With intensified scrutiny from the media and the general public during the Covid-19 pandemic, organizations must protect their brand to ensure they continue to be perceived in a favourable light throughout this crisis. If there is a negative perception, it can have lasting consequences for a company’s stability and ultimately survival. As we are moving forward in 2021, it is important to remember that with the change around us also comes innovation and there is the opportunity to be proactive in protecting and enhancing brand reputation for the future.
A brand’s resilience is demonstrated in how it adapts its products, services, and communications at pace in response to the ongoing changes in market conditions, without losing sight of its purpose. The challenge for businesses currently is to keep pushing forward and riding each wave of the pandemic with their reputation intact. Covid-19 has highlighted that economic and business performance is reliant on a healthy, functioning society. Customer centricity, humanity, and corporate social responsibility are no longer strategic choices but business survival techniques.
“We have seen how company reputations have either been made or broken by their response to the Covid-19 outbreak, causing most organizations to rethink how they engage and communicate with customers, partners, employees, and the community,” explains Abdulrahman Inayat, Co-Founder, and Director of W7Worldwide. “Customers are now much more concerned about the value exchange between themselves and the brands they choose to do business with, causing companies to bridge the gap and safeguard brand resilience through trust-building. In a still fluid situation, brands must create human brand experiences as a vital strategic driver for brand resilience in the years to come.”
Multi-award-winning marketing communications agency W7Worldwide produced its ‘7 Steps to Brand Resilience in Covid-19’ Guide to summarize the key factors businesses currently must consider in their brand strategy. Brand resilience is not a single-faceted attribute, and what can be a strength in one sector is not always a strength for another type of business, however, building trust is the single common requirement to boost the impact and value of an organization’s reputation.
Businesses need to focus on social listening and learning, coupled with making use of the increase in digital technologies that have transformed the way we communicate, learn, and shop during the pandemic. Every customer touchpoint matters, and every interaction is an opportunity to create a branded moment. Brand resilience ultimately refers to the ability of top decision-makers to systematically preserve and even increase their companies’ strength with the aid of their brand. The benefits to their business are retaining customers, stabilizing sales, creating entry barriers, customers’ willingness to pay premium prices, and attracting the best talent.
Common purpose is emerging from the world living through the Covid-19 pandemic. Brands need to tap into this common purpose and consider how their customers use, advocate, or connect with their products and services. The tone of voice matters in how a brand is perceived and is even more important in times of market stress. A strong foundation helps your business brace for the impact of sudden change. These foundations are forged in a robust brand strategy.
W7Worldwide work with both regional and global brands to build resilience into their brand strategy and to harness the opportunity for their company’s voice to be heard.
