COVID-19 Survival: The Role That Brand Awareness Plays


When COVID19 first emerged, the world was turned on its head. As market swings, industries changed and the long-term structural impact and behavioural changes still mostly unknown, adaptability and grit are imperative for a business’s survival. An attribute that’s been rising in importance in the past few months is the maintenance of brand awareness and trust. Companies that remained connected to their partners, customers and employees have a higher chance of surviving the entire ordeal.

Showing Up When It Truly Matters

More so than before, consumers are now critical of businesses and what they are doing to combat the changing industrial structures. The trust that a company has accrued also comes with high expectations and responsibilities. Now, businesses can’t simply claim themselves as a business entity that separates itself from the community and the problems the society face. In fact, a recent study on Brand Trust and the Coronavirus Pandemic shows that if a business doesn’t participate in finding a solution and communicating their contingency plan to the public, they’re inclined to lose 70% of their customers. In the same study, 35% of the responders said they’d tried new brands all because they’ve been part of the solution.

Apart from meeting consumers’ expectations, showing up during such unprecedented and trying times will have a positive impact on your business’s bottom line! It’s been an undisputed fact that increasing marketing spend during an economic slowdown is the best approach when achieving long-term ROI. Companies that spent money during the 2008 financial crisis were able to attain a significantly higher return on capital employed, and were also able to gain an additional 1.3 percentage points of market share.

In fact, Kantar estimates that businesses that don’t promote their brand in hopes to save cost will see a 39% drop in their brand awareness. This alone will significantly delay their recovery from the pandemic.

Steps Your Brand Can Take During COVID19

1. Take Steps To Be Seen

Continue with your advertising and marketing plans. Going dark at this current moment will only undermine and subvert customer confidence and long-term profitability. Instead, study how consumer behaviour has drastically changed in the past few months and use what you know to inform your creative and media strategy to instil trust amongst your audience.

2. Take Action

Consumers are no longer satisfied by mere sayings that are not supported by action. They are now looking past the company’s brand and paying attention to what it has done to make a difference. If you have actively reached out to help out, whether it is done within the company or otherwise, do take this chance to communicate with your customers. If you have yet to take any action, do so! You can start by looking intrinsically and help your workers adapt to survive the pandemic, before you can evaluate how you can help your community.

3. Preparing For What’s Next

As with any crisis, you’d need to also make preparations for how your business can tackle and survive the pandemic. In terms of marketing, you can look into the change in consumer behaviour and mindset. Moving forward, look at the new marketing or product innovation opportunities that have already and will pop up in the future. For instance, businesses and institutions were to move over to the digital space once they had to temporarily cease their physical operations in view of COVID19. This is also in line with the increase in online spending amongst consumers. Thus, digital marketing and online brand awareness have become the most crucial element overnight.

Thus, listen to not only your audience, but also the structural, marketing and operational changes within your industry. Whilst predicting the future with absolute confidence and accuracy is impossible, making preparations and showing that a brand has compassion during a difficult time is without a doubt, a necessity.

With that in mind, we are determined to assist you to attain and strengthen the trust your consumers have in your brand. Our virtual offices will allow you to maintain business operations without incurring the hefty cost from a business office rental. You’d be able to make use a distinguished business address and phone line, amongst many other things! You can then relocate the remaining resources to your creative and marketing department to boost your brand awareness and trust. So don’t hesitate to give us a call and let us be part of your post-COVID19 recovery journey.

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