Coronavirus has thrown UK businesses into survival mode as consumers are locked down. Long-term plans have been thrown out of windows, playbooks have been rewritten and thinking-on-feet has become the new modus operandi.
Now is the time to give yourself permission to start imagining beyond the cloud of Covid-19.
What will your food and drink business look like then? What will change and what will remain? And who will your future consumer be? How will they navigate this new world and what will they want from you?
Let’s get creative!
Here are three insights from the Palm team to get you started:
Number One:
There is still a place for premium products
Leading trade magazine The Grocer, explored the legacy of the economic downturn for food and drink back in 2014. We can learn that there was never a significant trading down during the recession. Consumers still sought quality products and were prepared to pay more for premium, while still controlling overall spend.
This is great news for the challenger market sector and will mean that efficiently communicating the superiority of your products will be more important than ever, whether that’s quality of ingredients, health benefits, sustainable and ethical sourcing or building the brand world.
Number Two:
Online grocery shopping is here to stay
Consumers have significantly increased their online shopping during the outbreak – a whopping fifth of all British households shopped online in the first four weeks alone.
So, if you haven’t yet got your brand online, now is the time to take the plunge.
Consumers of course are still buying online from key multiples and Amazon – but they are more open than ever to shopping directly from you.
Direct to consumer is an incredible way to retain control of your sales and deliveries, but it’s also useful to connecting more with your consumers, building and nurturing your community and growing your brand personality for retention and loyalty.
If you’re building an ecommerce platform for the first time, you will need to think carefully about how you will drive the right traffic to your shopfront. It’s worth having a free consultation with our PR and Digital strategy team at Palm to discuss this.
Number Three:
Consider new audiences
Older generations have been forced to become way more tech savvy during this period, creating a new, affluent and captive audience online. We predict the ‘grey pound’ is an important new target demographic that should be included in future marketing plans.
You will need to explore how to speak to this audience if your brand has not done so, to date. It will require really getting into the shoes of this audience and understanding their values, requirements and lifestyle.
Put together a considered new communications plan, from where you’re targeting them to the key messages that will resonate most.
Are there any trends that you’re spotting and believe are here to stay, post Covid-19?
We would love to hear your thoughts and comments on info@palm-pr.com