Under the epidemic, here are three key words for brand marketing to save themselves in 2020!

Under the epidemic, no industry or brand can remain immune.

The whole country is united in fighting the epidemic, but no one can accurately say when the favorable turning point will come.

Under such circumstances, individuals, enterprises, and the entire social development will inevitably be significantly affected.

Especially for enterprises, the operating rhythm throughout 2020 has been disrupted. Delayed resumption of work, financial crisis, product model transformation, and organizational structure upgrade are all serious challenges. If they can only survive in 2019, they may collapse directly in 2020.

It is inevitable to be anxious, after all, the butt determines the head.

However, 2020 will continue, and the road ahead is full of unknowns and reefs. We must still strive to save ourselves in order for the company to survive better.

Next, I will briefly talk about my thoughts on brand marketing in 2020, which can be summarized into three key words.

01

Focus

There is no doubt that the marketing budgets of most brands will be further tightened in 2020. Everyone is trying to increase revenue and reduce expenditure and will be more cautious with every brand expenditure.

Especially at this time, the more brand marketing needs to focus. What should it focus on? Strategy! Don't fight a chaotic war or be distracted. All the efforts on the brand should revolve around the core strategy and bring real help.

What is strategy?

Simply put, strategy is to provide an effective solution to a key problem of the enterprise.

In fact, formulating strategies is the process of identifying problems, finding entry points, and providing solutions to business problems.

Now, the question is - " How can companies survive better in 2020 under the epidemic? " So, what is the entry point for your brand marketing? What is the most urgent thing to do? What measures can help the brand the most? What goal do you want to achieve? Ultimately what is your core strategy?

In my opinion, strategy may be the most important thing to think about in brand marketing this year. Even if you haven’t thought about it in the past, you must think about it this year. You must have a plan and can’t just take it one step at a time.

At any given moment in any business, there are only one or two key marketing actions. When the environment is good, everyone's strategies may be scattered, but in 2020, you have to focus on the key behaviors of brand marketing. Companies must determine their 2020 brand strategy as early as possible and customize their own solutions.

In the case of insufficient budget, it is important to determine the focus strategy so that subsequent brand marketing can be targeted and money spent where it counts. This will produce results and form growth potential in a shorter period of time, ultimately empowering the brand.

Everyone should have seen the South Korean movie "Parasite", which was the biggest dark horse at this year's Oscars: it swept the four awards of Best Picture, Best Director, Best International Film and Best Original Screenplay, and became the first non-English film in Oscar history to win the Best Picture.

This movie can be said to be frighteningly profound, shockingly cruel, and thought-provoking.

From a strategic perspective, it is because Ki-taek, the father in "Parasite", always has no plans that his daughter is killed, his son is seriously injured, his family is broken up, and in the end he can only hide in the secret room of the mansion to live a miserable life and parasitize others.

And it was precisely because his son Ki-woo finally had a plan to "buy a luxury house" that he regained hope in life and a goal to keep striving for. This may be the director's advice to everyone.

In 2020, brand marketing cannot become a "parasite" of the enterprise.

02

fast

A focused strategy does not mean that everything has to slow down, but rather that you have to take small steps and move fast. The more turbulent the moment, the more the brand cannot lose its composure.

It is unknown when the epidemic can be completely controlled, and even if it is controlled, it will leave sequelae on the entire market environment. The impact may last for a few months or the entire 2020.

The more difficult things are yet to come.

At this time, all companies are having a hard time. Everyone is facing the same difficulties. Who can stand out quickly? Those companies that can react and respond quickly.

What is fast?

Think ahead

Do things in advance

Flat and fast decision making

Efficient project operation

Brands in 2020 entered the race between life and death from the very beginning, racing against time (the god of death). If you run fast, you will rush out; if you run slowly, you will be exhausted to death.

We really can't stand the organizational rigidity, decision-making difficulties, formalism and bureaucracy of the past.

Whether it is product transformation, business model change, organizational structure adjustment, cost budget control, brand strategy planning, epidemic response, etc.

If you act faster and plan earlier than others, you will become more proactive instead of just sitting back and waiting for failure. If you plan ahead for the future, you can also gain an advantage in the subsequent explosive competition.

When the epidemic is over, spring comes and the market gradually returns to normal, others will have already made preparations, completed their layouts, and started to seize the market, while you are just starting to start projects one by one. This is probably the most difficult time.

Therefore, the test of brand marketing in 2020 is not who has better ideas or who has more people, but the team's efficient action ability.

The strong wind reveals the strong grass!

Not fast enough? I'm afraid I'll have to work overtime!

03

Innovation

When everyone is cautious and defensive, innovators often have more possibilities.

This innovation is not about creativity, but about daring to be different, daring to break the rules, and daring to find new ways out.

Because of the impact of the epidemic, the company's past business model, product model, organizational model, etc., may not be applicable at all at the moment, and their efforts cannot be put to good use.

At this time, on the one hand, we should consolidate our existing products, models and old customers, reduce consumption and avoid loss. On the other hand, we need to innovate, seek change in the midst of constancy, seek breakthroughs in the midst of change, and seek survival in the midst of breakthroughs.

Whether it is a business model, business model, service model, product model, work model, operation model, etc., they can all be re-examined in light of the epidemic and adjusted and innovated as permitted by the company's resources and capabilities.

For example, Hema has changed its delivery method and launched "contactless delivery": delivery personnel will wear masks during delivery, disinfect when entering and leaving, and deliver vegetables in a contactless manner, delivering them to customers or the entrance of the community, and telling customers to pick them up.

For example, in the current epidemic situation, working from home has become the best choice. At this time, Enterprise WeChat, DingTalk, Feishu, ZOOM, etc. all changed their original business models, immediately adopted free conference openings, and continued to provide new functions in response to the epidemic to meet market demand, gaining a large market share while also enhancing their own brand value.

For example, the field of education must be one of the areas most affected at present. Should offline education institutions quickly expand online? Should online education platforms take the opportunity to sell courses or give up their short-term profits to offer free classes to gain more user support?

NetEase Youdao should be one of the first online education institutions to donate courses for free. On New Year's Eve, it announced the donation of winter vacation live classes to the Wuhan area, and then expanded it to the entire Hubei Province, and then announced the expansion to primary and secondary school students across the country.

Soon after, other educational institutions followed suit and launched free learning resources or online live classes. And I think the biggest brand winner is NetEase Youdao.

Of course, there is also the catering industry, and the first to be affected is Xibei. I believe everyone has heard a lot about Xibei’s story recently. This is also Xibei’s innovation in a sense.

At first, an interview with Xibei Chairman Jia Guolong went viral in the media. He bluntly stated that the cash flow could not last more than three months, and called on the country to provide support at the critical moment. Later, a letter from Jia Guolong to Xibei employees went viral and became a model for many corporate open letters.

Xibei's proactive external voice has allowed more people to understand the difficulties of the catering industry. Ultimately, it is not only a way to save itself step by step, but also a way to shoulder its responsibilities and obligations to the industry to a large extent.

Afterwards, more than ten cities across the country successively issued relevant policies to support the catering industry, and Xibei also obtained a bank credit line of 430 million yuan.

Okay, these are the three key words I wanted to talk about.

If you still don’t know what to do for brand marketing in 2020, you might as well take action immediately and discuss with your team the most suitable and valuable strategies for your company. Think carefully about what you must do in 2020?

Then execute firmly, maintain the team's vitality, keep up quickly, encourage innovation, and iterate steadily and quickly.

2020, there is still a long way to go, I wish you all the best!

Author: Mumu Old Thief

Source: Mumu Laozei