Here is your next serving of The Juice for 2021! This week it’s all about brand loyalty, media buying, and influencer marketing.
1. Brand Loyalty
There is evidence that the global health, social, and political events of 2020 have had a negative impact on brand loyalty. In the annual Gartner Consumer Values and Lifestyle Survey, after nearly a decade as the top value, loyalty has been replaced with equality. Even though most people’s optimism is rising in the new year, brands should keep the following in mind when driving their marketing tactics:
- Purpose still matters: Despite gravitating to new brands and products, consumers are still drawn to align with those whose values they share.
- Media is consumed differently: The way people have been consuming media has shifted in major ways, especially focusing within the home. Providing a digital experience to a brand’s audience is going to be key in driving reach in new sales/views/etc.
Economic hardship from job loss has driven the needs for thrift, availability, and immediacy over brand loyalty. Brand loyalty still matters, but brands will need to shift their focus to non-traditional methods of building and maintaining customer relationships. Empathy, standing for meaning, and helping consumers are new key drivers to building brand loyalty.
2. Ethical Media-Buying Spotlights
Over the past few years, marketers have become more committed to seeking out socially responsible media investments. Brands are becoming more aware that what they buy has a direct impact on society, and perceptions of their brand as a whole. With this awareness comes more difficult decisions on whom they do and don’t decide to buy ads from. The political and ideological divide is more prominent than ever among American consumers, which extends into media channels and social platforms, making it difficult to market to everyone. “Clients are realizing the content that they’re funding matters, as it can have an adverse impact on society that hurts customers, which subsequently hurts business,” said Joshua Lowcock, global brand safety officer at agency Universal McCann.
3. Hospitals + Influencer Marketing
Hospitals in New York City have started to adapt to an influencer-driven campaign in order to reach people of all ages for Covid testing, especially the younger generations. The VP of NY ad agency Sherry Matthews Group states clearly that: “As the media landscape shifts, Health+Hospitals wanted to supplement traditional advertising with new channels, especially for audiences that are more difficult to reach.” Influencer marketing helps brands (and hospitals in this case) target a wider audience than their own.
