Building a Brand for the Future – Post COVID and Beyond

The recent pandemic has significantly altered the way we live, work, and interact in everyday life. The business landscape also changed dramatically, with many businesses that struggled while others adjusted and boomed.

Undoubtedly, for brands to thrive and succeed beyond the pandemic, they need to adapt and follow new rules of marketing with the ‘new normal’.

Branding in a post COVID world

With people staying home from lockdown restrictions, their world moved predominantly online, leading to shifts in consumer behaviour. Brands have had to adapt quickly to the challenges of the pandemic. This means that more than ever, the consumer is the priority and the biggest stakeholder in your business

To expand the brand identity they need to get their audience’s attention by listening, responding and acting on consumers’ needs and wants. In doing so, they can stand out from their competitors for all the right reasons.

As a professional brand design agency in Sydney, we are sharing some tips about how do you put the consumers first? Brands can do so by:

• Being authentic and honest in their communications
• Knowing their target audience intimately
• Showing empathy, sensitivity and a true understanding of people’s day-to-day experience
• Backing up your messaging with demonstrable action, social proof together with a clear voice

Fundamentals of Branding

Which brings us back to the fundamentals of Branding.

Why do so many brands seem to get Branding wrong? A brand is more than a name and logo; it is an identity for your marketing and to keep your messaging consistent.

Great authentic brands are driven by their values; they live and breathe what they do every single day. It drives marketing and advertising. The pandemic has highlighted the importance of brand trust, authenticity and awareness.

Which Brands worked and which didn’t?

Some brands adapted successfully to the pandemic, putting the customer first and demonstrating brand authenticity. For example,

• Barre body: The closure of gyms and dance studios during the lockdown meant Barre Body had to adapt quickly. They offered on-demand fitness content online and successfully increased membership numbers by more than 400% with a customer-centric strategy.
• Zoom: as one of the biggest B2B businesses in the pandemic, Zoom saw global daily active user numbers soar from 10 million to 300 million in early April. But the business didn’t rest on its laurels, realising that new users also required support with their services. So, they created specialised training content customised to different audiences and sectors.

Other brands, unfortunately, missed the mark, for example:

• Norwegian Cruise Lines:despite the news being full of reports of the COVID hit cruise ship, Diamond Princess, Norwegian decided not to pull their new ad campaign ‘Free’ in March 2020. This PR disaster was further compounded when reports surfaced that sales staff were instructed to lie about coronavirus to encourage more bookings.

Consumer Behaviour in a post COVID world

So, what do brands need to do differently post COVID and beyond? Let’s look at the significant changes in consumer behaviour:

• It’s also no surprise that the average time spent on social media grew by 30% during the pandemic, according to an L&A Social survey
• For the first time, many took to online shopping and quickly returned, leading to a record-breaking year for Australian e-commerce. According to Australia Post, November 2020 was the biggest month in Australia’s online shopping history, with over 5.5 million households shopped online – up 55.6% year on year.

Most importantly, consumer experience came to the fore: 72% of Australians won’t return to a retailer if they’ve had a bad experience, either in-store or online, according to payment provider Ayden.

This new normal is here to stay. Centre the consumer in everything you do, and your business will thrive.

If you need a brand design agency in Sydney or need a hand with your Branding or just want to see where your Brand is positioned, we can help. Get in touch with our team today.