How Marketing Has Been Impacted By The COVID-19 Crisis

A new study by Sortlist has identified the areas of marketing that have been most affected by the COVID-19 crisis. The report shows a huge increase in businesses and brands looking to increase their digital presence, especially among website builds and e-commerce projects. As you would expect live events and traditional advertising have has taken a big tumble across Europe and so, our Founding Partner, Simon Cristal was asked to share his opinion on the current state of play and where the opportunity lies for both businesses and brand owners.

“A look at the current data is evidence enough that businesses are firefighting right now, and, as a result, digital solutions that enable brands to talk to their audience fast, effectively and remotely are on the communications frontline. Digital transformation is now high on the agendas of many businesses, in an effort to enhance the connected world they share with their customers, and to evolve both internal and external infrastructure, fast. For many, the pandemic is acting as the catalyst to force positive change within those businesses that should arguably have evolved a long time ago, but hadn’t made digital transformation a priority, until now.

Recipe-box brands, such as Hello Fresh, who embraced a digital business platform from the very beginning, and operate a D2C model, find themselves in pole position and will continue to increase digital advertising, when so many other industries are having to cut back, such as live events. However, whilst this has proved a very challenging time for some businesses, it’s our job as marketeers to look at new, innovative ways for brands to engage digitally with their audiences. Sortlist, for example, just launched their new webinar series, and with an excellent response rate.

We should also take a moment to consider traditional channels, such as direct mail. Lockdown and isolation have created a captive, at-home audience, so it could be time to consider inspiring, creative and, most importantly, helpful ways your brand can engage with its audience, given their increased dwell time. At a time when our postal service is under increased pressure and our audience likely under stress, when it comes to direct mail, less is most definitely more. One short, appropriate and well-targeted piece, in the right tone, and with a strong message, is worth ten pieces of instant recycling.

During these challenging times there’s much light to be found. Those businesses that embrace change and can react, flex and evolve, will survive, and even thrive, emerging stronger than ever and most importantly, future-fit.”

To view the full Sortlist report, click here.

About Us: SWC Partnership is a specialist international marketing agency with excellent transcreation and multilingual marketing credentials across both B2B marketing and B2C marketing in Europe. Contact us here to discuss your project or agency requirements.