THE POST-COVID19 BRAND CONSUMER RELATIONSHIP

The relationship between a brand and a customer is sacred. Sometimes, consumer demand dictates the brand while there are other times when the brand makes consumers desire a product or service. However, things are getting difficult now with more people being forced to stay indoors to flatten the COVID-19 curve.

The COVID-19 global pandemic has hit every economy and market in the world due to which, the industry is witnessing a dynamic shift in consumer behavior. Due to this, marketers are now looking for new ways to attract consumers.

The New Normal

A recent Kantar report was one of the first to predict this change. The report said:

A “New Normal” is gradually forming- If you don’t build desire, we will learn to live with less.

That is the attitude of the current consumer and is likely to stay in the future. Now that consumers are compelled to acclimatize with this new normal where only essential items are given priority, it won’t take long for them to get used to it. After all, various research has suggested that new habits take just 21 days to form and this pandemic is likely to stay for months.

Millennials and GenZ will come out of COVID-19 with a new approach to life. Witnessing a crisis like this for the first time, they are showing a difference in how they perceive brands. Thus, brands will have a very difficult time in attracting and retaining consumers from this segment.

Brands across industries have been set back and their pre-COVID market strategy is not relevant anymore. They will have to refocus, rethink and recalibrate their mission and goals.

The Digital Shift

Despite the setback, brands have not allowed their innovative spark to mellow down. They are putting in a lot of effort to understand consumer behavior during COVID-19, have come up with social causes related to their brand and thus retain the consumer attention.

In the near future, or rather, the post-COVID era, we are going to see drastic shifts in the way people shop, consume, eat, etc. As per the recent BARC-Nielsen data, consumers don’t mind that brands are advertising during COVID-19. Brands are also shifting their ad spends to digital because they see that people are slowly shifting online. Health and wellness brands will be in demand right now and that would also mean that lesser known brands will be preferable. The idea is to get the product, not the brand.

Brands Take on a New Agenda

The most important thing for brands is to stay relevant and in the consumer’s mind. Therefore, companies, that are now witnessing a slowdown in their sales, are still focusing on awareness activities related to COVID-19.

Major brands make temporary tweaks to their logos. The fact that brands chose to make changes to their logos speaks volumes about the crisis. Audi separated its four rings to promote social distancing while CARS24 changed its name to HOME 24 to encourage people to stay indoors.

The food delivery industry is one hard hit industry with orders dropping by over 50%. For orders continue to be supplied, both #Swiggy and #Zomato, the leading food delivery services, have assured customers that their delivery personnel are well sanitized, provide contactless delivery and are also highlighting food outlets that are adhering to WHO norms.

Thus, brands are now undertaking the extra effort of providing the right information to people, whether it is about COVID-19 in general or the safety measures it is taking. The aim is to reassure people so that they retain their trust in brands and keep returning.

Lockdown Learning

News and entertainment have benefitted largely from this lockdown. With people having to resort to just their phones and TV screens, the options were limited. That is, until education brands started upping their game.

Schools and Colleges are shut with many of them being unable to conduct their final exams. While some offices are working remotely, others can’t due to various reasons. In such cases, the ample free time provides people the chance to learn and grow. Employees are being encouraged to take up online courses from brands like #UpGrad while students from #Byju’s. Some of the advanced and digital-savvy schools have installed chrome extensions to monitor exams that students are taking from home.

Another learning that companies and employees have found is the ease of working virtually. Using apps like Zoom (which saw daily users skyrocket by 300 per cent due to COVID-19), Microsoft Teams, LifeSize, etc., people have been able to learn that it is possible to be productive without being physically present in office all the time.

The Future

For brands, a rocky mountain climb awaits them. They will have to wade through this economic crisis, learn emerging consumer patterns and desires and accordingly adjust their business calls.

Brands will, however, have to be ready for stark changes in the post-COVID era. It will, most likely, be a return to zero for brands. What it means is that brands cannot rely on pre-COVID trends and pick off from where they left. Instead, they will have to start over again. The upside is that this will open up a vast range of untapped opportunities for brands in the future.

In all, the COVID-19 pandemic, though a difficult phase right now, will usher in a new era for brands and customer behavior.