– Aanchal Dangwal
Businesses around the world are facing a true recession. The videos going viral are showing the true state of mankind with no spice in it. The whole world is hovering around with the pandemic that has led to people leaving hopes for survival. In this year of Survival the word Pandemic gives us a new way of looking at the world and the strategy to be implemented. Taking the situation in hand the consumer is not ready to buy products other than essentials in their basket.
The Pandemic word gives hope to marketers to work in the area of Pandemic Marketing. Here the relevance is in terms of reaching the audience with an effective communication strategy in such a manner that the marketer is able to create a purple cow as rightly said by Seth Godin. Every business irrespective of its core competency has moved in the area of essential goods to overcome COVID-19 without forgetting that it will not be there forever. At the present time, the focus of 4P’s (Product +Price+ Place+ Promotion) or so-called 7P’s (4P’s + People + Process +Physical Evidence) will have to be defined with more P’s to be an active player in the market. There are six more P’s that marketers need to follow as the integral marketing P’s of survival so that they do not fall into the trap of myopia (short-sightedness) and indeed have a view to Hyperopia (Farsightedness).
Empathy is the word of the market so as to understand these add-ons P’s let’s apply these to ourselves. In today’s time when you are going to market or buying online as a customer what is that you are looking for beyond buying the product?
Protection– with the anxiety and fear that the customer has been attached to in the current times the marketer will have to make protection as part of their marketing strategy as it will stay with the customer as part of experience marketing that the customer will be looking out for. When you are ordering food online the fact is we are looking at the best safety that is being followed and then the rating by the customers. So in the coming time, the norm of functioning for the marketer will be protection.
Production– with the inception of the virus from China today the fear of where the product is coming from is another aspect that will be of great importance to the customer. The marketers will have to learn that Swadesh will be another buzzword that the marketer in India will have to apply not because the Prime Minister is saying it but because of the revival and the understanding of the Indian consumer. The consumer will be deciding on the purchase on these parameters.
Pressure– We have been calling this in the past persuasive marketing but now we will have to take a step ahead and talk about the sense of urgency to buy products keeping in mind the protection and production. So all the purchase that is happening should not be important but urgent. An emotion of go-getter from being the first one will drive the market.
Positivity– with people confined at home and no contact other than virtual it’s time for marketers to just talk positively with no negative thoughts otherwise the band will not be able to sail through the current times as well as the times following. No fear has to be created it’s just the opportunity that has to be communicated. Build your brand around positivity.
Pleasure– The association of the brand with the customer should deliver a sense of pleasure in terms of creating happiness. If the brand is not able to give the pleasure of association why a customer like would be associated with it? So while getting in touch with the customer create content that gives the desire to purchase it.
Picture– visualization has more impact than verbalization. One of the most important ingredients for marketing is to let the customer visualize what you stand for as a brand. The cohesive picture that the customer is able to frame will take the brand a long way to being successful.
Part– the customer today alone is not facing the situation so the marketer should present to the customer as a part of the process. So that the customer gets reassurance that the marketer understands and empathizes with the customer.
At the end of it, we need to understand that it’s the customer who buys our product and if we are not able to be part of their journey they will not buy the product from us. The concept that can pull up marketing today is EQ (Emotional Quotient) where the focus should be on self-management, self-awareness, social awareness, and relationship management. The customer of yesterday who believed in the concept of possession and materialism has moved away from them due to this pandemic. The choice of the customer today is not a brand but a product category.
The current situation leads to a lot of manifold answers to be resolved by the marketer as the situation will change, the hopes will change, and the customer will change but the playground or the battlefield for all the brands would be the same. The success to a great extent will depend on the amiability of the brands to adapt and adopt new P’s in their regime. The situation is uncertain but very much hopeful for new private labels in the market.
