Many have weighed in on the most effective way to approach marketing during the pandemic. Marketing guru Byron Sharp, author of How Brands Grow, strongly advised that brands should have gone quiet, whereas Nielsen points out the risk of going silent especially when viewership is on the rise.

Rather than completely stopping, brands should instead have turned to the powerful digital tools available today to adapt messaging to react in real time to changing consumer sentiment in these challenging times.

Unfortunately, too many were unable to rethink campaigns to tap into the changing customer priorities and had to press pause. Instead of pivoting their messaging, they had to go dark. Inflexible campaigns simply could not be repurposed at the required speed to make them acceptable and relevant to consumers in such turbulent times. Brands weren’t able to work smarter, so they suspended spend.

So, while Byron Sharp believes it shows “embarrassing arrogance” by some brands that thought consumers cared about what they had to say regarding coronavirus, the data shows otherwise.

Consumers open to relevant advertising

The data shows consumers were actually far more open to hearing from brands than many may have believed.

Research from Kantar found only 8% of the public believed companies should stop advertising. The research company also found that reactions to advertising were 95% the same as before the global pandemic struck.

Even more encouraging for digital marketers, in the middle of lockdown eMarketer reported that three in four consumers felt brands should be telling them more about their products and how they help in everyday life. Nielsen research echoes this with 84% of people agreeing that brands set themselves apart by offering support as consumers comply with COVID restrictions.

The message appears to be getting through in Q4. Half of the advertisers who were previously deferring advertising campaigns have revealed to the World Federation of Advertising they are no longer doing so.

Be helpful and localised

With a receptive public, advertisers have the opportunity to engage their audience with relevant messaging through a dynamic creative campaign. Creative needs to be nimbler and more flexible, not abandoned. With a dynamic campaign it’s possible to adjust messaging or imagery on the fly, re-traffic the units and be live the same day. Messaging can also be based on geo-location to give a localised approach at scale. 

Brands need to keep their share of voice and be relevant to customers and prospects by listening to them and understanding market-by-market dynamics. They also need to be both helpful in the current climate and adapt their messaging to achieve the company’s strategy for growth and recovery.

They need to message to the moment.

Content and engagement

There is always a receptive audience for creating content that delivers a useful message based on what customers need right here and now. Video is a powerful tool that doesn’t need to be abandoned because a live-action shoot isn’t possible.

By using light-weight video creation methods, an advertiser can create great content while making it possible to quickly adapt and change the messaging as needed. A good example of this is a campaign we did for CarParts.com. The brand wanted to communicate how it is on a mission to make buying the correct part for a car much easier than before. With original illustration and animation, the brand message could be effectively communicated, and the results were there to prove it. 

By tapping into this emotional bond, the campaign achieved a completion rate of the thirty second creative of 45%. Its 1.65m views helped push up brand consideration by 63%.

What can advertisers do?

Safe in the knowledge that consumers are open to receiving good quality ads, what are the key actions that advertisers should be taking to ensure they are delivering engaging, informative and creative ads, to the right people?

●        Be smart, not absent: advertising has a role to play as long as it’s relevant

●        Stay agile with dynamic creative: have messaging and content that can adapt on the fly

●        Data is the driver: use data to serve personalised content and messaging

●        Tap into trends: gamification, video viewership and content streaming for example are on the rise

●        Lightweight video creation methods: motion graphics and animations can be a cost-effective way to create video

●        Be helpful: consumers want information from brands that support their everyday life

Turning a potentially challenging development into a new opportunity can only be achieved by digital marketers who are dedicated to using effective digital strategies. Turning off communications is no longer an option. We need to work smarter as an industry, not go AWOL in the face of challenging times.