Marketing in a Post-Pandemic World

The post-pandemic world of business will be a marked departure from the way things were, and the sooner businesses realise it, the better for them.  This is especially so in business to business marketing.  When we consider past recessions, 20% of companies on average do not survive.  Of the other 80%, most of them take around three years to regain their pre-recession growth rate.  This pandemic is not going away soon, and the world will go through a series of staggered openings and lockdowns.  We will likely see a greater casualty rate among businesses, and it may take longer for some sectors such as consumer discretionary spending and travel to recover. 

The first thing we need to relook is the language of marketing.  Words matter.  This means brands need to reshape their strategic message to recapture market share.  We are in a red ocean market saturation for most sectors.  This means that messaging must find touch points in the consumer journey that is blue ocean, inspire loyalty in the existing customer base by demonstrating industry leadership and innovation, and appealing to causes that an activist consumer base resonates with.  In this new world of content marketing, it is about finding the right words, in the right moment, delivered in the right manner, to create an indelible connection. 

To engage in this successfully, businesses have to recognise that there is an underlying trauma brought about by enforced isolation because of the pandemic.  This necessitates a change in the underlying message of advertising from why the product or service is necessary or good, to how it helps them in whatever need.  The focus of the message is in naming a need, and then prescribing a means to address it; as opposed to merely playing up benefits.  Part of this message is about addressing how the company is coping in a pandemic, and how it is positioning itself in a post pandemic world to be better able to serve customer.  This is a move away from hard selling to values based marketing. 

Another mistake some companies make is to pull back from marketing until the situation improves.  In any crisis, for brands to remain relevant, radio silence is not helpful.  That silence is space for competitors to be heard unimpeded, and it will be challenging to overcome their messaging, imprinted in a time of stress and crisis.  In an increasingly connected world, the choice of silence is increasingly loud, and is counterproductive.  Bruce Fairchild Barton, the American advertising executive, and Republican politician, said, “In good times, people want to advertise; in bad times, they have to.”  Now is the time to ramp up communications with the buying public, not pull back. 

In all areas of business, but particularly for the retail industry, the pandemic has caused a major shift in consumer behaviour, and we are not going back to the days of brick and mortar outlets.  Shopping is not an activity, but an experience.  If people are going to spend time in a shop, it has to be more than merely retail therapy.  They have to believe in the values of the company, and the experience it offers.  For everything else, there is the convenience of online retail.  If it can be sold online, it should.  The customer base is expanded exponentially.  This means reallocating funds to digital infrastructure and digital marketing.  There are new skills to master, such as search engine optimisation, online customer events such as webinars, customer engagement, and presence across multiple platforms and channels.  Digital marketing is no longer a luxury, but a fundamental part of most business models. 

One of the strategic decisions that businesses must make in this environment whether to keep marketing in house or outsource.  In house marketing may be a luxury for many smaller companies, especially if they do not have the skills to engage in large scale digital marketing.  Because of this, it may be better for them to outsource to an external marketing agency which is better equipped to market digitally. 

This pandemic will eventually end, in some form or another.  The current situation will wean off some competition, but for companies that make it through this crucible of trial, there is a new blue ocean of market share to be seized.