Reimagining after-pandemic marketing

COVID-19 is continually changing consumer behaviour. Today we want to talk about how marketing leaders can adapt to these changes.

It looks like from the moment when governments have been gradually removing pandemic-induced restrictions and businesses reopened, long time has passed, but there’s a sense that we might not be up to date with changes pandemic made on the way we market our offerings. Many entrepreneurs didn’t see that during these long months of lockdown and self-isolation, the world has been, rewriting the rules.

Granular monitoring of data and trends in consumer behaviour has always been important to planning, now it is essential. We also believe that harnessing business innovation may be just as critical.

Marketers of all industries will need to think hard and creatively about what the consumer in the post-pandemic world will think, feel, say, and do.

We have observed important and basic changes in consumer behaviour that many still can’t see. Note that, some of them are meaningful accelerations of existing trends we knew for a while, but some are only emerging now. Our findings are not meant to be an exhaustive list, and we do not claim certainty about the duration of these changes. But we think all of them require careful consideration and strategic action.

Digital borders are open

Some people underestimated the power of the digital world. They didn’t use online opportunities at all or they were procrastination on entering the digital world. The pandemic has no mercy.

Same with consumers. Many were afraid of shopping online and making payments. Now many of them will stick to online shopping.

The meaning of physical stores was decreasing before COVID-19. But now, many online brands are building their presence in the offline world. The thing is, the retailers must offer new experiences in their stores.

Online marketers have things to think of too. They will need to thoughtfully think through how to manage today’s data and how to use it to personalize offers and messages to ever-narrower customer segments.

In addition, marketers will need to rethink their media mix across a larger set of channels, such as virtual reality, long and short video. Doing so effectively will require an ecosystem mindset.

And while no one knows what the exact contours of the post-pandemic world will look like, we do know one thing: things will not go back to the way they were. All marketers will need to systematically monitor trends and the indicators. They need to commit to bold changes in strategy and investments. Not forgetting about building agility in the company for the world that constantly develops.