Page 10 - AeM_July_2020

RESEARCH
ANALYSIS
while Millennials ascribed more importance to thirds of consumers agree that brands are
TRENDS
treatment of staff. communicating just the right amount, while
interestingly, nearly one in five (16%) believe that
Nearly three in four consumers (73%) found it important brands are not communicating enough. Younger
for brands to mirror the state of the world in their consumers were more likely to unsubscribe from
marketing collaterals in response to COVID-19. China emailers, highlighting the importance of taking a
(80%) and India (83%) consumers were more likely to personalized approach to keep different groups
agree with this sentiment. Furthermore, there is a engaged.
general sense that brands have a duty to proactively
offer help or provide special offers to customers at this Making plans for the long term
time. This sense of duty among marketers is strongest
in China (94%) and India (94%), and weakest in To respond to these nuances in customer preference,
Australia (82%). In the US, close to four fifths (78%) of majority of organizations are transforming their long-
marketers surveyed say brands have this duty. term strategy in case this period lasts for more than a
year (79%) and are also changing their approach to
Not the end of brick and mortar future marketing efforts (82%). In fact, marketers in
APAC organizations indicated a greater inclination to
During the lockdown, 58% of consumers increased make long-term changes compared to their
their online shopping frequency while three quarters counterparts in the US. Changes include shifting to
(74%) cited an intention to change their future shopping different marketing channels (75%), changing
habits – with Indian and Singaporean consumers prioritized audiences (58%) and reallocating resources
reporting the strongest intention. Unsurprisingly, across different regions (47%).
younger generations were more likely to cite an
intention to change future shopping habits while older The intrinsic value of brands directly addressing COVID
generations preferred to maintain status quo. -19 in external communications is apparent with almost
three quarters (71%) of marketers reporting to have a
Despite COVID-19, close to three quarters (70%) of COVID-19 task force to manage messaging and
consumers reported a preference for purchasing campaigns. Those in Australia (55%) and Singapore
grocery items in person, while around half also opted (67%) are less likely to have a task force, while those in
for home delivery (47%), and 17% relied on curbside China (81%) and India (80%) are more likely. In
pick-up. Across all product categories, younger contrast, less than half of marketers in Japan and the
generations and urban residents preferred home US report having specific teams for that. The positive
delivery while the older generation preferred in- person outcome of aligning closely with a COVID-19 task force
shopping, with the exception of media for the latter. is that the vast majority of marketers in APAC feel that
Amongst all countries surveyed, Australian consumers organizational marketing/ communications have been
were more likely to favor in-person shopping across all both authentic (94%) and have resonated with
product categories. customers (92%).

Sending the right message at the right Conducted by the research firm Advanis for Adobe, the
time study surveyed 4,001 consumers in selected Asia
Pacific (APAC) countries – Australia, China, India and
It appears that marketers have done a good job at Singapore and 1,200 marketers across China, India,
keeping brand sentiment relatively positive during this Singapore and Australia between 1 – 17 June 2020.
time since the vast majority of marketers feel that
organizational communications have been authentic You may download the full reports on the Adobe
(94%) and resonated with customers (92%). Over half website – Consumer Report | Marketer
(55%) of consumers found utility in brand-related Report. (Source: Adobe) ◊
COVID-19 updates they were sent, with 69%
requesting said updates in the future. By MediaBUZZ
Frequency of messaging and ensuring that specific
groups of consumers receive messages they need,
when they need them was a crucial part of this. Two-

July 2020: Virtual-, Augmented & Mixed Reality: revolutionizing the customer experience 10