During a crisis, your marketing strategy has to be agile and while there is no “one size fits all” formula to getting it right, there are lessons to be learned from those who made a success of their marketing during these most testing of times. The true market leaders are the brands which listen to their audience constantly, especially when the going gets tough, and come up with brilliant ideas on how to stand out from the crowd.
If you haven’t yet adapted your marketing strategy to respond to the changes which Covid-19 has brought about, then you need to act fast to ensure your brand doesn’t get left behind. Here are a few shining examples of brands which have responded to the crisis both sensitively and imaginatively.
Airbnb
The travel and leisure industry has suffered the greatest during Coronavirus, faced with an unprecedented influx of cancellations both from customers and industry partners. Airbnb was exceptionally quick to offer full refunds for all cancellations. The company also swiftly diversified and came up with creative ways to retain their customer base, such as posting a series of unique online games, courses and activities, encouraging people to try something new during lockdown.
Brewdog
In response to the surge in demand for hand sanitiser, Brewdog committed to repurposing production lines so that they could donate this much-needed product in bulk to the NHS and other keyworkers. At the time of writing, the company had produced, packaged and delivered over 50,000 ‘Punk Sanitisers’ and its social media following has soared. While other ‘designer’ brands tried and failed to do something similar, Brewdog got it right by avoiding a self-congratulatory tone. Their actions spoke louder than words.
Spotify
Music and the performing arts have been heavily impacted by the pandemic. By way of support, streaming giant Spotify launched the COVID-19 Music Relief; a global fundraising campaign designed to support up and coming artists who were struggling to make ends meet. It was an interactive campaign, as fans were encouraged to donate directly to their favourite artists and charities. It was a smart move which highlighted Spotify’s commitment to the grass roots music community, while deflecting criticism surrounding its compensation to regular artists.
What can we learn from these brands?
To summarise there are five key lessons we can learn about marketing during a crisis:
Respond, adapt and evolve
Embrace digital channels more than ever
Be mindful of tone
Always keep listening for consumer opinion and watching their behaviour
Never stop marketing – it’s more important now than ever before
If you are looking for creative marketing ideas to help you navigate the “new normal” during Covid, then please do contact us at Onstory for an exploratory chat.