Seven in ten APAC businesses have put a COVID-19 task force in place to manage messaging and campaigns, while almost eight in ten are changing their approach to future marketing efforts, a new report has found.
According to Adobe, which surveyed 1,200 marketers across four countries during June, organisations in China (81%) and India (80%) are most likely to have a dedicated pandemic task force in place, those in Singapore (67%) and Australia (55%) the least.
“The positive outcome of aligning closely with a COVID-19 task force is that the vast majority of marketers in APAC feel that organisational marketing/communications have been both authentic (94%) and have resonated with customers (92%),” Best Media Info reported.
A majority of respondents thought that brands need to offer some sort of help to customers during the pandemic – a sense that is strongest in China and India, both at 94%, and weakest in Australia (82%).
Many marketers have also been tweaking the imagery and language they use to reflect how people are thinking in a world where social distancing is now common – so fewer visuals of people touching or descriptions of close interactions.
When lockdown across these countries end, six in ten respondents (59%) anticipate their organisations returning to pre-COVID levels of marketing investment within a quarter or sooner, with marketers in China (65%) and India (75%) the most optimistic in this regard.
But the nature of that investment is likely to change: APAC marketers expect to shift spending to different marketing channels (75%), to rethink their most important audiences (58%) and to reallocate resources across different regions (47%).
“This year has brought about a broad shift in consumer behaviour and attitudes,” said Sunder Madakshira, Head of Marketing, Adobe India. “In line with this, marketers are modifying their customer experience strategies to address different groups with relevant messages, more so than ever before.”
“It is clear from the results of this study that brands that are agile in pivoting to a digital modus operandi and have responsive campaigns that deliver authentic, meaningful and responsible communication stand to succeed in the long run.”
Sourced from Best Media Info; additional content by WARC staff
