In a survey of over 35,000 consumers globally just 8% thought brands should stop advertising.

Consumers feel  that brands should use a reassuring tone, offer a positive perspective and communicate brand values. There is a clear expectation that companies should play their part, with 78% of consumers believing brands should help them in their daily lives, 75% saying brands should inform people of what they’re doing and 74% thinking companies should not exploit the situation.

Continue to communicate what you stand for, what value you bring or intend to bring and what contribution you can potentially make to the lives of your customers. 

More than 50% also think brands should talk as they have always have done, while 50% think companies should talk about their own brand in a carefree and light way. Just 41% think brands should avoid humorous tones.

Consumers are also looking for explicit evidence that brands are supporting staff, the government and consumers. Almost 80% believe employee health should be a key priority for companies, while almost two-thirds believe flexible working should be a priority.

Businesses have had to adapt and develop resiliency. Unless your brand is in front of your audience, how do you demonstrate value?

Despite the survey results, many companies are pulling ad campaigns and reviewing ad budgets. A survey of almost 900 marketers by Marketing Week and Econsultancy found that 55% have postponed or are reviewing ad campaigns, while 60% are cutting or reviewing budgets.

Why not fine tune the message to the context, adjust offers, revise pricing, ensure you reach your target audience more precisely, instead of eliminating marketing?

Kantar ran a theoretical test on an unnamed, but real beer brand. The team found that if the brand cut all its ad spend during the crisis, this would have a 13% impact on sales in the long run and make market share hard to recover. However, a 50% drop in ad spend would result in just a 1% drop in sales. Data from BrandZ also shows that after the 2008/09 financial crash, the brands who continued to advertise recovered up to nine times faster in terms of stock market value than others.

Why is marketing more important now than ever before?

“Brand health becomes vulnerable when companies stop advertising,” says Kantar Insights global head of media, Jane Ostler. “If they do this for longer than six months it destroys both short- and long-term health.” Jane advises brands to change their media, messaging and touchpoints to ensure they are reaching consumers with communications they are most interested in. Marketers should look at how budgets can be spent most effectively to maintain a presence and key brand metrics if spend does need to be reduced.

Hold your nerve. This will pass and we will be in a situation where things start to recover. Have a view on the longer term as well as the short-term. So when you are back in full swing, your clients already know you well and you have a relationship built and sales can pick up from where marketing left.

Big Rig Wraps Transport Truck Advertising (Big Rig Wraps) is the premier provider of large-scale outdoor advertising on trucks up to 53 feet. Through a series of partnerships created with fleet truck owners, graphic designers, and certified installers, we make it possible and affordable for companies to take their advertising on the road, locally, regionally, nationally and internationally, even if they don’t own their own fleet. Learn more about Big Rig Wraps here.