Marketing in a Crisis: The Calm Before the (Next) Storm

During the first week of lockdown, the UK public wanted o hear either the same, or more, from brands regardless of the category they operated in.
Despite reports of pulled adverts and frozen marekting budgest, ‘going dark’ was not what consumers wanted.

Eight weeks in, consumers still want to hear from brands, but the time for crisis communications is over. As the UK moves further further away from the initial panic, the gap between the public’s desire to hear more from their brands and their desire to hear the same is growing. Consumers no longer need or want an email from the CEO detailing their business contuinty plan, to be informed of the measures they are putting in place to deal with this unprecedneted situation, or to detail each business’ individual response.

Eight weeks in, the public assume that brands have got this.

In this report, based on a survey of UK adults, Opinium unpick how consumer expectation of brand communications is changing, how it difers per sector and provide insight into how brands can make sure their brand tone remains relevant.

Download the full report here: Opinium – Marketing in a crisis – The calm before the next storm