Brands in the time of Covid-19

In times of COVID-19, creatives communicate companies' ability to adapt to the current situation. After using audiomatching on 2,048 individuals and conducting 675 online surveys, we carried out the study. 'Marcas en tiempos del Covid-19', in which we analysed the impact on users of the TV creatives broadcast by ten major brands in relation to the new coronavirus: Ikea, Carrefour, Santa Lucía, Mutua Madrileña, Línea Directa, CaixaBank, BBVA, Orange, Vodafone and Movistar.

These are the main lessons we have learned:

#1 It achieves high impact with high levels of effectiveness.
These ads have reached 62% of the population, and 9 out of 10 of those impacted have been able to remember the ad. By category, Telco and Retail were the most effective.

#2 It moves the audience towards overcoming the situation, as opposed to the emotional status of society.

Most of the creatives, building on an emotional status of the consumer characterised by sadness and resignation, manage to move the individual towards acceptance of the situation, through messages of empathy and hope. Retail was the category that generated the most positive feelings.  

#3 Creatives issued in this context tend to be liked more than the communication of these same brands in a normal context.
In particular, retail creatives, moving away from a more tactical or product-driven style, achieve high ratings and are considered to be better creative than previous advertising for the same brands. They do not seem to be falling into the perception of opportunism. 

#4 It is being successful in building brand engagement.
In Retail and Insurance, consumers generally admit to having a better image of brands after seeing the creative, strongly moving attributes of brand preference or consumer care. Banking manages to build preference and leadership and Telco trust and adaptation.

#5 They reach out to mobilise purchase/contracting intent among non-customers.
Retail and insurance creatives manage to move the purchase/contract intent of a quarter of your "non-current customers".
 

How have these creatives impacted consumers?

The cumulative impact of these creatives has reached more than half of the population and, moreover, with an almost total recall level: 9 out of 10 of those exposed recognise the creativity when shown a few images of it. 

What should you do as a brand in this context?

The key is to use creatives that match the emotional mood of a context of fragility to generate brand preference. On the one hand, it is recommended to contribute to comforting the user and helping them. The creatives that are moving the image attributes to a greater extent are those that help customers to improve the emotional state in which they find themselves, through messages of reasonable optimism and hope. They build brand strengths and provide market leadership. They should always be subtle and endearing.

On the other hand, we must avoid rekindling the drama and avoid the risk of camouflaging it with the landscape. On the other hand, excessive seriousness or emotionality that may convey a sense of loss or sadness does not build (or detract) from the brand image, as it repeats the images and stimuli to which the audience is exposed on a daily basis in the news about the disease.
 
Read more in our report:  'Las marcas en tiempos del Covid-19'