Moving Forward

“Recovery”

It is just one word, but in these times “recovery” is a powerful word loaded with implications for marketers.

We know that someday there will be an end to this downturn. The challenge, of course, is to be prepared. Marketers, who have been forced into short-term, survival mode for the last 8-10 months, should start to focus on a plan for renewing marketing activities when recovery occurs. The first step in that process should be to determine how your brand is perceived right now. You may be surviving, but is your brand’s equity increasing or declining? It is doing one or the other, and determining which one will help you chart your course in the recovery.

According to a new survey by the Association of National Advertisers, of the marketers surveyed, the most effective measure of a brand’s equity is customer experience and satisfaction. They used key metrics such as customer conversion and repeat rates, and the percentage of customers that rate a brand as “excellent” as the leading indicators of brand equity. These marketers sited the increased use of surveys from their brands’ websites and feedback from social media as ways to gauge consumer sentiment and react accordingly to preserve the health of their brand.

This recession has caused a fundamental shift in how consumers think and buy. Is your brand positioning still relevant? Now is the time to research and evaluate your brand’s health. With that data, you will be better equipped to develop the right brand message and strategy for the recovery.