Marketing now with meaning and empathy
According to Marketing Dive and research from DISQO, online search and purchase behavior has increased 59 percent in the last week, led by cleaning supplies and health aids, while massive sales bumps are occurring also around shelf-stable food and beverage products. The extraordinary conditions reveal signs of an emerging new phase, ‘Quarantine or Restricted Living’ preparation as consumers hunker down at home for the long haul.
On Monday, Amazon announced hiring of 100,000 new positions to help them keep up with the surge in online transactions and added pressures on their delivery infrastructure. Meanwhile restaurant companies are in full pivot mode, making new moves to answer the need for curated family meals available through pick-up and delivery.
- One restaurant in Chicago, Prairie Grass Café, has opened a hotline service called From Our Kitchen to Yours, in an effort to help home cooks with guidance and advice on cooking and meal preparation. Meanwhile Weber Grill is creating Family Grill Packs, available through DoorDash delivery or takeout.
E-commerce transactions are likely to increase dramatically in the coming weeks, as people increasingly stay put, under guidance from the Center for Disease Control and state/local governments and departments of health. Emergent forecasts these behavioral moves will likely represent a lasting change that will usher in a new era of online food shopping and meal acquisition from a variety of sources. Removing friction from online search, menu-building, transactions and delivery will be vital as this story unfolds.
Marketing in the midst of uncertainty
It is important that brands approach marketing by leaning in with empathy and deeper meaning, working to be useful and helpful in this unprecedented environment. The question marketing teams should be asking: how can we help families cope with the stresses they are facing, the lifestyle upheaval of home-bound living, and the requirement of cooking and preparing virtually every meal?
This is the opportunity to be a partner and valued voice, helping consumers with these challenges rather than focusing on product feature/benefit selling. Before you is an opportunity to build lasting relationships that positions the brand with higher purpose, as a more human and approachable, trusted guide and resource.
Positive indicators
Businesses in food, beverage, pet, cleaning, health aids, and home-related categories are likely to prosper in the current situation, along with e-commerce platforms and delivery services.
We will get through this together. Brands will emerge on the other side as more enlightened, authentic and trustworthy businesses truly making a difference in customers’ lives.
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Bob Wheatley is the CEO of Chicago-based Emergent, The Healthy Living Agency. Traditional brand marketing often sidesteps more human qualities that can help consumers form an emotional bond. Yet brands yearn for authentic engagement, trust and a lasting relationship with their customers. Emergent helps brands erase ineffective self-promotion and replace it with clarity, honesty and deeper meaning in their customer relationships and communication. For more information, contact [email protected] and follow on Twitter @BobWheatley.