Branding in the Time of Corona

“Florentina Ariza had kept his answer ready for fifty-three years, seven months and eleven days and nights. 'Forever,' he said.”
― Gabriel García Márquez, Love in the Time of Cholera
The great novel gives us a message - even if you have to face uncertainties in life, patience will lead you to your goal. At times we may have to step back to reach that ultimate aim. A brand owner has to be patient to make his customer loyal to the brand just like the lead character in that ever-famous novel by Marquez. It is not about bragging about what you have but end of the day it is about the customer falling in love with your brand.
 

Branding in the Time of Corona

These are testing times to the human species as a whole and every individual has a responsibility towards the global community in fighting this out. The corona virus has unleashed never seen terror among people through COVID 19 and every brand is getting affected by its devastating hold. So what should Brands do during these testing times?

Do’s and Don’ts

Be Silent – This is not the right time to try to sell your products or services through advertising. Nobody is going to even read out what you have to offer unless it is useful for their daily life to face this difficult situation. For eg. A bank should refrain from offering their products like fixed deposits, A hospital need not advertise about its huge infrastructure or equipments, A retail showroom need not offer discounts to lure customers. On one end these won’t get any eyeballs from your target audience and from another end the customers in these troubled times would look your brand as just plain insensitive. On the other hand a hospital can advertise its new video consultation services, a bank can advertise its digital services especially those services which may help the customer financially during these difficult times like allowing them to overdraw their salary accounts, a retail showroom can allow their customers to buy online and allow returns & exchanges on such purchases or even introduce EMI schemes so that the customer can pay later for their apparel purchases.

Care your customer from your distant shores – Brand loyalty is all about making the customer feel the brand as their own. It is not about the colour of the logo or the emblem but it is all about the perception of a customer on a brand’s ability to satisfy their personal needs, it is about the perception of the customer about how a brand cares them. For eg., When a bank advertises about all the covid care measures but don’t even sanitize their ATMs a customer doesn’t feel the brand cares them. When a hospital advertises about their infrastructure the customer may not notice them but when the hospital provides sanitizers for free it may connect to the general public. When a retail showroom announces discounts the customer may not even look at it where as when it does something to give out masks to the general public it may get noticed. In short it is not about shouting in their ear but about caring your customer to overcome these tough times.

Be patient, Shut your mouth – These are the times when the authorities under the Govt. and everyone world over are trying to spread the message about how to fight COVID 19. There is no need for the brands too to spread the same messages. Just sending the same messages they get from every other source along with your brand logo doesn’t make any change in the daily life of your customer in these difficult times except you are one more another person who clutters their mobiles and mail boxes. So be patient, shut your mouth and open it only when you feel you have an idea which may contribute your customer another tool to fight this deadly disease. Save your money & resources spend on useless advertising, wait for the good times and wait for your loyal customer to return to you on their own at the end of this mayhem.

Experiential branding – This is the time to create experiences for your customer that influences their perception about you. The other day I saw a 3 star hotel in my town, which was not that popular earlier, being appreciated by everyone passing by. What they did was simple. They put out their hand wash sink on the pavement outside their hotel walls which can be used by at least 5 people at a time to wash their hands with soap and water. Now this is what makes the customers notice than the hotel spending huge sums on advertising in mass media. These are little things for a brand to think about but make huge difference in the perceptions of the customer. They experience the care directly rather than the brand speaking for itself. When your target audience is facing difficult times create experiences for them which might reduce their pain a bit. Yes that too should be considered as a branding exercise for the brand’s long term benefit.

'The Hindu' - the mainstream Indian newspaper had the guts to publish an ad in their own newspaper saying it bluntly against the misuse of ad space during these difficult times. Kudos to them for saying it on the face.