Brad Casper
Matt Moore
We are entering a period of post-pandemic growth, and there has never been a better time for businesses to consider their purpose — their “why.” Purpose is rooted in long-term strategy, aligning brand identity with consumer beliefs, and it has become the fifth “P” of marketing, creating connection, conversation and loyalty between businesses and their customers. Organizations now have a chance to lean into their values as they shake off the dust of stagnation. Brands that want to be relevant tomorrow need to think about what they stand for today.
First Things First
These past 16 months have been terribly difficult, but the first thing leaders can do is adopt an optimistic mindset. Paths to growth appear when decision-makers search for opportunities, not languish in negativity. This means not letting fear of failure stop companies from trying new things. After all, among the perils of risk is where the magic happens.
Similarly, brand purpose is most often discovered when embracing optimism. When brands envision their ideal world and ask what kind of unique impact they can have on it, ways to support positive change reveal themselves.
Getting Back to Growth
To find their way back to revenue growth, decision-makers should conduct a thorough audit of consumer and shopper behaviors to guide their marketing strategy. Endless information is available at low or no cost online, but often an agency partner is a useful addition here due to the time required to pull research, glean insights and create action items.
The pandemic radically morphed attitudes and behaviors in a very short amount of time, and it’s critical to assess attributes of target consumers in order to connect with them. Unfortunately, there is no silver bullet answer for how to do this because every brand and demographic is different. This can mean anything from changes in messaging to shifts in how ad dollars are spent.
A current consumer packaged goods client has always been a value brand in the food space but, as research showed their target audience feeling the financial squeeze of the pandemic, we helped the brand embrace the messaging that you don’t have to sacrifice good taste for good value. Feeding families a satisfying meal without breaking the bank became the purpose and rally cry of this brand, driving double-digit growth and record sales.
Business leaders must ask two questions while assessing the research: 1) How can my business meet the new needs of target consumers; and 2) What unique impact can my business have on people, environment or communities while doing what it does best?
The answers to these questions will empower organizations to drive revenue while discovering a greater purpose bespoke to their strengths and abilities.
Ramping Up and Doubling Down
Ramping up post-pandemic means capitalizing on the new behaviors and using them to drive momentum. Rooting their actions in purpose, decision-makers need to understand what practices emerged during the pandemic that will never be the same and how their business can leverage those changes.
At the beginning of the pandemic, a former healthcare client of ours doubled down on telemedicine services to honor the business’s purpose of making healthcare accessible. When COVID-19 hit and safety measures required people to stay home, telehealth appointments soared, ultimately saving jobs and lives. This business was in the enviable position of having a fully trained telehealth team, up-to-date infrastructure, and existing virtual care marketing efforts. Today, they continue to lean into the momentum created by their telehealth offerings and reaping the rewards.
Decision-makers must create momentum from post-pandemic behaviors in order to ramp up business, and doubling down on discovering and honoring purpose only amplifies their ability to leverage this current period of growth.
It may surprise some to learn how often doing the right thing is good for business.
At Heart & Soul, our purpose is to help brands dig deeper to connect to human hearts and minds. We believe in combining creativity and analytics to solve complex business problems and social challenges. We take great pride in thinking differently and pushing ourselves and our solutions to bring about change for our clients and for our world.
This is one segment of the August 2021 cover story “Coming Back: How Marketing Will Build (Back) Business after COVID-19.”
Click here to check out the other 10 businesses and the cover designs they submitted for the Cover Story Cover Contest (winner was featured as the actual magazine cover).
