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Marketing in a post-pandemic world: get ahead or fall further behind

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November 19, 2021 | 3 min read

You could be forgiven for thinking that the pandemic and its ongoing impact would have stifled creativity and bigger strategic thinking

Organizations in many sectors have suffered a loss of income and had to utilize furlough and even redundancy. In a lot of cases this left behind over stretched teams working hard just to keep the lights on. Additionally, there has been a huge operational and cultural shift as the workforce became remote overnight and face to face time became a rarity rather than the norm.

However, in the face of adversity some organizations have mirrored the acceleration of changing audience behaviors with their own fast tracking of innovation within their proposition. These organizations have suffered in the same way as everyone else, but the adopted agile ways of working have created a minimal viable product (MVP) testing mentality to stand out from the competition. Those who are risk averse or reluctant to evolve not only risk being left behind but will struggle to shift away from survival mode back into a growth mentality.

The reality is things are tough, and they are going to get even tougher as the true economic impact of the virus combined with Brexit is truly felt – this isn’t going to be a fallout that will only last a few months. Pushing the same products in the same ways with the same customer experience you’ve done in the past (because it’s what worked) and you feel comfortable with simply isn’t going to be enough. Launching new propositions that lack differentiation, using outdated models or purchase journeys that aren’t seamless won’t work, no matter how much media investment you throw behind them.

I talk about these things as though they are easy when, actually, it’s the complete opposite. Coming up with new ideas in competitive and established sectors is extremely difficult – people have been trying for years. However, now is the time to get off the hamster wheel and take a step back. But where do you start?

Look at other organizations for inspiration. Not just within your sector, or even associated or complimentary areas. Just look at how companies have disrupted established models and think what learnings you can translate into your products. Try a strategic reset. Use new points of view and opinions to challenge everything. Start your annual planning with a blank canvas and a mentality of if we were setting up this organization today what would we do? How would we approach it? Go back to basics and listen to your customers, fans and supporters.

Too often decisions are made for what the organization needs rather than what the customer would benefit from and wants. Just shifting the lens to be truly customer-centric in every aspect of your proposition will drive revolution rather than evolution.

Working hard to drive incremental gains that don’t even counter a managed decline in performance won’t help your organization as we go through tough times. Now is the time to challenge everything, nurture creativity and be bold.

By Ben Foster, director of digital

Marketing Adverising

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