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A recent study conducted by Siegel+Gale, a global brand experience firm, included interviews with twenty six top marketing leaders from some of the world’s largest brands including the NHL, Petco, Goldman Sachs, and Fandango.
The focus of the study centered around what agencies have learned during COVID and how marketing trends have shifted as a result.
“The COVID pandemic created chaos across the global economy,” stated Steve Devries, founder of Sayvee Creative in Kelowna, BC, “but it also created an opportunity to shift marketing trends in a new direction. It forced companies, like many of our clients, to communicate in a different way to their customers. This communication wasn’t just essential during COVID, it’ll be of the utmost importance moving into the future.”
Marketing is an ever-changing creature all in itself, reacting to fluctuations in economy and buying trends. Very few things have skewed these factors in the past decade like the COVID pandemic that continues to impact the world at large.
The study conducted by Siegel+Gale identified several different themes that were consistent in many of the interviewees answers, that outline how marketing has transformed over the past few months.
One of the main themes was that ‘marketing is viewed as a key function in handling a crisis’. Many marketing agencies, Sayvee Creative in Kelowna included, worked with clients to determine the best course of action for their marketing efforts during a time when many businesses were being thrust into a crisis situation. While this may have included reducing ad spends or creating new messaging of support, it was essential for all marketing clients to be able to adapt and work through the economic changes.
“I think also,” said Devries, “that it’s moving people to be more accepting of using online more for their purchasing process, not just research.”
Another theme that emerged early on was the adaptive nature of the marketing process. Many companies were forced to provide information and news when this may not normally have been a function of their business. But communication with stakeholders, clients, and customers became essential early on in the pandemic.
Brian Rafferty, Siegel+Gale’s Global Director, Business Analytics & Insights stated, “Throughout the study, our respondents stressed the importance of engagement and feedback from both customers and employees during the pandemic . . . Marketers should continue to use data to measure customer and employee sentiment, and use this information to ensure that their brand is communicating the right message to the right audience.”
Marketing agencies are now looking to the future to establish new parameters for communication and marketing initiatives to best leverage the outcome of a post-COVD world.
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