SPOILER ALERT — THERE IS NO SHORTCUT TO TRUE CUSTOMER EMPATHY

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With the positive news around vaccines, perhaps we are really edging closer to some form of ‘normal’, brands are busy considering their pandemic exit strategy.

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But this isn’t normal. The British economy has shrunk by 8.3% compared to February 2020 and is unlikely to recover from the damage wrought by the coronavirus crisis until 2023. The UK unemployment rate is up to 4.5%, still theoretically masking the true number with the furlough scheme extended.

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There are however positive movements to grip hold to. Remote working has been positive for some, families are spending more time together, the companies that can pivot have flourished. And of course, the British do love a queue so yesterday we all rejoiced at finding bigger queues to join than the supermarket car park ones that we’ve been recently frequenting.

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But how should brands react?

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Rejoicing feels shallow at (very) best so perhaps you will start by looking back at the 2020 strategy you sweated over back in Q4?

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This can be helpful to remember core values and objectives but simply reverting back is not an option.

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These guiding questions can be a useful lens to kickstart your planning:

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• How has daily life changed for your target audience?
• What is at the top of their worry list?
• Is the problem you thought you should solve still relevant?
• How has it changed?

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And then start talking and most importantly, listening, to your audience.

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Testing at any stage of development shows empathy and a commitment to serve your customer as best as you can.

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Start by talking to your current audience through instant social polls as well as simple survey tools such as Survey Monkey. Once you have an engaged group that is keen to test and discuss, you can start to develop more product testing and brand development conversations face-to-face, virtually at least, to ensure you have a qualitative understanding of their needs.

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The key to testing is to strive to understand what the problems are that your audience face rather than asking what they need. They are more than likely to reply with something already available, or a version of something available. By concentrating on the actual problem, you can look at how to develop a new and better solution for them which, in turn, will win hearts and minds in the long run.

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PepsiCo Empathy Study 2020

As the recent PepsiCo Empathy Study shows:

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1. Four in five respondents believe empathy has become more important in light of the public health crisis.
2. Prior to the pandemic, 43% of Americans described the nation as empathetic, but that figure has since risen seven percentage points.
3. Nearly all (94%) of Americans say that empathy is important, generally, while over half (56%) of those surveyed said that brands using their marketing to address the pandemic is an act of empathy.
4. The top five ways PepsiCo found consumers asking for brands to be empathetically included: treating people with respect (52%), treating people like human beings (50%), listening to people (43%), caring about people (41%) and acknowledging when the brand is wrong (37%).

PepsiCo Empathy Study 2020

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What resonates with me is the absolute transparency and support that customers are now demanding to extend from beyond the customer base to the employees and other companies in their sector as well. Could customers push businesses to prioritise common good over short-term profit?

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Now, more than ever, the brands that listen, learn and serve their customers will be the ones to not just survive but thrive as customers choose where to spend their smaller budgets.

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I’d love to continue this discussion with you or if you’d like to ask me anything then drop me a line, and why not check out my blog, what to do if your funding has been paused during the pandemic.

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