{"id":168049,"date":"2020-10-08T02:10:25","date_gmt":"2020-10-08T00:10:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mypr.co.za\/?p=94806"},"modified":"2020-10-08T02:10:25","modified_gmt":"2020-10-08T00:10:25","slug":"consumers-not-loyal-during-a-pandemic-brands-need-activations-to-take-back-the-market","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/consumers-not-loyal-during-a-pandemic-brands-need-activations-to-take-back-the-market\/","title":{"rendered":"CONSUMERS NOT LOYAL DURING A PANDEMIC \u2013 Brands Need Activations to Take Back the Market"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/a>
Andreas Smit believes the activations industry must adapt to survive and thrive.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There\u2019s more than enough evidence to confirm that consumers aren\u2019t brand loyal and nothing about lockdown changed that. In fact up to 36% of consumers have tried a new brand since the pandemic started and 73% of those consumers plan to incorporate the brands into their new routines1. Recognising this, and that there are no rules about brand loyalty during or after a pandemic, brands that aren\u2019t engaging directly with their customers beyond the realm of traditional media, are guaranteed to lose traction and market share. This is the opinion of Business Alchemist, Andreas Smit.<\/p>\n

Activations Industry Open
\u201cSince the outbreak of COVID-19, our lives, how we do business and how we engage with brands, has been redefined on a continuous basis. It\u2019s been a time of uncertainty and frustration with enormous challenges for brands to orbit. Our industry had no choice but to pivot quickly and efficiently to circumnavigate the inherent challenges presented by the lockdown and the loss of opportunities to directly engage with customers. But an upside to uncertain times is that fortune favours the bold and after months of strategising and preparing for the day \u2013 the activations industry is again up and running,\u201d says Smit.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith experiential marketing and activations back in business, the industry is again hard at work helping brands create memorable interactions that effectively spread brand awareness, encourage trial and facilitate dialogue with current and prospective customers\u201d.<\/p>\n

Human Contact Deepens Connections
The significance of being able to operate again extends beyond keeping people employed and agencies functional because Smit believes that real life connection doesn\u2019t happen online. He purports that it\u2019s human contact that helps deepen connections in ways that other media platforms never will. \u201cLeading brands recognise this and have welcomed the opportunity to hit the streets and get back to work,\u201d confirms Smit.<\/p>\n

The power of activations is rooted in the fact that each engagement is immersive, practical and personalised and it\u2019s widely held opinion that for South Africans, experiencing is believing.<\/p>\n

\u201cCustomers are hungry for connection, particularly after lockdown \u2013 and the in-trade environment allows you to do that. This exposure makes them feel a much stronger affinity and affection for a brand,\u201d explains Smit. \u201cBrand leaders recognise that to remain relevant they need to meet their customers where they are \u2013 on the streets at the coalface. Sampling, connecting and making sales. Vision Activate was one of the few companies who recognised this and responsibly rolled out several successful campaigns during Level 2.\u201d<\/p>\n

One such success story is a commuter hub activation where Vision Activate collaborated on a national sampling campaign. Social distancing protocols were observed and the fully sanitised, PPE-compliant activation, effectively immersed consumers in the brand.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no doubt in my mind, that this exercise set the benchmark for future, \u201cnew normal\u201d, in-trade customer engagement,\u201d says Smit.<\/p>\n

Low Touch Not No Touch
Adding to this he says, \u201cAs we move out of the dark days of Covid-19 \u2013 it\u2019s important to remember that a low-touch economy is not a no-touch economy. So provided all safety precautions are taken and PPE regulations are met, there\u2019s no reason why brands shouldn\u2019t be on the ground where their customers are, doing sampling, forging relationships and making sales!\u201d<\/p>\n

Experts have pointed to the lower risk of virus transmission in outdoor settings, prompting more brands to tap into the outdoor sampling opportunities that allow for social distancing. As our temperatures rise and our weather improves, outdoor engagement is expected to become increasingly more attractive and a workable means of interacting in unique and interesting ways that surprise and delight.<\/p>\n

Follow Protocols to Avoid Industry Shut Down
Smit cautions that across all activations in both the short- and long-term, onsite safety and staff training is paramount. \u201cAgencies will need to keep their fingers on the pulse of health and safety updates from global experts and government to ensure the proper processes and protocols are implemented onsite. Yes, activations will have to adjust to satisfy new expectations from health officials and consumers alike \u2013 but the core principles of experiential and the importance of face to face interactions remain intact.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fear of the effects of lockdown and the unknown caused plenty of panic and rumblings about the future of the experiential marketing industry. Our industry had to pivot quickly and efficiently to circumnavigate the inherent challenges presented by the lockdown but in the end I believe we will be stronger than ever before. Those who used this time to strategise and explore ways for experiential to thrive in the months and years to come \u2013 will see that within a crisis there\u2019s always opportunity.<\/p>\n

Fear of the effects of lockdown and the unknown caused plenty of panic and rumblings about the future of the experiential marketing industry. Smit says the industry had no choice but to pivot quickly and efficiently to circumnavigate the inherent challenges presented by the lockdown and the loss of opportunities to directly engage with customers. In the end he believes the industry will be stronger than ever before adding that those who used lockdown to strategise and explore ways for experiential to thrive in the months and years to come \u2013 will see that within a crisis there\u2019s always opportunity.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile some brands adopted a wait and see approach, other brands have been seizing the opportunities that the uncluttered activation\u2019s channels are offering right now. It\u2019s time to shift gears and embrace our President\u2019s call to take back and rebuild the economy. For activations that means being at the coal face where customers are; getting out from behind our laptops and into the public eye where we can reinvigorate customer connections. Failure to do so will guarantee failure to launch,\u201d concludes Smit.<\/p>\n

Reference: Data from consulting firm McKinsey \u2013 as published in Adweek by Lisa Lacy \u2013 Aug 26, 2020: The Pandemic Proved There Is No Brand Loyalty Beyond Obsessed Superfans<\/p>\n

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Source: MyPR.co.za<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Andreas Smit believes the activations industry must adapt to survive and thrive. There\u2019s more than enough evidence to confirm that consumers aren\u2019t brand loyal and nothing about lockdown changed that. In fact up to 36% of consumers have tried a new brand since the pandemic started and 73% of those consumers plan to incorporate the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":168050,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[9021,1],"tags":[3257],"class_list":{"0":"post-168049","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mypr","8":"category-south-africa","9":"tag-mypr","10":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/consumers-not-loyal-during-a-pandemic-brands-need-activations-to-take-back-the-market.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168049","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=168049"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168049\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/168050"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=168049"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=168049"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=168049"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}