Now is the moment of destiny for your brand, will you lose or strengthen your valuable brand assets? 

Right now is your brand’s moment of danger. When you would be tempted to believe that a brand is alive and well, even if you leave it without attention for a while. You don’t live and you don’t feel well – not according to any research. If you shut up now, you will destroy your brand assets built with big money and passion. And you let far-sighted competitors gain the upper hand in the entire market. Dagmar’s Customer Insight Director Kirsi Laakso shares facts on how to get your brand out of difficult times as a winner. 

Few of us have been in such turbulence of change in our careers as we are now. The world has become unpredictable – and so fundamentally that people have had to change their consumption and behaviour. According to Dagmar’s Consumption Change study, consumption has changed radically in all industries. 

Bettors recover faster and easier – cutters find it difficult to regain lost brand equity and market share 

Numerous studies have been conducted around the world on the long-term effects of advertising investments. Their message is very clear: a significant reduction in advertising investment during a recession will have long-term effects  on brand sales, market share, growth and return on investment. Those brands that continue to invest will recover faster when easier times come. And they will come. 

Research also shows that those who have cut their marketing investments significantly and have not been visible to consumers find it difficult to regain brand equity and the market share lost in this low of silence. 

A strong brand helps you overcome a low price 

A strong brand is one of the best ways to survive under the pressure of a low price. Even in a recession, a strong brand can ask for a higher price. Although consumers want to be rational and economical, they are still guided by emotion. Purchasing decisions are not only made with reason, but also with the utmost emotion – and that’s when the meaning of the brand enters the arena. 

Brand marketing increases the basic level of sales and is more profitable in the long run than purely activating advertising 

In six months, emotional marketing surpasses activating advertising in terms of effectiveness and productivity. Both are needed, but in difficult times, we cannot forget the importance of building a brand as a guarantor of future success. According to studies, brand marketing also increases the baseline level of sales, while activating measures produce momentary sales spikes. 

Identify what your investments are paying off and how – both in the short and long term 

It’s now a good idea to validate your marketing strategy through the lens of people’s changed behaviors. What kind of concerns, needs and values do people have? Are you getting the most out of your investments? Are the messages and ways of influencing correct, what about the content and channels? What emotions should be aroused, and in whom in particular? At which meeting points, where is the precipitate, where is it going? Is our understanding of people up to date, do we utilise the available data and use the understanding derived from it when planning actions? What can I see from my own business data? 

Now it is more important than ever to know which investments are profitable and how. And what kind of changes are worth making. And not only in the short term, but above all in the long term. You must have the courage to change your own ways of working boldly, by experimenting and learning. 

When you have a valuable brand built with big money and passion, don’t waste it now. 

Sources:Dagmar Consumption change 08/22 study, n=1056 

WRITTEN BY

Kirsi Laakso

Customer Insight Director

kirsi.laakso@dagmar.fi

+358503463481

Kipa is the head of Dagmar Drive’s Insight unit, who gets excited about using consumer understanding as a management tool. Loves problems and especially solving them. Following trends and utilizing them in business is close to his heart.