COVID 19 is changing the way we shop, the way we evaluate the things we buy, the time we spend deciding if we really want to buy and what we buy. More than ever before, how we connect and engage with the consumer will have a direct impact on the success of our business. More than ever before the brand positioning, awareness and value will sway the consumer in the battle of ‘To Buy or Not To Buy’.
The multichannel approach is the only one that will deliver positive numbers in brand awareness and healthy returns on investment. Research tells us that to convince a consumer to buy our products we need to touch them between 7 and 13 times by at least 3 marketing channels. The modern media mix is a complicated science with broadcast, digital, radio, point of sale, public relations all working together and supporting each other.
Different mediums facilitate different user behaviour and the psychosocial effect of a medium on the audience is higher than the message. We need to have a very clear understanding of the relationship between the media channels and consumer reaction. During the lockdown we saw TV ratings skyrocket and come back to normal post lockdown. Social media was heavily used and continued post lockdown with people celebrating the return to the new normal. As we read this article Victorians will probably use the social media again to stay in touch with friends and relatives in the other states as our borders are closing in on us. Another big change due to the pandemic is the rise of online shopping across all age groups. The struggle of department stores has become more acute and moving forward eCommerce should keep most of us awake at night. It is still not too late to jump on the bandwagon but wait no longer!
What is really notable in the midst of all these changes is that the role of each channel has not changed. TV is still the King of media delivering mass reach, engagement, positive brand association and action. And digital should continue to be the supporting channel for TV, delivering on reach extension and not expected to deliver what only TV can. The fragmentation we observe is higher than ever before and this is the perfect time to take advantage of it. High fragmentation of the TV landscape has opened the door to more brands as the entry cost is now more affordable. And with the right data, deals and industry knowledge the campaigns can deliver healthy returns on investment.
The toy industry is a unique ecosystem and we need to be highly specialised to understand the most valuable consumers and how to engage and more importantly entertain them. We have worked together for over a decade helping emerging, established and iconic toy businesses become stronger and stronger and helped them navigate the digital economy.
Column written by — Andrew Skinner, Founder at Skinner Ads and Corina Cosma, Client Partner at Ikon Communications Melbourne.
