Under COVID - Brands that heal
When we were about to recover from the threat of COVID-19, our life suddenly changed more than ever. After a year of ease, maybe it was time for us to officially enter the New Normal. This article was written in May, 2021, when a new COVID outbreak occurred in communities. We collected some case studies hoping that this would help the brand owners to thrive under such circumstances.
Due to social distance, we needed another form of social life and mental comfort. Here are three types and case studies of brand activities that transformed and grew under the COVID to de-stress and heal people. Let’s take a look.
Case Study 01
From products to experience
Apart from cashback and product mix, what could e-commerce platforms do to create differentiation? Take Pinkoi for instance. Established in 2011, Pinkoi had positioned itself as a platform to connect designers and consumers where the latter could acquire designed, beautiful and creative products from the former. Before COVID, Pinkoi had expanded its scope to many Aisan countries.
However, as mental health became more and more important these days, Pinkoi started to sell “experience and activities.” People could buy not only items but also learn from the designers. Pinkoi also attracted external event brands to sell packages and tickets on it, such as fitness class, camping or travelling.
From selling products to experience, Pinkoi took advantage of people’s need of “being healed.” It provided new opportunities for small businesses to come up with new mixes and reach more people. For consumers, Pinkoi was the right place to find designed and beautiful things. For Pinkoi, it built up its economic moat that other platforms could not mimic easily.
Pinkoi experience: Click
*Because of the community outbreak, all activities selling were suspended on Pinkoi. But now it is promoting cleaning supplies and groceries, with visual pleasure of course.
Image source: Pinkoi
Go local. Go virtual.
In 2020 the Taiwanese were able to travel domestically, therefore brands that offered niche and exclusive travel experience became popular among consumers. And now during the semi-lockdown, what did those brands do?
WALK in TAIWAN is a travel brand founded in 2012 that focused on in-depth and personal stories of local touristic spots. Participants got to know the history that could not be found on Wikipedia or anywhere, which made the experience more unique.
Beside its tour, WALK in TAIWAN also collaborated with podcaster Mindi to publish a new program called “Mindi Walk.” The podcaster recorded the sound from the special tours and merged with her discussion of reflection to the certain topics during production. So when the audience listened to the podcast episodes, they would have an almost real travel experience virtually with the anchor. By working with a personal brand that was als onich, in-depth and knowledge sharing, WALK in TAIWAN raised its awareness among podcast audiences.
In response to the recent semi-lockdown, WALK in TAIWAN stopped all its events. But it boldly transferred its know-how, i.e. the tour guides’ training, to come up with an online story-telling and speaking course. People who stayed at home could learn from its expertise and apply the skills to their career. It was a really good example of extracting brand assets and turning it into a new product mix.
WALIK in TAIWAN: Click
Online course ：Click
Image Source: WALIK in TAIWAN
Case Study 03
The thriving and soothing digital world.
2020 was called the beginning of the podcasts era in Taiwan. According to SoundOn, a hosting service, more than 50% of podcast users spent at least five days listening to different channels, and their brand loyalty and will of recommendation were both over 70%. 85% of them were not against sponsorship and almost 15% actually bought advertised products. When everybody needs to stay home, podcasts could help them to kill time, to cheer up and to gain knowledge. In other words, it was soothing and healing to the listeners. Since podcasts were thriving, brand owners could consider to advertise relative offerings such as children learning and home workout accessories.
Last but not the least is the bigger e-learning marketing. As a result of uncertainty, people were eager to invest on their own competitiveness and expertise. Hahow, an online course platform, pointed out that in the near future, consumers will not just sit there and finish a thirty-minute class. They will use multiple media to acquire the information they need, like posts, videos, audio and livestream, in a customized way.
Two cases here. First is the Startup Class by SmartM was an information pool for entrepreneurs to learn about everything they need to know. The second example is 2h fitness. It provided systematic training plans and videos online for people to workout properly at home. If you haven’t uploaded classes online, it’s totally fine. But maybe it’s time to think about turning your know-how to something the consumers might be interested in.
SoundOn Podcast Report: Click
HaHow Brand Report: Click
SmartM Startup Class: Click
2h fitness online workout plan: Click
Image Source: SmartM、2h fitness
Conclusion
Uncertainty challenges our flexibility. From the case studies above, it can be said that the borderline between tangible products and intangible experience is now vanishing.
How do you act under the threats of COVID and seize the chances to sparkle by making people’s life easier, which means, to heal their hearts and feelings affected by the pandemic? We hope this article gave you some ideas.
