Our weekly roundup is complete. Here are the most pressing marketing insights from this week.
Marketing Teams Are Finding Out What Their Martech Can Do Right Now
Marketing Land
Simplifying is the byword here. TapClicks SVP of marketing Daryl McNutt is interviewed about how to maximize the tools and platforms your teams already have in use without adding more processes.
Why it matters: As budgets tighten and teams are divided into home offices due to social distancing guidelines, leaders need to find efficiencies and drill into reporting to navigate this crisis.
How To Manage Your Stress When The Sky Is Falling
Harvard Business Review
Remember to breathe, connect with others and find purpose during times of extreme stress. It helps.
Why it matters: Perennial advice that we should embrace, especially after the coronavirus pandemic subsides.
Teen Spending Hits Lowest Point In Nearly A Decade As Coronavirus Concerns Grow
Marketing Dive
A dive into the latest semi-annual survey on Gen Z habits from Piper Sandler.
Why it matters: “Nearly half (47%) of Gen Zers said they believe the economy is getting worse, and the coronavirus ranked as No. 2 among the group’s top social and political concerns of the moment, falling only behind the environment.”
How Marketers Grapple With Shrinking Budgets Amid Coronavirus Pandemic
Digiday
Marketers are dealing with the limitations of short-term planning due to the inability to focus on more than a month or two ahead.
Why it matters: CEOs, CFOs and chief media officers are finding their roles changed in light of shrinking budgets.
VSCO CMO Shares The Keys To Building Iconic Brands
Adweek
VISCO CMO Tesa Aragones shares her experiences building iconic global brands such as Nike, Volkswagen, Apple and Bacardi.
Why it matters: Tesa shares insights on the importance of brand values and a full-funnel marketing approach, as well as her career trajectory and time spent at major global brands.
Everything Will Change Forever After Coronavirus…Won’t It?
Marketing Week
Some marketers thrive off the biased belief that the coronavirus pandemic could forever dramatically change the future but in reality, “the only thing that is going to really change dramatically after coronavirus is the number of columns from hacks predicting everything is going to change.”
Why it matters: Marketers should approach consumer sentiments carefully, avoiding surveys that ask them what they will do in the future if certain things happen as a result of the pandemic.
How The Travel Industry Can Recover Through Marketing
AdAge
Coronavirus-related travel losses will amount to a $910 billion hit to the US economy, according to the US Travel Association.
Why it matters: CEO of travel marketing firm MMGY Global Clayton Reid says travel brands should use this time to engage their best customers and grow brand awareness.
How To Keep Your Team Motivated, Remotely
Harvard Business Review
An HBR survey of 20,000 workers worldwide and 50 major companies found that between teleworking or working in the office, working from home was less motivating. When people had no choice in where they worked, total motivation dropped 17 points.
Why it matters: During crises, people tend to focus on tactical work rather than adapting to solve more important problems. Leaders should give employees opportunities to work on challenging issues. Teleworking weekly routines should include both tactical work and adaptive performance.
The Consumer After COVID-19
Marketing Dive
Retailers are uncertain how the pandemic will change consumers’ attitudes about in-store shopping.
Why it matters: Retailers will have to figure out how to express a sense of structure and calm in their stores after the coronavirus pandemic.
Communicating In A Pandemic: Andrew Cuomo’s Keys To Success
Provoke Media
Andrew Cuomo has maintained constant, simple communication with the public about the coronavirus.
Why it matters: What makes Cuomo’s communication so effective is that it’s filled with data, practical examples, sincerity, empathy and timeliness.
Doing Their Bit In A Crisis: Mondelez, Co-op, Bacardi, John Lewis
Campaign Live UK
Amid the coronavirus crisis Mondelez has repurposed its 3D-printing-technology to create medical visors for the National Health Service; Bacardi committed £1.5 million to an initiative called #RaiseYourSpirits supporting independent bars and bartenders by letting them serve customers via delivery; Co-op pulled its Easter ad campaign and instead donated £2.5 million worth of airtime to promote hunger and food waste charity FareShare’s work; John Lewis Partnership is designing and installing an area in the NHS Nightingale Hospital in London where medical staff and volunteers can unwind in between treating coronavirus patients.
Why it matters: According to recent data from GlobalWebIndex, only 37 percent of consumers want brands to continue to advertise as normal.
Dove Puts New Face On ‘Real Beauty’ In Salute To Health Workers
AdAge
Dove’s new ad campaign features healthcare workers’ faces marked by their protective gear amid coronavirus. The ad broke initially in Canada and the US and will be followed by ads customized for other countries with local photos. The US version of the ad includes a tagline noting Dove’s donation to Direct Relief.Why it matters: Proving its agility, Dove pulled its current ads for their lack of relevance. The brand still champions tackling beauty self-esteem issues but it’s adapting workshops which were originally created for schools and public organizations for home use.
How Top Marketers Are Navigating Advertising And Management During COVID-19
Forbes
In response to COVID-19, Postmates launched a new campaign called #OrderLocal featuring celebrities praising their favorite restaurants, Talkspace launched a 16-day program in addition to its usual subscription service that helps people deal with coronavirus concerns and Bud Light created a new concert series and tracker for which restaurants and bars have take-out service.
Why it matters: How brands strike the right tone with ads and marketing efforts amid coronavirus will determine how consumers view them in the long-term.
How To Establish Marketing Authority In A Niche Industry
Entrepreneur
To establish authority within the digital marketing sphere, companies must choose a niche industry that’s booming and requires services, stick with the chosen niche, do more than clients expect and track data on services they’ve provided them.
Why it matters: Focusing on a single market builds a company’s credibility thereby allowing it to scale to other related niches.
Companies Can’t Ignore Shifting Gender Norms
Harvard Business Review
Over 12 percent of US millennials identify as transgender or gender non-conforming and 56 percent of Gen Z know someone who uses a gender neutral pronoun.
Why it matters: Acknowledging new perceptions about gender will allow a company to create products and experiences for a growing body of consumers that don’t believe in traditional conceptions of gender.
Don’t Panic—Adapt To Strengthen Your Brand For A Recession
AdAge
Many brands are exhibiting short-term reactionary behaviors in response to the coronavirus pandemic: reduced marketing budgets, furloughing marketing teams and going dark on advertising.
Why it matters: According to intelligence from Analytics Partners’ ROI Genome, in over 100 cases, more than half of brands saw improvements in ROI during the last recession; brands that increased media investment saw about a 17 percent growth in incremental sales; brands that removed media investment suffered an 18 percent loss in incremental sales; and two-thirds of losses in incremental sales during the last recession were driven by lower investments while one-third was driven by lower consumer demand.
With In-Person Shoots Out Of The Question, Advertisers Turn To CGI
Digiday
Due to the coronavirus, advertisers are pausing in-person commercial shoots and turning to production companies with computer-generated imagery, visual-effects and animated capabilities to complete campaigns already in progress or create entirely new campaigns.
Why it matters: A surge in demand has led some CGI production companies to put on workshops to guide clients through the number of options available to them for creating campaigns remotely.
Facebook In The Age Of COVID-19: Users Are Online, But Will Advertisers Pay To Get To Them?
MarketWatch
“While usage has skyrocketed in countries hardest hit by COVID-19, those same countries will contribute to an online-advertising pullback that undercuts results.”
Why it matters: “Facebook has especially felt the pinch on cost-per-click (CPC), the amount an advertiser pays a publisher for every click on an ad and a key determinant in how much Facebook charges brands to show their ads on Facebook’s digital properties.”
Marketing Ventriloquism: Lessons Marketers Can Learn From Political Advertising
Ad Age
“Three ways marketers can shape their brand’s narrative, beyond traditional advertising, to master marketing ventriloquism.”
Why it matters: “Marketing ventriloquism,” in short, is characterized by the author as “communicating through voices other than their own.” Brands can take a lesson from political advertisers who employ newsjacking, crisis communications and endorsements.
Comms In The Age Of Coronavirus: When To Stick With The Plan … And When To Chuck It
AdExchanger
Know when to pause the product launches and pivot your comms plan. As in, right now if you haven’t yet.
Why it matters: Unless your communications are finely tuned to the current crisis, you may need to scrap them. Brands that don’t may seem tone-deaf at best.
What Nearly Every Leader Forgets To Say During A Crisis
Inc.
Leadership is more than setting the big vision, especially in times like this.
Why it matters: Don’t forget to armor your teams with a plan forward, not just platitudes.
Brand Marketing Through the Coronavirus Crisis
Harvard Business Review
A handful of Important tips that can inform brands on the actions they need to take to “serve and grow their customer base, mitigate risk, and take care of their people.”
Why it matters: Sensitivities are raised during times like this and we’re likely to see longstanding behavioral changes due to the nature of the pandemic. Proceeding with an abundance of care and empathy and planning for what’s next should be front and center for brands right now.
Editor’s Note: Our weekly reading list is updated daily. This installment is updated until Friday, April 10. Have a tip? We’re looking for must-read articles related to trends and insights in marketing and media. Let us know at editorial@alistdaily.com.
