More time at home due to coronavirus: a new revival of direct marketing and advertising at home?
Posted: Mon Dec 23, 2024 8:27 am
The coronavirus crisis has changed many of our habits. The months of confinement made us stay at home, but in the new normal - and more so as cases have begun to multiply - there are also consumers who reduce the time they spend outside the home or who focus on doing so at certain times, when they believe "there will be fewer people."
All this increase in the amount of time we spend at home, as well as the fear that in winter we will once again experience situations of confinement, has changed our relationship with them. Not only has the work to adapt to new needs or the purchase of new furniture or electronic devices for the home increased, but many of our practices have also changed. Thus, for example, in recent months the use of electronic commerce has grown significantly and purchases that we previously made in retail have migrated to ecommerce.
Companies must adapt to this new environment and these new patterns of activity. Restaurants and bars, for example, are doing so, as they are increasingly investing in home delivery and takeaway services in order to reach consumers they would not otherwise have.
But companies in many other sectors and in many other areas are also doing the same. Companies are promoting their online services and electronic sales, but also all those actions that allow them to position themselves much better in this new context.
Will this mean a certain revival of direct marketing techniques that seek to reach consumers directly? Does this imply a return to the practices that brought advertising into consumers' homes?
In a way, you could say that normality returned when supermarket advertising leaflets arrived in consumers' mailboxes. During the lockdown, supermarkets stopped offering and mailing their products, which was quite logical given the situation they were in.
But the changing situation and the way it might change marketing strategy does not necessarily mean simply filling consumers' mailboxes with brochures and catalogues again. Consumers spending more time at home does not necessarily mean dusting off the direct marketing strategy of 1993.
In general, and despite the fact that it is increasingly common to see portals with the message that advertising is not accepted or with the basket outside to leave it, direct mail has remained alive during the last decades. According to the II Study of Direct Advertising in Spain, prepared by Kantar Insight for Geobuzón, this is the type of advertising that, even now, achieves the greatest coverage in the state territory.
It is possible to reach 36 million people in Spain (second only to television) and, according to the conclusions of the study, the recall rate is quite high (9 out of 10 people claim to remember which leaflets all contact number list they receive in their mailboxes). If consumers are stuck at home, in a way it may seem logical to think that if they do not go to the advertising that awaits them on the street, the advertising will have to be brought to their home.
However, while it seems clear that the crisis has made direct marketing more relevant, marketers should not settle for the superficial or the quick fix. They should think in a much more omnichannel way and also in a more creative way. It is not just about using their mailbox - traditional or electronic - as a way to send out those messages that are being lost in other methods, but doing so in a way that is innovative, creative and not annoying.
The mailbox, "the new experience"
In fact, as pointed out in an analysis by Warc, the mailbox has become the new emerging way of receiving brand messages, but it has done so supported by a new experience. That is, consumers have migrated consumption patterns to the home and that is where new customer experiences and new direct marketing elements should be based.
As more and more things are ordered for home delivery and more and more e-commerce is used, these are the avenues that must be used as a gateway to create direct marketing experiences as well. As they point out in the analysis, they have become opportunities for marketing, and for this reason brands must think more carefully about how they create their packaging, what makes it unique and what the unboxing experience will be like.
"In a world changed by Covid-19, our mailboxes have become the new retail experience," they point out in the analysis. Taking a "look" at the package we have received can become "a moment of delight and excitement" that will end up, if things are done well, prompting a new purchase.
Companies need to design this delivery format and what elements it includes in a more efficient way. This means not only thinking about how products will arrive best, but also how it will visually impact the consumer and how it will respond to their needs.
All this increase in the amount of time we spend at home, as well as the fear that in winter we will once again experience situations of confinement, has changed our relationship with them. Not only has the work to adapt to new needs or the purchase of new furniture or electronic devices for the home increased, but many of our practices have also changed. Thus, for example, in recent months the use of electronic commerce has grown significantly and purchases that we previously made in retail have migrated to ecommerce.
Companies must adapt to this new environment and these new patterns of activity. Restaurants and bars, for example, are doing so, as they are increasingly investing in home delivery and takeaway services in order to reach consumers they would not otherwise have.
But companies in many other sectors and in many other areas are also doing the same. Companies are promoting their online services and electronic sales, but also all those actions that allow them to position themselves much better in this new context.
Will this mean a certain revival of direct marketing techniques that seek to reach consumers directly? Does this imply a return to the practices that brought advertising into consumers' homes?
In a way, you could say that normality returned when supermarket advertising leaflets arrived in consumers' mailboxes. During the lockdown, supermarkets stopped offering and mailing their products, which was quite logical given the situation they were in.
But the changing situation and the way it might change marketing strategy does not necessarily mean simply filling consumers' mailboxes with brochures and catalogues again. Consumers spending more time at home does not necessarily mean dusting off the direct marketing strategy of 1993.
In general, and despite the fact that it is increasingly common to see portals with the message that advertising is not accepted or with the basket outside to leave it, direct mail has remained alive during the last decades. According to the II Study of Direct Advertising in Spain, prepared by Kantar Insight for Geobuzón, this is the type of advertising that, even now, achieves the greatest coverage in the state territory.
It is possible to reach 36 million people in Spain (second only to television) and, according to the conclusions of the study, the recall rate is quite high (9 out of 10 people claim to remember which leaflets all contact number list they receive in their mailboxes). If consumers are stuck at home, in a way it may seem logical to think that if they do not go to the advertising that awaits them on the street, the advertising will have to be brought to their home.
However, while it seems clear that the crisis has made direct marketing more relevant, marketers should not settle for the superficial or the quick fix. They should think in a much more omnichannel way and also in a more creative way. It is not just about using their mailbox - traditional or electronic - as a way to send out those messages that are being lost in other methods, but doing so in a way that is innovative, creative and not annoying.
The mailbox, "the new experience"
In fact, as pointed out in an analysis by Warc, the mailbox has become the new emerging way of receiving brand messages, but it has done so supported by a new experience. That is, consumers have migrated consumption patterns to the home and that is where new customer experiences and new direct marketing elements should be based.
As more and more things are ordered for home delivery and more and more e-commerce is used, these are the avenues that must be used as a gateway to create direct marketing experiences as well. As they point out in the analysis, they have become opportunities for marketing, and for this reason brands must think more carefully about how they create their packaging, what makes it unique and what the unboxing experience will be like.
"In a world changed by Covid-19, our mailboxes have become the new retail experience," they point out in the analysis. Taking a "look" at the package we have received can become "a moment of delight and excitement" that will end up, if things are done well, prompting a new purchase.
Companies need to design this delivery format and what elements it includes in a more efficient way. This means not only thinking about how products will arrive best, but also how it will visually impact the consumer and how it will respond to their needs.