Consumers are placing more importance on brands "doing good" by helping others and supporting communities during the COVID-19 crisis, according to a study by Havas Australia
The Havas Meaningful Brands Study surveyed the attitudes of 300,000 people from around the world to understand consumer needs and concerns during this time of crisis and identify opportunities for brands.
Of the 1,000 Australians surveyed, two-thirds (66%) would abandon a brand that purely focus on selling and commercial goals during this period and more than three quarters (78%) want brands to adapt their business for the greater good.
And Australian consumers would not mind if 77% of brands in their lives simply disappeared overnight.
"It tells us that the vast majority of brands overpromised and underdelivered," says Olly Taylor, chief strategy officer, Havas Australia.
"Perhaps in our desire to make brands matter more we can get carried away with ‘purpose’, the ‘why’, the ‘higher order benefit’ and ‘collective’ benefits and place less emphasis on the more functional and personal benefits. These are the benefits which drive consumer behaviour.
"So why do we do this as marketers? One key reason is because it’s what we would like brands to be doing - partly because it can lead to a more distinctive communications package and partly because we keep being told that millennials are more principled than any other generation.
"Even so, we do it despite the data consistently telling us that when push comes to shove, people are more driven by what’s in it for them.
"So, if people don’t care about brands in normal times, how might we expect people to think about brands in the current context and beyond? It stands to reason that when faced with significant stress, anxiety and uncertainty, they would care even less about brands and even more about what’s in it for them.
"However, as it turns out – that is not the case. Our latest piece of Australian research (conducted across more than 1,000 Australians) into how brands can be more meaningful right now, paints a surprisingly different picture.
"Like all research, it has its limitations and can’t be used to accurately predict how this will all play out. But it’s a moment in time and further shows how pivotal this moment really is for brands."
Taylor says the message from consumers is loud and clear: now is the time to walk the walk, rather than just talk the talk.
"Brands need to be going beyond business as usual and be seen to be ‘doing something’ that is meaningful to support the community in navigating through this crisis," he says.
"For the first time, respondents are placing more importance on brand behaviours that help others rather than themselves, ranking ‘collective’ benefits, such as acting with integrity over the functional and personal.
"This may just be a moment in time and yes it might be a research effect, but it also could be the beginning of a new set of expectations from consumers about brands – that they need to make a positive contribution to society not just the stock market."
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