By Paul Mwirigi Muriungi (Kenya)
Managing Director, COG
Beyond the devastating physical toll of COVID-19, it is hard not to believe that the virus crashed the economy, shut down businesses, and left billions barricaded in their homes.
It was an evolutionary moment for business in general and marketing communications professionals in particular. With marketing communications budgets as the first ”costs” being cut, brands are still struggling and rethinking how to reach their audience even after the pandemic.
While many think it is time for marketing communications professionals to shine, they are struggling in the wake of the pandemic in an industry that had both adverse effects and advances in how it operates.
One of the struggles evidenced itself when I was recently speaking to a client about one of the current post-COVID-19 dilemmas, and this is what she had to say in an email correspondence: “”Over this year, we have realised that while we have a lot of activities or processes, measurement of them still falls short. In the case of these, for instance, how can a company set up KPIs and measure them? It would be good to have some measurement tools””.
With some thoughtful reflection and action to this challenge – that highlights the issues with our profession – marketing communications professionals could finally step into the leading role they always longed for by bringing to light what can be done to assert their position in the boardroom.
You see, the role of marketing communications has been integral to the success and, equally, to the failure in the ability of several brands to respond to and adapt to the different market forces that arose following the pandemic outbreak.
To ensure organisations continued to deliver on their brand promises, marketing communications professionals pivoted to increasing the use of new platforms like social media, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram, among others. In contrast, marketing communication was more targeted, given the challenges of the movement.
Two years later, the struggle continues. And so do the lessons.
Strong Brand Leadership: One of the defining moments we witnessed during the pandemic that remains valid until now was the strong leadership exhibited by many marketing communication professionals. Due to the nature of the pandemic and its effects on market share, marketing communications, and brand, it called for strong leadership at the board, management, and operational level. The brands that withstood the test of time did so, thanks to some vital decisions taken by strategic leaders in marketing communications. While working with several leaders in 2020 and 2021, two things set the strong brand leadership apart: decision-making in terms of strategic direction and execution in terms of how fast a brand executed the strategy taken.
Sense Of Community: The marketing communications space is unforgiving, especially for third-party partners who support clients’ brand work. Why is it unforgiving? Third-party partners often work with tight timelines and budgets with often times long payment periods by clients. During COVID-19, I witnessed a lot of care and support built around the client-agency relationships with several clients, ensuring that the payment processes did not delay. Several clients knew of the layoffs and were very humane regarding terminating contracts. I have seen this care and sense of community extended post-COVID-19, and I foresee this happening in 2023 when clients do not only care for their work but for the organisations and the people who deliver work for/to them. It is also crucial that people know they are heard and cared for.
Capitalising On The Power Of Digital Marketing: Before COVID-19, the discussion was more around social media. Now, it is more of digital marketing. What is the difference, one may ask? While social media marketing relies on social media channels (think Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn), digital marketing covers more of the digital medium and even the offline world extending to SMS, radio, and TV. Digital marketing will remain critical to any brand strategy in 2023. Digital Marketing will be more of a system than an operational tactic that is part of the more comprehensive marketing communications plan. Brands that approach their marketing communications this way will win both in the short and long term. However, this needs to be executed while balancing the real essence of who the brand is targeting and targeting appropriate digital channels to accomplish this.
Traditional Media Is Not Dead, Just Yet: The slow decline of traditional media has digital to thank as digital strategies were quickly placed to ensure that brick-and-mortar marketing communications adopt a digital-first approach. From Live TV on TV to Live Twitter, Live Facebook, and Live YouTube. So on, we will witness the re-emergence of traditional media from its near death as print continues to increase its digital uptake as opposed to its dependence on hard copy.
Customer Remains King: Be it a product or a service, the thoughts, tastes and preferences of customers and clients will remain critical in how marketing communications models itself when approaching their target audience. In 2023, marketing communications professionals will have to mitigate audience assumptions. Perhaps the most crucial takeaway is that they must listen intently to their internal and external audiences using advanced research methods – and use this research to use by gathering critical insights for strategic decision-making.
As we approach 2023, marketing communication professionals must develop a stellar backbone as a new dawn emerges in the industry. With more and more non-professionals giving their opinions about marketing communications, more and more tools are emerging that we never imagined we needed coming up to take over.
Beyond this, there will be no magic formula that marketing communications professionals can use to respond to our challenges. If you have trouble convincing your boss or board that your work is essential, look no further to many of the lessons from 2020 and 2021 that clearly showed that marketing communications became more critical during and post COVID-19 as businesses try and pick themselves up from the embers of the worlds worst pandemic.