Why brands are gaining traction in times of corona
The brand is preferred!
Everything is different this year. In times of a crisis, it becomes clearer than ever how important trust and reliable partnerships are. Despite major challenges in procurement and production, companies in the branded products industry have made every effort to guarantee their ability to deliver to retailers. Consumers have thanked them both and turned to brands.
Right on time before the lockdown: the branded products campaign.
At the beginning of February, at the start of the 2020 branded products campaign, nobody would have thought that the big lockdown would begin with the end of the campaign. We saw a record participation with 33 companies and 42 brands. With 9,800 posters as well as Citylights, TV spots, advertisements and social media ads, they ensured a strong start into this new, extraordinary business year and strengthened the brands for the unexpectedly challenging phase ahead.
A special “Mind the brand” app offered consumers the branded products from participating companies as emojis. With more than 10,000 downloads, it was one of the most popular apps in Austria instantaneously. The tried-and-true cooperation with Marktguru saw consumers collecting bonus points for participating brands, which were redeemed at an impressive conversion rate of 16.7%, a significant year-on-year increase.
The outcome: The brand is preferred!
This year, campaign tracking by GfK was widened. It shows the fundamentally broad acceptance of brands: around 70% of respondents buy products from trustworthy brands. Since the quality is on point, the price is not the only deciding factor, but the value for money is, too. As such, the market share of participating brands saw a sharp rise in March despite less promotion (by -6% compared to the previous month and -9% compared to the same month last year).
The outcome of the study can best be summarised with the campaign slogan “The brand is preferred!” The campaign drove awareness, from which smaller brands benefited in particular. 84% of respondents thought the layout was clean and for 78% it had a clear message, which in turn led to a high degree of favourability. 52.8% of loyal private-label brand buyers increased their spending on manufacturer brands as a result of the campaign and almost 30% became repeat customers (= they spend over 50% of their spending on manufacturer brands).
Surprisingly, a disproportionately high number of young adult households, who are otherwise quite price-sensitive, turn to brands they are familiar with and which are a point of reference in uncertain times. Their share is almost twice as high as in the entire household universe and also significantly higher than among those who remain loyal private label buyers.
With the 2020 Community Campaign, the brands were well prepared for the unexpected corona pandemic and the lockdown even saw many coming out on top.
See the press materials for the 2020 campaign “The brand is preferred!”:
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