Much of the world has been in lockdown in recent weeks and months. Even as economies begin to reopen, social distancing guidelines and restrictions are still in place in many areas. As such, in-person contact continues to be limited and purchase behaviour and consumer priorities look vastly different today than they did yesterday.
Does this mean while we wait for economic and social life to resume “as normal”, we should hold off on research?
No. In fact, customers want hear from brands right now and online research is still a viable way of reaching them. When we asked our LifePoints panel about brands communicating with consumers in a recent Quick Poll*, 96% reported it was important for brands to understand their customer’s needs today more than ever. Data from the first wave of our COVID-19 Barometer research also shows that there is very little expectation that brands should stop advertising (8%), and most want to hear how brands are being helpful in the new everyday life (77%).
In a recent live webinar, Kantar experts discussed how even during these times of isolation, brands don’t need to isolate from their customers. Instead, now is the time to make critical connections to understand today’s behavioural shifts in order to antipirate the trends we’ll see in the “new tomorrow”.
During the session we discussed:
- How we’ve always recovered from economic crisis and made the adjustments needed to grow and find success
- Why this is an ideal time to get ahead of emergence and what brands can be asking today to support that
- Recent research examples that highlight key insights needed to anticipate change and form new ideas
- Practical ways to navigate budget constraints without sacrificing the critical data needed today to prepare for our “new tomorrow”
Editor's note
*Quick Poll questions are served to an average of 1,000 general population LifePoints respondents per market per question.