Coming out of well-cushioned job and wearing the entrepreneur’s shoe made us (the company) more middle-class value oriented. Now, sitting across the table with start-up founder, entrepreneurs & family-owned businesses made us realize that we need to come up with business solutions to address people’s needs & the way their mindset determine their belief & behaviour, and not just advertising taglines or layouts. Like a middle-class persona, we need to be Useful with a cutting chai, and not just Complexly Intellectual with a glass of single-malt whiskey.
There have been several reports & research on consumer behaviour & impact of Covid-10 on businesses, we thought what & how a middle-class person will write if asked to articulate?
Taking inspiration from yesterday’s address of the PM in vernacular, where not only the family members even the dog stopped growling/barking and listened attentively with rapt attention as if the last tips were peddled out by the principal before the board exam.
A middle-class’s take on the implications of the last almost two months of “bandh-bandh sa jeena”:
Aap ke paas yeh hai kya? – The pandemic has caused a demand and supply shock – brands in many segments no longer have a product to sell at store, yet asking us to buy! Kya hai yeh! Aap ke paas nahi hai, lekin maine toh ishka advertising dehka!!! Build an efficient model to deliver before instigating demand.
Aap kahan tak poohunche? – Direct-to-consumer proposition. Take a look at Dunzo and can see mega-brands reaching out to the customers directly. It is time to re-think the last-mile connectivity. Brands can find opportunities in a ‘close-to-home’ strategy vs the traditional hub-&-spook model.
Bade main kya hai? – Pack size is a key lever to consider going forward. Prominent FMCG brands are reassessing pack size. People are going to horde for at least next 6-9 months with the fear of “woh wapas ayega”.
Jo maang raha hoon pehle woh do, offer-sopper baad main bolna – Avoid pure discounting, if your brand is not able to provide the experience necessary to win customer empathy. Brands should consider how packaging, delivery and service can reassure customers and not just deep offers of no value.
Ab kya karoge? Future ke baare mein kya soocha hai? – Brands will need to review what worked in the lockdown and develop a clear strategic & implementation blue-print for 3-6-365 framework (This quarter – This half year – This year). Kuch naye, kuch purane – look for signs of behaviour formation through mindset mapping and belief questioning. Digital Astitva, such as online services and “Subscriptions”, will become necessity and not just good-to-have. Online should not be treated just as a media, but as a distribution channel.
Main kya bolun? Kya jawab doon? – Many brand owners & accelerators (marketing) asking “How can I justify the financial value of marketing costs to the board?” Calm down and think – please, do not kill SOV to damage SOM – it is quite an irreversible damage when the market normalizes. Rather, prune or hold back on dwarf brands / gas guzzlers for the time-being. Time to re-frame the thinking process and build business behaviour like a start-up, with a focus on snipper strategy of brand building in the initial stages of market opening up.
Itna bhi maat rulayo ke anshoon khatam ho jaye – Use emotional, warm advertising as long as it fits with the public’s mood. Purpose that is reality and not advertising. Take care of own people before PR-ability of donation and overflow of emotion. Now, Mother’s Day communications come with pack of headache balms & pills. It is not B2B or B2C or Employer2Employee or HR2Staff, it is H2H – Human to Human. Insaan se insaniyaat.
Jaanoge tabhi toh maanoge aur karoge – Time to look into first-party data not as a piecemeal, but as a “day-in-the-life” of India & Bharat. Data is no more binary, it is wrapped around with emotional, rational & tangible values. Data now matters a lot when brand’s response may be determined by whether it is more exposed to a drop in demand or a problem in supply. Data can arm a brand and make it a ‘superconnector’ (jood jo asaanise tutega nahi) between market pressures and marketing solutions.