Post-COVID Playbook (Spoiler Alert: It Does Not Exist)
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There is no playbook for brands in a post-COVID world. The fact that all commercials since March have been virtually identical suggests that brands have no idea what they’re supposed to do. Those who will win in a post-COVID era are the ones who have been deeply listening and empathizing with their customers, and taking steps to reimagine their marketing strategies—not just copying what the other guy is doing.
The single best thing a company can do right now is invest in really good market research... and not just a quant survey. Genuine, deep qualitative conversations with customers are key to understanding new challenges that are presenting themselves, and how people are choosing to solve them.
For years, marketers have told everyone to niche down and attack a single platform with riffle-like precision. Yet today, the most adaptable, modern businesses are doing just the opposite. Instead of a riffle mentality, they’re scanning the market ecosystem like radar, spotting unique omni-channel opportunities.
For example, as we move to a more local “homebody economy” where a local neighborhood and home is now the hub of activity of most families, marketers need to re-think their media mix holistically across platforms. Most marketers aren’t considering expanding to videoconferencing, augmented and virtual reality, video games, and voice AI systems… but why not? The modern-day marketer will need to challenge status-quo models of marketing and engage with interfaces across the home, seamlessly delivering a message to all the phones, tablets, TV screens, and voice AI systems that are on simultaneously. They will need to shift their marketing game to hyper-local targeting, tapping into local community pages and networks too.
And if they want to avoid losing tens of thousands of dollars along the way, they’ll take a beat to listen for what their unique customers need, today and in the future.
