start leveraging data from industries that are soaring high. According to Bobble AI’s data, social media and messaging apps have seen a whopping spike of 40% on the time spent. However, with users resorting to ad blocks, digital advertisements are not that beneficial currently. Therefore, it’s a perfect opportunity for brands to head towards innovative content branding solutions. Bobble AI’s content branding solutions allow brands to be part of the user’s conversations and turns them into brand ambassadors. Having a responsible and unique conversational content will give a competitive edge to brands in such arduous market conditions. At the same time, engaging and dazzling conversational content will be a ‘beam of light’ in these gloomy days. New-age personalised content will provide users with new means to communicate and contribute in pulling them out of the grey that we all are experiencing.

4. Adapt a fluid strategy:

With the present situation, where there is a ban and risk on stepping out, industries like travel, hospitality and transport are suffering intensively. The silver lining in this hard hour is that all this time can be used to re-evaluate strategies and marketing approaches that would lead to strengthening brand value and sustain their relevance and significance in the ever-changing market. For example, many gyms like cure.fit are providing their users with online home workouts that can keep users engaged and at the same time is reinforcing brand significance.

5. Make creative relevant:

With coronavirus in the front of the mind, incorporating keywords and visuals relevant to the pandemic can help brands draw attention. However, you need to be careful and ensure they are appropriate. If a brand such as ‘Dettol sanitiser’ has the potential to help people right now, it is easier and essential to get the product out there. However, if the product is not directly relevant, then creating an awareness campaign or an initiative can help brands leverage the ongoing trends and waves.

 (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of www.buzzincontent.com and we do not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.)