Rising consumer prices due to inflation are causing people to think more about what they spend their money on. A full 93 percent of Czechs are currently thinking about where and how to save on their spending (NIQ, 01/2024). In such an economic situation, people are the most flexible and creative - they are willing to change their habits and behaviours to maintain their standard of living. For marketers, this means it's a good time to think about brand positioning and communications to see if they truly reflect real, changed customer needs.
Ask and test
There are many ways to find out what customers want or need, from asking them over the phone or in a questionnaire, to focus groups, chatbot-assisted diaries, or going down TikTok and Instagram to see what people are searching for in relation to your product category and what content the algorithm is offering them. Especially with younger target audiences, you can invite them into your business and ask them directly how they would sell or change your product. They're used to thinking this way because they've been exposed to brand and product promotion from a young age, and many of them are even thinking about how to build their own business.
Brand or sales promotion?
More than ever before, it's important to clearly name your goals. It makes a big difference whether you want to build brand associations so people remember you or include you in the decision-making process when it's time to buy, or whether you need to sell stock. There's no shame in running a pure sales campaign; you just have to remember that at that point you're primarily talking to people who already have confidence in you or are willing to take a step into the unknown. For all other cases, you need to build brand associations. It's true that brand building helps sales, and conversely, sales campaigns help spread awareness a bit, but they have limited effectiveness for the latter goal. If you need both, determine the ratio between branding and sales activities and proceed accordingly.
ESG as a growth engine
The ongoing crisis also shows us that sustainability can only be done sustainably if it helps the business. Especially in a situation where, with inflation, people are not so willing to pay more money for sustainable products, we need to embed sustainability into the whole business so that it is not just a "communication indulgence". An example of this is Lidl, whose roofs covered in solar panels reduce both its carbon footprint and its stores' electricity costs. In addition, they attract customers with electric cars, who can charge their cars during a visit at a bargain price. But it doesn't have to be just about energy consumption; similarly, for example, Ikea is fighting domestic violence because it knows it is a serious obstacle to its (business) mission for better homes for all of us.
Humour, nostalgia, sigh, pride, anger, wonder
Iconic campaigns such as Volvo's Epic Split, It's What Happens in The Dark that Puts you in the Light with Michael Phelps for Under Armour, or more recently Calvin Klein with Jeremy Allan White, would not have come about if there was not an intention at the outset to provoke a specific change in customer beliefs and emotions. Good advertising provokes opinion and social discussion - if you tune it to please everyone, it's likely to be just mediocre. And people only pay mediocre money for mediocre stuff. Communication built on emotion has up to eight times the impact on business and will help you best sell the effort put into getting your brand right.
Source: mam.cz
