TRUST - the only thing that consumers are expecting from brands.
At a time when Coronavirus cases are doubling every 4 days in India. The number stands at 4280 confirmed cases (as I write) with 111 plus deaths in India.
Recently WIRED did a live stream with editor Nicholas Thompson and senior correspondent Adam Rogers where WIRED answered reader questions about the scientific and social consequences of the pandemic, from privacy concerns to whether it's ok to go running. More than 720 people joined the discussion.
“A virus is a verb. A virus does a thing. What it does is it infects other cells and then those cells make more virus. There's no collective intelligence at work here. Viruses are infinitesimally smaller even than bacteria, which are infinitesimally smaller than us. There's some notion that the entire microbiome in a person is more cells of them than us and so there's some collective version of sentience that makes up who we are as humans.” Adam’s response when a reader asked if viruses have sentience.
In such desperate and grave times, when the entire world more or less is a lockdown, businesses are shut, people are adopting quarantine as the new norm; Trust becomes the only player. If “Trust at work” was the key for 2019, then “Trust: Competence and Ethics” will define 2020 and the coming years says the 20th Annual Edelman Trust Barometer - an online survey done in 28 markets with 34,000+ respondents.
The consumer(66%) today has no confidence that our current leaders will be able to address the present challenge. Religious leaders and government leaders are the distrusted lot and scientists are the most trustworthy. While no institute has been seen as both competent and ethical but businesses that are generating value for owners, being the driver of innovation and driving economic prosperity have been regarded as the most competent ones.
NGOs are ethical because they are protecting the environment, civil and human rights and driving causes like poverty, illiteracy and diseases. (Brand trust during COVID19 report)
So what is a consumer expecting from a brand during such grave times? Should the brand go out and sell, should it be a passive player or should it go and actively support the consumer. If it plays safe then it is avoiding risk but the consumer will remember and if you play an active role then you invite risk and are you prepared for it?
General Motors is planning to bring in 1,200 UAW workers to build 10,000 Ventec Life Systems ventilators a month at its plant in Kokomo, Indiana. Ford is also working on the same because, in the battle against coronavirus, which can inhibit a person’s ability to breathe, ventilators are a crucial tool in short supply. Mahindra & Mahindra is working on an indigenous, low-cost ventilator. Maruti Suzuki has also joined the race of producing ventilators AgVa Healthcare.
Burberry - the British fashion behemoth has transformed its Yorkshire trench coat factory to make surgical gowns and masks. It is also funding research into a single-dose vaccine developed by the University of Oxford that's on course to begin human trials next month.
The list of brands and businesses supporting the society in novel ways is massive and so is the list of brands that are busy trying to stretch their logos to showcase social distance.
Dear McDonald, the consumer is not dumb it understands what the term social distancing means but it is taking time to digest all the unforeseen changes. Ultimately, the fast-food giant was forced to apologise.
“Dear brands - Get the fuck on with it rather than spending time on labels, press releases and comms,” shared Mark Ritson in his recent post where he said that the consumer doens’t care much about the communication campaign, just get on with your job. He further said, “To develop products and services that reflect the strange new challenges of the COVID summer ahead. To distribute them in a way that enables everyone in the market to benefit from them. And to price them in a manner that maximises availability and profitability at the same time.”
On the contrary, Burger King chose to do something practical first, understand customers' current feelings, and then offer at least a temporary solution.
Fernando Machado, the chain's worldwide CMO, explained the thinking like this to Adweek:
I think that before jumping on ads, brands need to take action. There are lots of good examples of brands helping people via concrete actions that help communities. In times like this, we all need to help.
India’s largest food ordering and delivery service, Swiggy is also working on the delivery of essentials and groceries during the ongoing lockdown. With its ‘contactless delivery’ Swiggy is following the social distancing guidelines and it is also working with local kirana stores and select mid-range stores. “With this lockdown, a host of people who are tied to their homes are asking us to connect our fleet to the kirana store or the local supermarket,” said Vivek Sundar, CEO to YS.
Swiggy has also set up a relief fund for its delivery partners and their families. Through the fund, delivery partners are now covered with Income-Protection Insurance, where up to 14 days of income is insured if tested positive with COVID-19. Zomato has also announced that it will be facilitating working capital loans for its partner restaurants to help them stay afloat in the pandemic. It is also working with Feeding India to provide food support to daily wagers who lost their livelihood due to COVID-19 lockdown.
I recently did an Instagram Live session with Varun Duggirala to discuss his love for Bollywood, Star Wars, his new podcast, content and what it means being a young father. One of the questions asked by a viewer was - How should marketers respond or do marketing during the COVID-19 outbreak?
I have an uncivilised and civilised answer. The uncivilised answer:
“Don’t be an asshole. Put yourself into the shoes of the consumer and ask yourself what you would hate to see during these tough times which we all are facing. What communications would you block or curse certain sales promotions?
A marketer is also human, he/she is as affected as we all are. Then why do we fail to see the line?
Is it so difficult to be human??”
Now let me give you a civilised answer for marketing during a pandemic.
Inform
Government and media are no more the trusted sources and it isn’t shocking for me anymore when both are interlinked in selling garbage to justify their means. The 2020 Edelman Trust Barometer showed that “my employer” was the most trusted institution by 18 points over the business in general and NGOs, by 27 points over government and media.
Employees want to be informed beyond the effect on the company, including advice on travel and what can be done to stop the spread of the virus. They want to get the information via email or newsletter (48%), posts on the company website (33%) and phone/video conferences (23%).
Additionally, it is the time when CEOs must lead. 92% believe that the employer's CEO should speak out on one or more issues and another 74% said that they should take the lead on change rather than waiting for the government to impose it.
Earlier last month when COVID-19 started spreading its wings globally, Marriott CEO Arne Sorenson said he’s losing sleep over whether the budget reductions will turn out to have been too severe. “I’m also worried that we’ve — we are cutting so deeply that the rebuilding process will be more challenging than — maybe more challenging than we anticipated and maybe to some extent that we might regret having moved as aggressively as we’ve moved.”
These are your real leaders, who step up and lead from the front. So when Sandip Maiti, CEO of Experience Commerce shared a poem on LinkedIn “Confessions of a leader facing the Pandemic”, trust me I wasn’t surprised. Poetry isn’t dead.
Solutions
Consumers also want brands to be creative problem solvers. In India, nearly nine in 10 respondents (88%) want brands to shift to producing new products that help people meet the unique challenges of life during a pandemic, with 57% saying that brands must do this to earn or keep their trust.
67% said they are not paying attention to new products and services right now unless they are designed to help with pandemic-related life challenges.
Diageo India, the liquor firm that sells McDowell’s whisky and Smirnoff vodka, announced that it will produce 3 lakh litres of hand sanitizers to help overcome the shortage of the product in the country due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Additionally, a Rs 30 million health insurance cover has been allocated for bartenders associated with their in-house programme in India.
And here is a complete list of how brands are supporting the nation and its people during the pandemic.
You can also be creative by engaging with the audience that is in lockdown and trying to find new ways to engage. You can’t be hooked on social media or Netflix for the entire day. Pidilite is encouraging families to take part in various 'fun' crafting activities and keep their children engaged in the process. Rolled out on the user-generated content platform Momspresso, #IndiaCraftingMemories in association with Fevicreate - a platform by Pidilite that encourages creativity, and makes learning fun through arts and crafts, and DIY activities.
According to the latest report from mobile intelligence company, Apptopia and customer engagement platform Braze share that if you are thinking there is a purely one-on-one contest between Netflix and Disney, it’s also worth noting that neither of them wins on time spent in-app — instead, it’s YouTube Kids that wins in both the United States and globally.
With every brand trying to own the 21-day challenge mission, nothing wrong since these tough times are challenging are creative juices. But before you initiate another #21daychallenge and get high, ask yourself as a consumer and not as a marketer will you yourself be excited to do the challenge for a day. I suppose you have the answer.
Support
Finally, don’t be a passive brand. Go out and show you really care about people. Otherwise, the consumer won’t care when her life adapts to the new norm. More so ever, consumers expect brands to act. 62% globally, trust employers to take responsible action.
60% of respondents in India said they have recently started using a new brand because of the innovative or compassionate way they have responded to the virus outbreak, including 82% in China. And a similar number (60%) have convinced other people to stop using a brand that they felt was not acting appropriately in response to the pandemic.
It is good to showcase how you are supporting the consumer but don’t go over the top. Make sure you keep focussing on the two important buckets of communication - Inform and Solutions. Support is good and will make you stand out. However you are not doing any favour, it is your responsibility to do it well.
Stay safe and stay home.