This article is from the WeChat public account: Fat Whale Headline (ID: pangjing-toutiao)
With the spread of the new coronavirus, normal life and work order are affected. Consumers have given up almost all travel plans, and daily consumption is also concentrated on necessities, medical care products and household cleaning products. The retail, hotel and catering industries have brought great impact.
In the face of an epidemic that is unknown when it will end, how should brands respond to the crisis and rebuild their strategies? Fat Whale invites industry experts with rich experience in different fields such as media, social communication, corporate social responsibility, creativity, and offline. Through this content, it helps brands better understand their work ideas.
Effects of the epidemic
Many brand customers have been impacted to varying degrees, and have made corresponding adjustments to their launch strategies and marketing campaigns. The focus of their communications has also shifted to brand building, which reflects corporate social responsibility.
Response suggestions from brand customers
During the epidemic, the public’s emotions are very sensitive. Brand owners are advised to be cautious about the epidemic and other sensitive topics. Brand owners can find the combination of business and consumers’ current concerns and actual needs, and adjust the communication plan.
The sudden epidemic has changed the lives and working patterns of the general public, and consumers’ acceptance of industries including remote work, online education, and fresh e-commerce has been greatly improved. Customers in all fields can fully explore how to effectively conduct their own business online and put the digital process into practice.
Get ready for work after the epidemic is over
All customers are in controlBudget, especially media budgets. After the epidemic is over, normal production and living order is restored, and marketing activities may usher in a wave of blowouts. It is difficult to differentiate. Brands also need to think about whether consumers will stay online or cherish people-to-people contact and offline experience.
BBDO Beijing Managing Director Beck You
What impact did the epidemic have on the brand customers you serve?
It has a great impact, especially for car brand customers. Because car brands currently sell through dealers, the passenger flow at dealer stores is now almost zero, and the sales situation is worrying.
But at the same time, it is an opportunity for an online financial customer. Their asset allocation business has increased and more funds have poured in.
What adjustments have been made to the strategies of existing customers?
FMCG customers focus more on social media and e-commerce.
All customers are controlling the communication budget, especially the media investment budget. Looking forward to the inflection point of the epidemic, I believe there will be a wave of marketing blowouts at that time. How to make a difference is a problem.
What advice do you have for brand customers?
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Please do n’t try to catch the epidemic hot spot. At this time, it ’s better not to do it.
2. Follow the business needs to do communication planning, and return to the business itself, sales itself, survival or profit itself.
3. Prepare the dissemination plan and materials at the end of the epidemic in advance. Once the situation changes, act fast!
Blue Label Digital Shanghai Executive Creative Director Li Yicong Max Li
What impact did the epidemic have on the brand customers you serve?
The epidemic will affect the economy and consumers in the short termThe behavior has a huge impact, and many of the customers we serve have been impacted to varying degrees, and plans have been adjusted.
From a marketing perspective, the marketing plan made by customers before the epidemic is also affected: business that focuses on media delivery will have digital feedback from March because it involves scheduling; offline advertising shooting He also halted in full, and the business focusing on creative content strategy has been undergoing re-planning due to various reasons such as limited offline execution, delayed launch of new products, or adjustment of e-commerce’s own rhythm.
What adjustments have been made to the strategies of existing customers?
Customer’s marketing focus will be tilted towards brand building. In the past, it was difficult to reach the audience today. Focusing on the social responsibility of the brand, or the attributes of health and safety, is more in line with the background and environment at this time.
What advice do you have for brand customers?
According to the analysis of the SARS trend 17 years ago, during the epidemic, it was found that people’s emotions will enter a sensitive period. This period is more suitable for brand building rather than random borrowing. This extraordinary period is full of many crises and traps, but also opportunities.
For example, Xu Ai ’s Auntie, Hema Fresh hires employees, fellow villagers rip off salary letters, etc. Such operations that subvert tradition or embody corporate responsibility instantly make the brand circle countless. In this period of time, Accumulate consumer sentiment.
For example, in the automotive industry, people have recently started to rework one after another. At present, people ’s attention to health and safety has reached a whole new level, and people will avoid taking public transportation as much as possible. Therefore, the desire of individuals to buy a car will increase. Working on health and safety will yield good results.
At the same time, we recommend that customers in various industries be cautious about hot topics of the epidemic and related political topics, convey positive energy messages, and reflect corporate social responsibility to reduce consumers’ negative emotions due to Jiuzhai ’s stay at home.
The consumer demand of the audience will only be suppressed in the short term and will not decrease. After the epidemic subsides, there will be a wave of explosive releases.
Cong Zhao, Founder & CEO of CCE GROUP
What impact did the epidemic have on the brand customers you serve?
Affected by the epidemic, most of the real-world marketing projects have been cancelled or postponed. Compared to e-commerce projects, the impact on e-commerce projects is relatively small. Many brand customers have not officially resumed work, resulting in new projects being basically stagnant.
What adjustments have been made to the strategies of existing customers?
There are four main needs of existing brand customers: First, promote offline retail upgrades, rely on online communication to achieve better conversion results, and further realize smart retail. Secondly, brands are optimizing digital to optimize the proportion of online and offline channels. Third, focus on online communication, and use e-commerce live broadcasts and community operations to actively drive users to participate in brand online activities and increase brand exposure and conversion. Fourth, we have adopted a more cautious approach to marketing in conjunction with the epidemic situation. The public has a strong mood in special times, and the “epidemic marketing” can easily be self-defeating and have negative effects.
What advice do you have for brand customers?
During the epidemic, brand building through empathy would be an ideal choice, but it needs to be combined according to the brand’s own DNA to find places where the DNA and the epidemic have something in common, not hard public welfare or hard sales. For example, jewelry can be combined with public love as a topic of communication. Of course, due to the current instability of consumer sentiment and market environment, public welfare marketing also has certain risks. It will be a better choice to respond to changes.
After the epidemic, some small and medium-sized enterprises that previously only used “digital transformation” as a slogan will accelerate their transformation plans. In addition, consumption power will return to offline, and the offline real economy will usher in a big explosion. Brands should also make corresponding preparations, upgrade offline retail, and respond to consumers’ strong purchasing power with efficient operational strength. In this regard, CCE itself is well prepared to embrace change and cultivate internal skills to ensure that it can keep pace with the needs of customers in various projects.
Chen Yan, Chief Strategy Officer, Focus Media
What impact did the epidemic have on the brand customers you serve?
The epidemic has changed the living and working mode of the people. The lack of offline entertainment has prompted users to shift their consumption online, making the house scene an important scene of the moment.
This is positive for some industries that fit the house scene. Online industries such as mobile games and online entertainment areThe biggest beneficiaries.
On the other hand, offline physical industries, such as restaurants and department stores, are more affected and their sales are significantly reduced. At the same time, because everyone is not enough to go out, sales of many experiential products and long purchase decision cycles have plummeted.
After the epidemic is over, the online industry may continue to maintain or expand this dividend. The offline industry may usher in a bottoming out and needs to be prepared for new growth.
What adjustments have been made to the strategies of existing customers?
Different industries have different adjustment directions. The online industry has increased the supply side and increased production capacity to cope with the rapid growth of traffic. The offline physical industry has begun to explore more online sales. WeChat, Dingding, and small programs are all innovative channels for brands to sell online.
In terms of delivery strategy, customers will still have delivery, but the advertisement screen will be adjusted according to the epidemic situation, so as to resonate with consumers. For example, the frame advertising ideas of Focus Media and Yisheng Church put the tissue box on the panel, which not only made public welfare, but also combined business wisdom. No matter how difficult, there are new models.
What advice do you have for brand customers?
The epidemic is an emergency and must not be over-commercialized. But this is indeed an opportunity for business model change.
As consumers’ acceptance of online adoption increases in many industries, various industries can fully explore online marketing. On the one hand, it is backwards, and on the other hand, it is motivation.
For offline brands, pay attention to online technology and online marketing models. Of course, there must be a brand building process, including advertising and other aspects of the accumulation of their own brand potential, and work together to complete the overall project of brand building.
For online brands, you can launch new products to attract consumers to try, because at this time consumers spend more time at home and will have a higher acceptance of the new model. For example, the free courses of online education not only meet the current needs in time, but also meet the corporate image transmission.
A suggestion for all industries and brands. After the epidemic, the brand should quickly return to consumers’ minds, so that consumers can find the brand more quickly in the market.
Public Advertising Shanghai CEO Ren Miaoling