This week marks a change in the focus on many news outlets and governments. From protection, to productivity – as leaders grapple with the challenge of getting economies moving again. There is more confidence around some countries approach and communication (New Zealand) than others (UK, US – looking at you!). However, in all situations there is a agreement that the world we are returning to is not the same as we left.

The workplace is no different. The Straits Times last week carried a story from Singapore’s Minister for Trade and Industry about how ‘working from home will continue to be the norm for the majority’ even after restrictions are lifted. Forbes has taken this further and stated that “The Covid-19 coronavirus is becoming the accelerator for one of the greatest workplace transformations of our lifetime. How we work, exercise, shop, learn, communicate, and of course, where we work, will be changed forever!”

However, for those of us that have been able to continue our working life from the safety of our home, will the adjustment back to the office be harder than the adjustment to work at home? US Tech website BuiltIn quote a CEO who states that it takes “6 to 12 weeks for a smooth transition from on-site to remote working”. For many, this timeframe has already been met. People are working at home, people are productive, and…are people are starting to realise the benefits: lack of travel, more flexible hours, ability to help with childcare … With many positives to working from home, what does this mean for the future of work?

Certainly, in the short term, offices will be sparse locations. Governments are still advising those who can work from home to work from home. If you do return, social distancing measures will have to evident. Here in Singapore – if you are do not implement safe management of your workplace, the government can fine you or even shut down operations for errant employers. The Economist offer up an opinion piece on how that distancing may look. A 2m gap between desks could reduce capacity of workspaces to 30-35% of the pre-Covid lockdown. The piece also details a high tech solution before the lockdown in UAE, with contactless pathways from door to desk, relying on motion sensors and facial coding to open doors. Having a reduced workforce onsite, or investing in tech are expensive options for most firms – but what about the office itself. What role will it play?

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At Kadence, we have managed to retain productivity. Completing projects to time, and collaborating using video calls, Slack and online whiteboards and Google Docs. What we really miss is the unintended interaction with others. Overhearing conversations and adding some extra insights, hearing the chatter of voices and the energy in the room. At Kadence, we also have some onsite resources that are hard to replicate offsite. Focus group viewing facilities, a call center and workshop facilities will all be utilized in the future. However, the floor space may change. We might be more open to a higher proportion of staff working from offsite at any one time. Rather than whole team meetings and designated desks, perhaps our floor space will have more meeting areas. So that project teams can come together in an environment to bounce off each other, then return home to execute the required tasks. Vice talk of new rituals being formed to bring meaning to home working and The Atlantic talk about dress codes changing in life after COVID.

However, perhaps the most important change will be in HR, not in the physical use of space. If people are going to work from offsite more often, how does team bonding work? How will you help teams to prioritize their workloads? How will you manage line reports? These skills will require even more attuned social skills and people managers.

I would foresee offices being more flexible environments. Bringing people together when it matters, but keeping people apart for safety….and for their own personal preference. As a result, team dynamics will change. Mangers will need to juggle a wider array of pastoral matters. The corporate cultures that thrive will be flatter, more candid and more collaborative.

Perhaps the new normal is still being discovered, but the ‘now normal’ is all about flexibility and creativity.

According the Bellwether report, market research has taken the biggest hit of all marketing disciplines, as companies look to cut budgets in the face of COVID-19. But arguably market research is precisely the area in which companies need to be investing right now, as they grapple with a radically different business landscape and changing consumer needs and expectations. But against a backdrop of shrinking budgets, how should you approach market research to deliver maximum value in this period?

It comes down to the impact COVID-19 has had on your business. We tend to see that companies are experiencing one of two sales curves, and this will influence where to focus your market research spend.   

1.        Companies with a sales curve shaped like a ʌ

These are the companies that have experienced rapid growth as a result of COVID-19. As needs have rapidly changed, these companies have been the beneficiaries – think streaming providers, recipe box providers, digital platforms for health or education. For these companies, COVID-19 has brought about shifts in behavior which had been thought to take years, and as a result, sales have soared. Disney Plus, for instance, now has 50 million subscribers, in touching distance of its 2024 target, after just 5 months. But there’s a risk that as measures to contain the spread of COVID-19 are relaxed, sales and subscriptions  will decline.

Where to focus your research budget:

Your core focus will naturally be on maintaining the levels of sales you’ve seen in this period and avoiding a big drop off as we adapt to a new normal. To achieve this, invest your spend in customer satisfaction research to understand where your product or service is really resonating and what role your business can play in the ‘new normal’. This will help guide your marketing messaging to appeal to both new and current customers. Customer satisfaction research can also be a useful input for product development. By understanding where your product or service falls short, you’ll be able to make the changes needed retain customers when you go from being a necessity to a nice to have.

2.       A sales curve like a V

There are the companies that have had to cease operations as a result of lockdown measures and have seen a steep downturn in sales. As they’re able to begin operating again, they expect and hope to see business gradually return to pre-crisis levels. Restaurants, clothing brands, entertainment businesses all fall into this category. There’s a temptation to assume that for these companies, it’s simply a case of returning to normal but this vastly underestimates the radical shifts we’re seeing not just in consumer behavior but in expectations of brands.

Where to focus your research budget:

There are a number of types of research to consider when you’re planning your research spend. The first is customer and market understanding research. In the past two months, consumers have been forced move purchases online, to adopt new habits and hobbies and to try new brands. But which of these changes are here to stay? And what does this mean for the path to purchase? Understanding this will be critical as you look to develop an effective post-pandemic strategy.

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Brand and advertising research is also of crucial importance for companies experiencing this sales curve. As some brands step up their game, pivoting their product lines from alcohol to hand sanitizer, luxury fashion labels to scrubs, views of companies are changing. And expectations of marketing are too. We’ve seen magazine covers shot on smartphones, chat shows hosted from people’s living rooms and celebrities coming under fire, as they tell us that we’re all in this together from the comfort of their mansions. All of this will have a huge impact on the type of marketing that will resonate with consumers. We expect to see style taking a back seat to substance and authenticity coming to the fore. Those that plough on with pre-COVID campaigns risk appearing tone-deaf to this change so ad testing will be vital in helping brands to get it right.

Far from being an area to cut back on, market research is an essential investment, crucial for helping brands to navigate a new normal, and enabling them to establish a position of strength.

To find out how we can support you with any of the areas mentioned in this blog post, please get in touch with your local Kadence office.

A few weeks ago, something extraordinary happened.

We ran out of eggs.

There were, quite literally, no eggs to be found anywhere in our little corner of South West London.

I was devastated.

It wasn’t until I couldn’t get my hands on any that I really appreciated how fundamental eggs were to my daily diet. And it got me thinking about how (please forgive me) ‘eggs-traordinary’ this current time is, for a number of reasons.

I wouldn’t be able to tell you how many times I’ve asked a focus group, depth interviewee or online community what they’d do if a certain product or service that we are investigating suddenly disappeared. Deprivation questions are tried and tested qual tools. But they rely on respondents hypothesizing about how they might react in a scenario in which everyday products aren’t available.

The truth is, we’re now living in that scenario.

We’ve had many clients asking us whether they should be doing research now. But this is why, as strange as it may sound, now is the perfect time to conduct research.

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Consumers are now keenly aware of the products and brands they value in their lives – be that eggs, loo roll, or self-raising flour. They are more able than ever before to tell us why they are so important to them – because they have had to live through the realities of living without.

And there’s another, even more important dimension at play here too. Not only are we feeling the lack of products and brands more keenly – our expectations of the roles that brands play not just in our lives, but in society as a whole have dramatically shifted. As beer brands and fashion houses alike pivot towards producing hand sanitizer for health services, we’re seeing a shift towards an expectation that brands will pitch in to play their part in overcoming the pandemic.

For brands to survive in the post-pandemic world, they don’t just need to tap into an understanding of how and why their products matter to consumers, they need to understand how expectations are changing, and how that might affect their brand strategy in the future.

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If you would like to learn more about this study or our work with veterinarians or the animal health sector, please reach out to Hatty Gittins hgittin[email protected] or submit a research project brief here.

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In times gone by (which, despite feeling like years ago, I only mean the start of 2020!) if you were in the UK, and making small talk, you would reference the weather. In Singapore, you would ask “have you taken breakfast?” But there is now a new form of small talk. At the start of any news article, blog, meeting or catch up with family, it is now customary to reference the ‘crazy times’ that we live in – and you have to reference ‘the virus’. It begins with small talk, but make no mistake – what we are living through is the dawn of a ‘new normal’ and the sooner we start thinking about ‘what next’ and not about ‘what used to be’ the better countries, companies and consumers will be.

This is an anthropological examination, the likes of which has never been seen before. The ability to assess how governments and populations deal with the exact same crisis at the exact same time will be discussed for years to come. Hopefully, something is learned from this tragic situation, something to reduce the risk in the future. Writing in the Economist this month Bill Gates feels there must be dramatic innovations in vaccines, home diagnostics and antiviral drugs for us to be able to combat another pandemic. However, Gates also references Winston Churchill, speaking in 1942, as Britain had just won its first land victory “This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.” Gates feels that things must change.

A global crisis is nothing new. Neither is the talk about ‘change’. The last recession in the late 2000s saw the rise of Uber, Airbnb and Pinterest. In fact, looking back through history, we can begin to notice a pattern that extends beyond the startup ecosystem: Apple, Microsoft, General Electric, IBM, General Motors, Burger King, CNN, and Disney were all founded during recessions. But this time, in 2020, all the rules have changed.

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In the past, even during recessions, there were those that suffered economically and those that prospered. Whilst this is still likely to be the case, the type of suffering that is hitting markets is unique. Retailers are shut. Restaurants are shut. Production lines are shut. Airlines are grounded. Every person has been impacted. And as a result how we think about brands, how we rationalize our purchase habits, how we determine what is now an ‘essential’ spend has perhaps been changed forever. As was stated in a Forbes article – How we work, exercise, shop, learn, communicate, and of course, where we work, will be changed forever!

Whilst the temptation is to throw hands in the air and proclaim that ‘nobody knows what’s happening’ is strong. If you watch, if you listen, if you immerse, brands will be able to pick up important clues as to how to navigate these changes. Social media groups are rallying round small businesses. Facebook groups are being set up to identify the brands that ‘deserve’ your money. Brands with billionaire owners, taking advantage of government support packages are being called out as immoral. Now is the time to look, listen and to plan. Whilst I am of course bias, now is perhaps the most important time to invest in your research and strategy teams. Seeking inspiration, insight and ideas from others is perhaps the best use of your time. There will be brands that get it right, and brands that get it wrong. That has always been the case, but somehow, now the stakes feel higher now.  None of us know when the crisis will be over. However, we can be sure that the companies that do survive, will be the ones that grasp what is the ‘new normal’ faster than those that don’t.

Widespread remote working is creating obstacles in multiple forms for today’s teams, from productivity to technology to social connections.  The common thread running through this is maximising online communication.

Visual storytelling through video is one of the most effective forms of online communication. Our brain processes information 60,000 faster when it is shared in video rather than text, and two thirds will complete a task more effectively when instructions are shared this way.

Video may seem like an intimidating format to produce – but it doesn’t have to be with the right preparation in place.  At Kadence, we pride ourselves on effective communication, and in helping our clients communicate successfully within their stakeholder teams. Our in-house design gurus can seamlessly execute videos for maximum impact of our research.

Today we’re sharing 5 best practices in using video to communicate effectively with a remote audience, so that you can remain productive and connected.

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CONTENT

What is the narrative of your video?

What building blocks of information do you need to share in order to help build this narrative and bring it to life for your audience? Creating a storyboard is a great way to help you plan out your thinking, and ensure you have all the right content in place, and in the right order.

TIP: Using simple tools, like PowerPoint, can help you construct the narrative of the story before you begin creating the video.

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AUDIENCE

Who is your video intended for?

Is your audience homogenous, or do you expect them to be different in meaningful ways? Do they all have the same level of knowledge about the topic?

TIP: Remember you want the video to stand on its own, so make sure any information is simple and clear enough for all audiences you intend to speak to.

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IMPACT

What effect do you want this video to have for your audience?

We find that most business communication needs fall into 3 categories:

• Inform – Helping your audience learn something new

• Persuade – Changing your audiences mind, or how they feel about a topic

• Activate – Presenting evidence to spur action

TIP: Think about the final payoff of the video. Do you want them to visit a website; remember a key fact; or agree with a point of view? Make sure the call to action is clear at the end of your video.

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ENVIRONMENT

How will your audience be engaging with this video?

Think about their physical environment (What type of room will they be in? What device will they be using?) and their mental environment (How will it fit in the context of their day? How long will they have to engage with this topic?) This influences important content and format decisions.

TIP: A good rule of thumb is a video 2-3 minutes in length, and that uses subtitles rather than voice over. This makes a video much more versatile in terms of where and when your audience can watch it.

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TONE

What ambiance are you looking to set with this video?

Aesthetics such as colours, fonts, music and pacing all play a role in setting the tone, and therefore the impact, of your video. Also, different video techniques – such as using filmed ‘b-roll’ footage, on-screen text and subtitles, animated data infographics, and voiceover – play a role in defining the tone of your video.

TIP: Align among your stakeholders on the tone before you begin production, to minimise re-work later on. A good starting point is referencing your brand guidelines for colours, fonts and tone.

WE EMPLOYED THESE 5 BEST PRACTICES TO CREATE A SIMPLE VIDEO TO SUMMARISE A RECENT SURVEY ON THE IMPACT OF COVID-19.  WATCH THE VIDEO SUMMARY AND SEE THE STORYBOARD DECK HERE.

If you’d like to hear more about tips on using video to maximise your online communication or know more about our video capabilities, just get in touch.

Going beyond video

Video is awesome – but it is not the only visual medium you can use to tell your story! We use a range of different techniques depending on the end goal, and the level of information required to be communicated.  Some of the other design techniques at our fingertips are:

  • Interactive PDFs – A self-guided deep exploration of the narrative, interactive PDFs are great for when you desire your audience to be in control of what precising content they consume (such as if you have a variety of stakeholders, each with different objectives), and the pace in which they take it in.  They can also ‘live on’ within an organisation, allowing your audience to refer back to the PDF as and when they need different pieces of information
  • Infographics – A great medium to communicate a data-heavy narrative, where the audience may need longer than an animated video allows to deep dive into the data, and understand the full implications of the story
  • Posters and handouts – Ideal for keeping conclusions top of mind with your audience – posters shine when used to communicate simple message in a visual way, such as caricatured personas of a segment, or a reminder of ‘5 essential guidelines’ to executing your product.  Concerned about how to share physical posters during remote working?  Virtually ‘pin’ your content to a platform such as a team intranet or internal social media.
  • Whitepapers – A great medium for when you have more to say, longer form whitepapers supported with visuals such as photos and infographics are ideal for when you need to share detailed information in a more formal way.

As a result of the pandemic, online research is coming to the fore. To help our clients navigate this shift, we ran an Ask Us Anything session to give clients a chance to ask their questions on getting the most out of online research. Almost 200 of you joined us, but for those that missed the session, you can watch the relevant recording for your market below.

Watch the APAC session

Watch the UK session

Watch the US session

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As opportunities for face-to-face research become more limited in the current climate, online research is coming to the fore. To help our clients navigate this shift, we ran an Ask Us Anything session to give clients a chance to ask their questions on getting the most out of online research. Almost 200 of you joined us, but for those that missed the session, we’re sharing the top 10 questions asked in the session, along with our expert advice.

1. Should I be doing research during the COVID-19 crisis?

As a result of the current crisis, we are seeing dramatic shifts in behaviors and attitudes. There’s a tendency to think that this will soon pass and that life will return to “normal”, but the reality is that consumers are going to be adjusting to a new normal. As insight professionals it’s our job to understand the changes we’re seeing so we can advise our clients on how to react accordingly. Arguably, research is now more important than ever before.

What’s more, in some ways, the lockdown situation will actually allow us to delve even deeper into the consumer psyche to understand emotions. One of the age-old techniques we use in qualitative research is the deprivation question, where we ask people to imagine what they would do if a product or service wasn’t available to them anymore. The truth is that this is now a reality for many consumers, and as a result, they’re able to consider and eloquently discuss the role products and services play in their lives in much more detail than before. Added to this, many B2C and B2B respondents now have more time on their hands, meaning that recruitment is actually easier, and we’re seeing greater engagement in the research itself.

2. How do we ensure that current emotions due to the COVID-19 crisis do not affect the way consumers answer?

We can’t ignore the crisis and the impact it’s having on consumers and businesses alike.  As a result of what’s happening, people are re-evaluating what’s important to them and the relationship they have with brands. Their expectation of brands and the role they should play is changing. A classic example of this are the many brands like Brewdog and LVMH that have ramped up their processing lines to produce hand sanitizer for health services. As brands pivot and change their approaches, consumers are naturally going to change their views of those brands. It’s vital to be able to tap into these emotions to understand the expectations that consumers have of brands now and in the future.

3. I usually do focus groups. What should I do now?

Instead of thinking about the methodology you had initially planned to use and how you might replicate this online, take a step back. Return to your project objectives and what you’re trying to achieve.

We see too many clients trying to find a like-for-like replacement when they’re considering online methodologies. If they’re used to running focus groups, some automatically default to an online focus group, but in reality, it could be that another methodology is better suited to their project objectives.

We use two frameworks to help clients think about moving their projects online. The first is to consider the depth of insight you need to obtain. If you’re looking for high level responses to concepts it could be that an online focus group will suffice, but if you really want to drill into who your consumers are and how they engage with your product, digital depths or ethnos could be more suitable.

We also encourage clients to think about what they’re looking for from their respondents. Do you  want to engage respondents on a one-off or on-going basis? Do you want your respondents to bounce ideas off one another, or is a one-to-one setting more appropriate?

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These simple questions can be really useful in helping you think about the right methodology, but remember, one size doesn’t fit all. It is likely that you’ll want to use a combination of methodologies to achieve your objectives.  

4. My budgets are being cut. How do I ensure that I get the most out of my investment in online research?

An online approach is incredibly asset-rich. It will give you a host of video, image and text-based content, sometimes giving you more bang for your buck than some offline methodologies.  But to get the most out of your investment you need to think about two key things: moderation and analysis.

For online communities in particular, this is crucial not only to curate the conversation but to help you unearth those nuggets of insight. By moderating and analyzing what’s coming out of the community on an ongoing basis, you’re able to dig into areas of interest that emerge during the course of the research and ask new questions as you go to help answer your objectives. This ensures you leave no path unexplored throughout your research.

At the same time, with such an enormous amount of information coming out of online methodologies, you need structure in your analysis to ensure you can build your insights appropriately. We have a range of tools we use in-house to help structure our analysis and thinking, focused on delivering the ‘so what’ to our clients and their stakeholders.

5. How can I balance a tight budget with the need to conduct qualitative research that is more representative of the market?

In this instance we’d recommend an online community approach. If you opt for a less complex and therefore more cost-effective platform, you can invest your budget in a larger, more representative sample. Keep tasks at a high level to ensure the analysis is manageable and consider using polling questions to give you broad-based findings at a quantitative level (sample sizes permitting!)

The one challenge that can come with increasing the size of your community is in being able to build rapport with and amongst respondents. To overcome this think about grouping people so that they can discuss topics in smaller groups within the community (e.g. customers vs. non-customers).

6. What are your top tips for moderating an online focus group?

Firstly, make sure you choose the right platform for your project. There are a range of platforms out there and they all have different functionalities that are suited to different business objectives. Depending on your market, you may choose to go with a text-based approach rather than video, if internet connections are slow.

Whichever one you choose, make sure it’s one that will allow you to see all the respondents’ faces on screen at one time, so that you can read facial cues. To help with this, keep your groups small – we’d recommend a maximum of 6 – 8 respondents.

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Don’t forget that you can use pre-tasks and warm up activities to better understand your respondents and build rapport. Make sure your moderator does their homework upfront, reviewing the screener and learning as much about each respondent before the session begins. Once you’ve done this the medium will soon become secondary as respondents relax into the group. Keep tasks varied within the discussion guide to keep everyone engaged, and finally, as with offline focus groups, the moderator’s energy is crucial, so choose wisely!

7. How can I use online methodologies for concept testing? How does this work with highly confidential concepts?

Online methodologies are a great tool for concept testing – and arguably can provide an even greater depth of insight to inform product development.

Online communities in particular are a great tool for this. Many platforms are specifically built with concept testing in mind and have tools that allow respondents to mark up elements of a concept that they like or dislike, along with a justification. The responses you get here can be even more detailed than in a face-to-face group.

Communities also allow us to iteratively improve the concepts over time. We can rapidly adapt concepts based on consumer feedback and put them back into the community for further comment, allowing us to build and refine the concepts as the research progresses.

The community platforms we use also have in-built features for dealing with highly confidential concepts. Images can be watermarked with a unique respondent identifier and if you’re testing ads, we can set videos to self-destruct after they’ve been watched once. On top of this, we use all the confidentiality procedures we would for concept testing in-person. With such stringent processes in place, we’ve never seen a leak in over a decade of running this kind of research. 

8. Is there a risk of “groupthink” when you bring people together for online research in groups?

There’s a common misconception that online communities only allow you to discuss things as a group. In actual fact, that isn’t the case. There are options to ask questions or set tasks that are completed privately, meaning that respondents aren’t influenced by others in the community.

9. Do online approaches work in Asia?

Absolutely.  The key thing is to find a partner who understands the cultural and digital footprint of the market you’re researching, so that they can advise you on the best methodology to use, based on the respondents you’re wanting to reach.

Digital footprints and internet connectivity does vary from market to market, and within different regions of the same country, but it’s hard to deny the increasing impact of digital and mobile technology across Asia. In The Philippines, the social media capital of the world, video-based tasks could be a great way of conducting research, whereas in China, familiarity with the digital way of engagement – from online communities to Wechat groups – presents an opportunity to engage and reach out to your consumers where they already are. And even in more rural areas you can explore potential probable solutions, such as text-based solutions to communicate with those you want to reach.

The key is to decide whether digital research is the right solution for your research is to understand from your research partner the digital feasibility, connectivity and savviness of your target segments and locations. 

10. I’m wary that with online mythologies I’m too far removed from respondents. I can’t see “the white of the eyes”. How do I overcome this?

We’d argue that online methodologies can actually help you get closer to consumers than you might in some face-to face approaches like focus groups. Particularly when we’re running an online community, we’re engaging with consumers over a number of days or weeks (rather than a few hours)  and in this time we can really build rapport and trust. This results in consumers opening up to us, helped by the ease of talking about their experiences to camera. Often consumers are actually more willing to open up at a personal level when talking to their camera phone than to a person that they’ve only just met!

In fact, we’ve just run a community in the US, looking at how consumers are coping in the pandemic, and we found people pouring their hearts out to us via selfie interviews. This helped us to really understand the issues that matter to them, and the context of those emotions.

If you’ve like to learn more about how online research can help you meet your objectives, please get in touch with your local Kadence office.

Kadence Boston, in partnership with 2020 Research, has been running an online community to understand the impact COVID-19 is having on US consumers. Before we launched this community one month ago, we thought long and hard about whether this was the right thing to do. We didn’t want this research to be perceived as taking advantage of the situation for our own marketing purposes. In the end, we decided to go for it, because we are market researchers and our job is to study, and help our clients understand, consumers. As expected, we are learning a lot, but what we didn’t anticipate was just how much our participants would also benefit from this community.

Participants in our COVID Community have been exceptional, in terms of the level of effort they put into their responses, as well as the time they have put into reading and responding in thoughtful, considerate ways to other participants’ posts. We expected participation in the community to be slightly more active than normal, given how many Americans are out of work and staying home due to COVID-19, but we’ve been overwhelmed by the amount of commitment and involvement we’ve seen.

After nearly everyone enthusiastically accepted our invite to extend the community into a third week, we decided to ask what they like about being part of this community. Their responses verify many of the benefits of communities and other online qualitative research methods, not only for researchers but also for research participants.

  • Expressing thoughts and feelings in writing requires greater introspection and thought, which fosters deeper levels of insight.

“By recording how I’m feeling or what I did today, I’m able to see patterns of behavior and thought in myself. I also like having questions that make me think of months ahead since that’s been tough to really visualize lately.” 

– Abby, NYC
  • Being remote and not knowing other participants provides enough anonymity where people feel they can be more open and honest than they might be with their usual circle of friends and family.

“Feel a bit freer to speak my mind on some subjects more honestly. With family or friends, it can be more difficult if they are having a hard time now or have very strong opinions that vary from mine.”

– Ralph, LA
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  • It can be difficult to navigate COVID-19 conversations with friends and family without venturing into polarizing issues, like politics. In highly emotional times like now, communities can provide a therapeutic outlet for consumers to express their thoughts and feelings without fear of damaging relationships. This would also be the case when researching a sensitive, personal topic.

“It’s therapeutic to share [my opinion] without having to hear an argument about why I may be wrong.”

– Patrick, LA
  • Like our obsession with reality TV, we enjoy sneaking a peek into the daily lives of others. Through the community, consumers can see how others are living and coping through COVID-19, which can be reassuring, inspiring, helpful, even entertaining.

“It’s also been so helpful reading everyone else’s responses, tips, tricks and stories. You can really get stuck in a pattern talking to the same types of people in your life.”

– Abby, NYC
  • Similarly, consumers are curious to hear first-hand accounts of others’ feelings and perspectives around the country. Exposure to other community members’ written and video responses each day can elicit feelings of connection and empathy. Realizing your similarities, and better understanding your differences, can bring about feelings of comradery and hope.

“It’s also good to walk a mile in someone else’s shoes. Everyone has a different perspective. They look at things from different angles and looking through the responses, you see the different fears. Their different beliefs, the different struggles that people have in how they’re dealing with them.”

– Michael, Chicago

“I was surprised to see that I have more in common with other people in this group than I thought.” 

– Diego, Houston

Especially now, at a time when we are craving human connection more than ever, online communities and other online qualitative methods are ideal for understanding consumers’ thoughts, feelings, behaviors, needs, expectations and for exploring new ideas.

If you are interested in learning more about these methods, tune into our webinar on April 15th at midday EDT. It’s not too late to register, just click here.

In the recent weeks we’ve been inundated with announcements by what seems like every company in America, large and small, announcing their approach to the COVID-19 pandemic. With much of the country at home, following the news, shopping online, viewing content and using social media more than before, American consumers are paying close attention to how brands are making them feel. Social media is swarming with consumer commentary on corporations’ responses. Brands have never been more in the spotlight and under such scrutiny. Now is a key moment for brands to define their identity and core values to consumers through their response.

As part of our COVID-19 qualitative market research study with 2020 Research, we asked our community of 30 Americans from Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles and New York City to weigh in with their thoughts on how brands have responded to this pandemic.

Here are 10 key insights from our community for companies to consider as they strategize their ongoing response and communication in this new reality.

HOW SHOULD BRANDS COMMUNICATE TO CONSUMERS?

1. Avoid Email Overload

Early emails communication was appreciated but by mid-March consumers quickly became annoyed as corporate communication routinely flooded their inboxes day after day. Consumers have stopped reading them all because many seem to include a “blanket response”, explaining that companies are following CDC guidelines. Companies who sent their first email late into the crisis risk getting noticed for the wrong reasons. They come across as a disingenuous, “purely PR” response.

“I’ve been up to my navel in ‘response’ emails, seems like it’s anyone I’ve ever ordered from or used. I was fine with them at first but they’re getting a bit irritating as they continue to try to keep you updated.” – Boomer, Houston

Consumers do appreciate emails that personally affect them, like updates from local grocery stores and restaurants notifying customers of their closing, shopping hours, new safety measures and sales notifications for needed items.

2. Actions speak louder than ads

Brands that have made a memorable, positive impression on consumers have responded by taking real action and implementing change, not through passive communication. Consumers recall hearing about companies’ positive actions in the news, social media, radio, or podcasts. They find secondary reports more credible than hearing about a company’s response through ads or direct marketing communications. However, consumers’ first-hand experience with brands, in store or online, can completely derail or reinforce their perceptions of a company’s response.

HOW SHOULD BRANDS RESPOND TO COVID-19?

Consumers expect companies to be aware of how this pandemic is impacting our lives and empathetic to how this crisis is making us feel. They appreciate brands that have responded in ways that align with their prioritized values, putting people first and contributing in helpful ways.

3. DO: Prioritize people over profit

Above all else, consumers appreciate company leaders that have shown they care about their employees, like paying them though the shutdown, distributing executive salaries, giving raises to front-line workers, providing protective gear to staff.

“Patagonia and other retailers are continuing to pay employees while stores are closed…I think Patagonia’s response to COVID-19 will continue to motivate me to shop there more and support their brand.” – Millennial, Chicago

4. DON’T: Put business first

In contrast, consumers have negative perceptions of companies that put off closing or implementing equipment and efforts to protect the health of their employees and customers.

“[One shipping company] have kept regular all day business hours, they are not providing their front line staff that deals with the public proper cleaning or safety gear…They haven’t implemented any social distancing rules and at any moment it gets crowded.” – Gen X, Chicago

Consumers are especially critical of major corporations that, despite rising stock prices, are not increasing compensation for their over-extended employees, or paying employees for extended time off due to COVID-19. Some even go out of their way to investigate workers’ perspectives and will write off companies for not treating employees right.

“I’m frustrated that many lower wage workers are getting screwed over when they need the most protection. It’s difficult to see [some delivery] companies … rising in the stock markets.” – Gen Z, NYC

5. DO: Contribute to the solution

Companies and wealthy individuals that have donated generous resources to support the greater goal of saving lives have made a very positive impression on consumers, stimulating feelings of optimism, hope and American pride.

Consumers are most impressed by company leaders that are repurposing their operations to produce or acquire much-needed medical supplies, like Microsoft, Tesla, Apple, GM, Dyson, Medtronic, MyPillow.com and Gap.

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“Corsair turned their gin bottling process into making hand sanitizer … I love the ingenuity, creativity, and response in a time of need. I had never tried their liquor products before, I went straight out and bought a bottle of their gin and one of their whiskey products.” – Millennial, LA

They also admire brands in hard-hit industries, like Hotels.com, that are proactively supporting the greater cause despite their losses.

6. DON’T: Be passive

Consumers are critical of major corporations and moguls that have not donated money or resources towards sourcing medical supplies, judging them as greedy, unethical, and reassessing their relationship with these brands.

Similarly, many are angered by brands that are not taking any action or trivializing the pandemic.

“One specific company that I buy from weekly did not say anything about it. I had to ask via Instagram comments. The owner finally did answer after many comments…called it a “virus scare” which was annoying and turned me off from her company. I felt like she was downplaying what is actually a pandemic.” – Gen Z, LA

7. DO: Adapt to customer needs

Consumers applaud companies that quickly recognized people’s changing needs and adapted to meet these needs in creative and thoughtful ways. These businesses have revamped their operations processes to protect customers and employees and created innovative new services and solutions to help customers. While other companies are adopting these trends, the early adopters and innovators made a memorable impression.   

“With contactless shopping services.  I’ve always enjoyed shopping at CVS over Walgreens but this move that they’ve made has made me take another look at them.” – Gen X, Chicago

8. DO: Support non-customers

Brands that are also extending their services and offers to non-customers are bringing in more potential customers and improving their overall brand image. Consumers view these companies as caring, generous, thoughtful and report intentions to support them in the future.

“CorePower Yoga made a number of their on-demand videos free for anyone so people who do boutique classes can still keep active. I usually can’t even afford yoga normally in NYC, but I’ve been using it! It makes me want to invest in them in the future when I can!” – Gen Z, NYC

9. DON’T: Disregard customer needs

Consumers are put off by companies that have been insensitive to their needs. Grocery stores and retailers that were slow to follow the changes and safety measures taken by their competitors are seen as uncaring and profit-driven. Large retailers that have increased prices in the wake of COVID-19 anger consumers who now view them as greedy and profit-driven. Communication that is irrelevant or insensitive to consumers’ feelings and needs in this new reality negatively affects consumers’ perceptions of the brand. 

“I have received a few emails about “you need to schedule an appointment for us to upgrade/install new HVAC” to protect your air quality.  I found this unprofessional and unethical…trying to play on people’s fears to earn some extra bucks is wrong.”  – Gen X, Chicago

10. Remember, we’re all human.

While consumers recognize that companies are run by people who, like all of us, have never experienced this amount of change and uncertainty; in a matter of weeks, we set expectations for how brands should and should not respond during this unprecedented crisis. Now, more than ever, consumers crave connection and they are connecting most with companies that have shown they care more about people than profit, through their actions, not just their words.

In this highly emotional time, consumers are likely to remember brands that really stood out through their response, both positively and negatively. How brands are responding to COVID-19 is influencing consumers’ perceptions, awareness, consideration, usage, loyalty, and their future intentions with brands.

But it’s not too late to take action to improve brand perceptions. It is critical that companies stay aware of what consumers are currently feeling, thinking, needing and expecting from them right now. Play offense and engage in conversations with consumers. When companies care enough to respond directly to critical consumer feedback in places like social media, perceptions can shift. Connect at the human level in ways that demonstrate empathy, care and support, not just for your customers, but for everyone in the country, for humans around the world.  

For additional insights by industry, or additional information on our community or capabilities, reach out to [email protected].

Disclaimer:  Quotations from community participants have not been fact-checked and are not necessarily representative of the views of Kadence International.