Why it’s more important now than ever to focus on your BRAND

Under current circumstances- uncertainty, economic stress, fear- you may feel like hiding under a rock, OR you might want to just panic drive sales as much as possible to try to make up for any losses. Thing is, frantically panicking is brand damaging. Uncertainty is unavoidable, as are the impacts on sales at the moment. So with that in mind, what’s most important right now is to stay visible, and to focus on your brand and your community. Stop resisting, and work with the circumstances. There isn’t an alternative option.

So why focus on the brand?

The lockdown has led to a range of changes in behaviour including increased social media use, increase online use as people strive to stay connected and entertained, live streams filling the void of human interaction, and many looking to find hobbies or be productive.

Let me offer a perspective on how to best approach this. Despite many brands facing a natural reduction in sales- rather than hiding, brands need to adapt in the short term and also remain relatable to their consumers, providing them with useful content. This includes a focus on community engagement, using experts to create trusted content, focusing on being relevant and supportive and telling real, relatable stories. Staying visible and building a loyal community. I’ve seen a hugely positive example of this from a number of brands- for example skincare brands offering free hand creams to the NHS and fitness studios offering free classes to their communities. Giving out free classes isn’t going to make up for the lack of membership revenue. It is however going to keep your community loyal to you (rather than going elsewhere to fulfil their fitness needs) and it is going to open the door to new customers who may have not looked at gym memberships before (they might just be happy with their own), but are now intrigued in an attempt to keep fit at home. That’s not to say everything needs to be given out for free. Some gyms are charging reduced prices for their classes via Zoom, and this is helping to keep their self-employed trainers supported. In the same way, these trainers will stay loyal to the brands and employers who were innovative and helped their staff during this time. Product based brands who don’t offer services as such can still build community. In this way it is important to focus on the message of your brand and WHO your consumer is. What are they interested in? If you’re an activewear brand who has a number of customers who are fitness fans, mothers, those interested in health and self-care etc- provide them with that content. They will be soaking up their phones right now, so spread the message of your brand through providing your consumers with relevant content.

In the long term, these brands that continued to engage with and add value to their audiences will thrive post lockdown as they will have built and kept brand loyalty ready to fuel sales when business returns to normal. As a gym, you may have attracted new potential customers who might love your free Instagram classes and convert to paying customers when things are back up and running. The same goes for a business consultant, life coach, meditation teacher, healer. If you take the opportunity to showcase your services online for free, you may convert some new customers in the future. It’s simple psychology relating to tapping into consumers emotions and creating trust. PR isn’t about thinking directly in terms of return on investment and direct sales, it’s about building a BRAND- which stays around much longer and enjoys more benefits in the long run.