Consumers and Pandemic Branding – What key trait will brands need to win over consumers? Share: TDA Date Published 5 June 2020 Categories Blog Reading Time 2-Minute Read In the final part of our week-long series on consumer marketing during a pandemic (see part one, part two, part three, and part four) we cover the one thing that your brand has got to have to be effective in the COVID-19 era. Note: The data here was gathered before recent events put the focus on social issues, and the COVID-19 public health crisis was dominating headlines. There is no silver bullet, no magical elixir, no fairy dust that you can sprinkle on your brand to make sure that you come out ahead as the world endures the economic effects of the COVID-19 crisis. But there is something you can be sure is a part of your brand’s communications that will help you retain your customers. (And, as we know, it is significantly easier, and cheaper, to retain your current customers than it is to acquire new ones.) You can show empathy. Empathy can come in many forms. And it can be tricky for marketers to show empathy to customers who seem to grow more cynical and skeptical of brand messaging every day. But we are in uncharted territory in marketing as the pandemic grips the world’s consumers like no other crisis has in the digital era. So, we are seeing the effectiveness of new approaches. It seems simple, but focusing on addressing the crisis can have a strong effect. Brands that don’t try to ignore the pandemic, but acknowledge it, appear more empathetic to consumers. Empathy is a powerful tool in the marketer’s toolkit at any time and it seems to have only become more important in 2020. Smart brands are putting empathy to good use in their communications. Are you looking for ways to infuse your brand with empathy? Post your project on TDA and get help from one of the best branding agencies in the world.