Timing is the important factor now to engage with your markets.
It feels like an eternity but in fact it was just two weeks ago when I shared Agile Adjusters #1. To recap, this is a mini-series to help our clients, but also to set out some general pointers on the right moves to survive, cope, adapt and thrive on the other side of this crisis.
As mentioned in #1, we track the brands with the attitude, means and ambition to continue with significant new marketing investments; we call them agile adjusters. But one thread running through the examples I’ll be sharing today is timing.
We’ve identified a critical window of time where we expect brands will want to pull in revenue to provide a buffer, but also to get marketing fundamentals in place to withstand probable curveballs and macroeconomic headwinds.
Briefs for project work will of course continue to be in play throughout as fresh challenges, opportunities and capacity issues arise. Acting while this window is open however, is imperative for agencies that want to secure long term retained work with brands. We know that brands are currently auditing PSLs not only to cut costs but also to make sure they have the best possible support in place for the bumpy road ahead.
By August / September we expect growing unemployment, the removal of Government support, reenergised tax take, and protracted worldwide recession to augur Crisis 2.0. We expect that our agile adjusters will by then have a full range of agency partners in place to drive forwards through the worsening conditions. By late September / October they will want to focus on execution and delivery rather than pitches and reviews.
So with this in mind, which sectors and brands are worth special attention?
Here's a taster of 25 from our latest sector list for week commencing 20/4/20...
**We now also have full company and decision-maker contact lists embedded for our clients. Here's a closer look at what's going on in a couple of sectors of note this month.
The Castaway, The Marine, or the DIY
For men, whether you do the Tom Hanks’ castaway, the military clean cut or the have-a-go in the mirror approach to grooming, demand for hygiene and home health products is of course soaring. And it’s a theme of note here and with the others I’ve singled out below, that by educating people in times of necessity, we can expect some sustained commercial impact from DIY habits across all areas, long-term.
Hair-colour sales have already hit 23% over last year according to Nielsen. Just For Men has swiftly taken up TV and VOD slots – although with everyone from P Diddy to Trump letting their greys show, the brand may perhaps be swimming against the tide. Subscription services like Dollar Shave and Harry’s, benefit from the appeal of reliable home delivery. Dollar Shave’s ads reveal a brand in customer acquisition mode, with messaging focusing on quality - a heavy high spec razor not just disposable – seeking to drive trial among homebound consumers. But with Gillette’s subscription service now up and running and Cornerstone, The Personal Barber, FFS and The Shaving Shack all vying for attention, the holy grail of long-term razor loyalty is all there to play for this summer.
On the flip side, many men are taking this opportunity to experiment with facial furniture. But as those with a beard will know, maintenance is required. Clippers and beard trimmer brands like Wahl, Philips, BaBliss, Remington and Oster have all been flying off the shelves (a 138% jump in demand) but these are one-off purchases – the real action is going to be in the already booming beard oil market.
And it’s not just about the aesthetics. In the lockdown 1.0 and potentially others to come, people can’t easily see their GP or dentist for non-emergency matters (this article on the BBC this morning caught my eye). So for example if a crown falls off a tooth, you’ll need to source your own dental cement and stick it back on. Visits to A&E are significantly down as people elect not to risk catching the virus by presenting with minor injuries and health problems, but it seems rather to seek advice, and then self-help with their own minor problem DIY healthcare.
Home Improvement is Self-Empowerment
And this sector has been covered a lot online, but do take a look at home improvement. Again we’re seeing the educating and perhaps also liberating effect of having to do things yourself. Yes there’s an immediate opportunity for retailers like Homebase, Wickes and Kingfisher-owned B&Q and Screwfix to meet this demand and improve on relatively weak performances in recent years. But reports of three-week waiting lists for click and collect suggest there’s work to be done.
Still, the long game is building engagement with newly rediscovered consumers, who will increasingly want to make do and mend for themselves until their financial situation improves – and once their confidence is in place, may still want to do so ongoing. There’s certainly a window of opportunity for the major players to get their act together – but also an opening for the more agile DTC operator.
Lions at the Water Hole
The weak will get eaten cheaply as the strong look to pick-off those lacking resilience and flexibility. So of course there’s plenty of opportunity in deal and investment markets.
It was also great to read about these 8 startups that have all raised funding since lockdown, with investment ranging from £8 to £100m. Well-backed challengers such as these have an opportunity to make aggressive moves. They can be agile in setting up infrastructure and product offering suited to our new reality, where blue chips are less manoeuvrable. Of course, if the prospects for a business or sector sour, investors will be seeking their next sure thing. Other sectors favoured by investors (for now) include health-tech, logistics and virtual workspace solutions like Notion Labs, which raised $50M at a $2B valuation.
Cheers!
Sales of alcohol are up 22% in March (Source: Kantar) as the nation quite understandably self-medicates its way through the crisis.
Wine retailers stand to benefit especially. Majestic’s website went down due to surging traffic. Both Naked Wined and Laithwaites are thriving “on a par with Black Friday”. UK wine merchant Roberson reported 500% higher sales compared to the same week in 2019. Berry Bros & Rudd, the venerable booze brand but yet early adopter of ecommerce within the sector, saw its biggest single day of online sales. Vivino, an app better known for wine ratings that direct sales also saw its biggest-ever single day of sales. One booze wholesaler we know told us it’s like Christmas out there.
And with so much more choice and frankly quality on offer, what’s a brand like Hardy’s to do? The answer is to meet head on with a £5m 'Certainty in an Uncertain Time' campaign, and a further £2m planned for later in the year. Plus – a no questions asked money-back guarantee.
But with the WHO (and our own consciences) increasingly urge against excessive alcohol consumption, the longer term trend for NoLo beverages should also gather momentum as the year wears on.
How are you adjusting?
As well as keeping a keen eye on which brands are likely to be in need of additional support, it's essential to be as objective as possible about your own offer. What do you provide that's essential to your markets? How does this out-play your competitors? Do you need to adjust how you position your services, or which ones to lead with? And if brands are in survival mode, what can you credibly contribute?
At Rainmaker we continuously adjust client messaging in response to real-time feedback and outbound success indicators. In practice, this has included helping experiential clients to refocus on their impressive design credentials and ensuring comms decision-makers are fully aware of the menu of strategic and tactical capabilities of PR clients.
Our approach to agile adjustment is:
Continuous - on a weekly basis in terms of nuance, sector focus, reaction to commercial environment and language.
Frequent - monthly adjustments to offer and messaging as required.
Comprehensive - annually, at a full-scale demand and supply review of messaging.