I was in an informal discussion last week with a group of CMO friends. And how can you not speak about the impact of COVID? And still not look like you have lived on Pluto all the while?
However, the fatigue on the topic and the persistence and growth of the pandemic as we spoke, finally got to us. But we still could not pivot into speaking about something else.
There was one observation we all made which was rather surprising. If there was one strong positive that had emerged in this period, it was enhancement in Trust. At every level, we seem to be wanting to build and sustain trust.
Brands are making more efforts than ever before to help their customers. Genuinely. They are making themselves more accessible, at reasonable prices, assuring customers all the while that it is absolutely safe to use their products. Restaurants are scrubbing the tables very visually, hotels are calling customers to tell them that they are taking all the precautions, airlines are showing how they are cleaning the checking-in counters, film makers are admitting to shortcomings in their editing (because they happened during COVID) and newspapers are giving digital access to their readers at no cost. Specious claims are a rare entity these days. Brand engagement through empathy has taken precedence over brute force to sell.
This is not one-sided. Customers too are responding with the same trust. More and more customers are wanting to learn about products and spend time discussing the value it provides and being less dismissive. They are also upfront when they are not ready for any trials. E-commerce sites have reported a remarkable drop in product returns.
Most CMO’s also alluded to the how trust has increased with their team members and partners. People are being more genuine when they ask, “How are you doing?”. Leaders are reaching out more to their teams and understanding how they can help them. One CMO recounts how his team understood budget cuts so well, which in the normal times would have led to a week-long Tsunami and viewed as a being canonical. Organizations are being more transparent on the impact of the pandemic and their strength (or the lack of it) to endure it. People do not live in archipelagos anymore but on a more solid continent. Strangely social distancing has brought people closer.
Going back to one of my earlier moorings, what is that one aspect a brand must always possess without exception, irrespective of the industry it operates in – Trust. Now is the best time to build it. We might not have any more time to lose in achieving this.
