At the Heart of an Economic Crisis: The Consumer

When managing a brand or a business during an economic crisis, it’s difficult to find clarity on how to keep things afloat let alone on how to grow. Many of us feel frozen, unable to plan forward and even simply unable to think.

Many of you reading this are already familiar with the theory: You shouldn’t stop marketing or selling during a recession or a financial crisis. But how to marry this theory with the reality of plunging sales, looming insolvency, inexistent or dwindling cash flow, diminishing consumer wallets and as is the case of Lebanon, brain drain?

The answer – though not without its challenges – lies with the consumer.

Understanding consumer behavior during these changing and difficult times is key to the survival of a brand. The brand’s communication and behavior need to show empathy and alignment with what consumers’ are going through. The brands who will continue connecting with consumers, hitting an emotional chord with them and most importantly making them feel that they are supporting them in navigating the ambient crisis, are the brands that will survive and thrive.

Here are some tips to consider in how to steer your brand and its marketing budget to survive this economic slump:

1- As they are readjusting their spending behavior, you need to revisit how your target audience is segmented and work on reassessing and redefining their needs

2- Re-evaluate your budget; dig into your data and analytics to cut spending where performance was sub-optimal and to calibrate the remaining budget. Your marketing budget, more than ever, needs to be spent with surgical precision

3- Is part of your offering draining your resources? It’s time to trim the fat. Fix your offering in a way that answers consumers’ needs without unnecessary add-ons

4- Put your key advantages at the forefront of your communications; keeping this top of mind will be a salvation to your brand and may enable you to seize opportunities that may not be visibly apparent

We know. Easier said than done. No one is claiming that an economic crisis is easy to survive. We’re just saying that survival is imperative. For you. For your employees. For the economy at large and what’s left of it.

We would love to help where we can. Connect with us to book a free consultation.