Adapt your comms strategy V2

Adapt your comms strategy V2

COVID-19 RECOVERY PLANNING GUIDING PRINCIPLE #4

Adapt your comms strategy

Reputation and communication are amongst the many challenges brands face as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic .

With consumer confidence at its lowest since 2008, adapting content, messaging and creative to communicate how your business is responding will be critical to brand survival. Staying true to brand values and principles, whilst having the customer continually front of mind, is more important than ever. Our seven actions will help you to review and revise your comms strategy, build consumer confidence and maintain brand reputation through the pandemic stages.

Seven actions to shape content, messaging and creative

1. Don’t go dark - staying ‘on’ signals normality. It’s a subconscious cue that everything will be okay and that you shouldn’t lose hope. 2. Think about actions, messages and sentiment - what you do, what you say and what the motivation is. 3. Listen to your customers - get the signal for your tone of voice by monitoring customer sentiment. 4. Help people find a connection - turning your brand into a platform for doing things, sharing experiences or collective dreaming. 5. Create moments of calmness, joy and hope - play a part in providing mental and emotional wellbeing. 6. Help people learn or create - recognise consumer desire to be active and creative. 7. Enable future planning - remind customers there will be a future and enable them to make plans for it.

Staying ‘on’ provides a level of customer reassurance, minimises long-term impact and supports recovery. 1. Don’t go dark

When businesses stop being present, their brand health is immediately impacted . A shift in total brand communication awareness has lasting impact .

Driving saliency is crucial; strong brands recover nine times faster .

Source: TBWA Sydney - Navigating Uncertainty Report April 2020

Source: Kantar: Brand Resilience (Webinar April 2020)

What you do, what you say and what the motivation is matters. Brands must flex their communication strategies to reflect the ongoing shift in consumer needs. 2. Think about actions, messages and sentiment

Crisis

Post-Crisis

STAGE 1: SCEPTICISM & DENIAL

STAGE 2: ANXIETY & UNCERTAINTY

STAGE 3: THE ADJUSTMENT LOOP

STAGE 4: THE WORLD BEYOND

Mixed signals and cognitive dissonance .

Collective exhaustion as we lose macro-control, while simultaneously making many tiny, but risky, decisions.

Frustration , crackdowns and stress-testing as policies are set and reset; life requires constant navigation.

[We can only guess!] Rebound and celebratory behaviours, followed by collective reassessment.

(functional) clarity, direction. (emotional) true authority.

(f) security, control. (e) agency, reassurance.

(f) outlets, joy/uplift. (e) sense of purpose, hope.

(f) re-evaluation. (e) catharsis.

Next

Recession

Now

Source: Phoenix Brand Strategy: Communications in a Crisis

Get the cue for your tone of voice through ongoing monitoring of customer sentiment. To gain the most rounded picture, brands must monitor customer behaviour and attitudes at a market, sector and brand level…. 3. Listen to your customers

UK Market

Sector

Brand

Brand-specific analysis related to performance and brand perception. How are customers thinking about and behaving towards your brand?

Category-specific analysis related to a brand’s sector. Is there confidence in the sector as a whole?

Wider consumer behaviours and attitudes at a sector- agnostic market level. Is there a general sense of optimism and stability that means customers are more likely to spend?

....whilst remembering that different people will respond to the crisis in different ways.

Kantar has identified six different segments based on their response to COVID-19; their drive to keep up with the latest COVID news and the degree of concern they feel.

Patiently waiting

Precarious worriers

Troubled but trusting

Chilled and compliant

Follow the rules

Ostriches

Optimism. Inspiration. Opportunities.

Escapism. The outside, inside.

Reassurance. Practical advice and tips.

Emotional support. Facts and figures. Guidance.

Celebration of progress.

Stimulation. Communication.

Connections with family and friends.

Maintain normality. Premium content and indulgence - even at a cost.

Alleviate boredom. Provide challenges, offer self-learning.

Provide distraction and enjoyment, remove the burden of worry.

Evidence to decrease stress and increase reliance.

Facilitate the sharing of joy and hobbies with family and friends.

Creation of communities that provide mental and physical wellbeing.

Silent Generation

Gen Z

Life stage cohort representation

Source: Kantar: COVID-19 Impact for Brands (Webinar, March 2020)

Give customers a platform for interacting with your brand, sharing experiences or collective dreaming. 4. Help people find a connection

Apple showcased the versatility of its product range and celebrated the creativity of its users through an evocative video. The reel shows how its customers have been able to maintain some sense of the normalcy we all crave by using Apple products.

Viking Cruises reacted quickly to the pandemic by launching Viking.tv. This helped ensure their current and prospective customers could continue to engage with the brand and enjoy ‘on-board enrichment’ from their own home.

5. Create moments of calmness, joy and hope

Play a part in providing mental and emotional wellbeing.

Burger King has often been at the forefront of both advertising and branding innovation during the crisis. Recognising that their core audience (who largely fit into Kantar’s ‘ostrich’ and ‘precarious worriers’ tribes) will be seeking normality, distraction and enjoyment, they have layered a light touch of humour over very serious messaging.

Inspired by Iceland has brilliantly tapped into lockdown fever. The campaign encapsulates the frustration of the world, creates a sense of community and togetherness, and showcases some of Iceland’s beautiful scenery and attractions.

6. Help people learn or create

Recognise consumer desire to be active and creative.

Tiktok showcased our desire to create and share joy, enrichment and entertainment with friends, family, pets… all without having to leave home. With a smattering of famous faces thrown in for good measure, the ad places TikTok at the heart of a feel- good community that anyone, both young and old, can be part of.

6. Help people learn or create Pizza Hut took their throw-away box and showed its audience how they could use it to create entertainment and enrichment.

7. Enable future planning

Remind customers there will be a (different) future and enable them to make plans for it.

100% Pure New Zealand found the perfect balance between reflectiveness and optimism in their TV ad. Focusing on the positives of lockdown - community spirit and togetherness – the ad encourages the world to take its best foot forward as we navigate the crisis, and with it brings a sense of hope and determination to look after the world and each other as we return to normalcy.

7. Enable future planning Many agents and tour operators have addressed safety and financial concerns by pivoting their product range and promotions.

Best At Travel reacted to the desire for escapism and acknowledged the concern about immediate travel by promoting ‘alternative white Christmases’ - swapping the snow for white sandy beaches. Many others have introduced UK itineraries to cater for the increased staycation demand.

Secret Escapes has introduced fully refundable breaks, giving customers confidence to book without risking their money.

“

The immediacy and uncertainty of the coronavirus crisis tempts leaders to ‘shoot from the hip’ in communicating with anxious stakeholders or making strategic moves. Effective communicators will take a deep breath and remember the basics while acknowledging what is unique about this moment. Relying on these practices will help team members stay safe and infuse understanding and meaning in communities, helping to carry the organisation through the pandemic with a renewed sense of purpose and trust.

McKinsey, 2020 A leader’s guide: Communicating with teams, stakeholders, and communities d i COVID

Marketing brilliantly joined-up