WHILE PEOPLE INCREASINGLY BELIEVE
THAT ORGANIZATIONS NEED TO BE HELD
ACCOUNTABLE FOR THEIR DECISIONS,
THEY ARE ALSO INCREASINGLY WARY
THAT THEY WILL FOLLOW THROUGH
ON THEIR SOCIAL COMMITMENTS.”
4 milkshake Taste Test 2021
— ANDERS MCGILLIS, STRATEGY PRINCIPAL, JACKMAN
sent an urgent reminder to its Tread+
members, reminding them about the
importance of following critical warnings
and safety instructions. To note, the child is
expected to make a full recovery.
Despite the incident and media wave
that followed, Peloton remains a brand
driven by fierce customer loyalty. Today,
with more than 1.67 million connected
fitness subscribers and counting, it boasts
an annual retention rate of more than 92%.
Peloton instructors on Instagram alone
have a combined follower count of 6.62-
plus million. And during the pandemic, in a
time when gyms were shut down, the brand
gained further market traction.
consumer safety, Peloton notified the US
Consumer Product Safety Commission
(CPSC) the day after the incident. It also
n the broad stroke of the brush painting the landscape of which brands
play on today, the changes are many—almost too many to count. Too many
marketers are bubbled, whereby they live in big cities, read more, listen to
more podcasts and are more educated than the consumers they target.
To make things even more interesting, too many brands shout their
messages at their audiences, forcing their products down their consumers’
throats. But even so, Probst says the solutions to build back consumer
confidence and trust in the looming post-pandemic world are doable.
“It is time to take a step back and listen to consumers in order to understand what
feels meaningful and purposeful to them. From there, marketers can build brands and
products that will help consumers fulfill their quest for meaning.”
Probst says the pandemic has accelerated consumers’ digital transformation,
whereby even late adopters and older age groups increasingly rely on technology to
communicate with brands and purchase
products. “Our relationship with brands
now spans across all channels. The
customer experience must be seamless
and consistent, whether he chooses to
engage on social media, over the phone
or in-store.”
McGillis believes that marketers can
rely on mediums such as print to build
confidence. By offering a more personal
connection, print enables brands to
better engage with their audiences,
allowing them to offer key pieces
about your brand. “Print can be used
for awareness messaging or to drive
credibility through influencer content or
brand recommendations, or to simply
feature your products in articles (in ways
that feel natural and authentic). The key
is that the message must be relevant
to the context of the print piece. You
should be clear on the goal and intent
of the piece, as this will help dictate its
placement and the creative direction.
For example, anything you do with
newspapers should be geared toward
providing information.”
It also is important for the printed
pieces to feel like content and not just
another advertisement. McGillis says that
adding value beyond just pushing your
product messaging is key to confidence
building. “Regardless of the medium
in which you try to reach consumers,
authenticity is key. Humans are
inherently social creatures. In our
research, 43% of respondents cited
various elements of deep connection
as the core benefit they seek when
engaging with other people, and
honesty and trust emerged as
consumers’ top priorities—outranked
only by health and safety.”
To better prove the point, you
only have to refer back to the
aforementioned Peloton example. In
the end, people trust other people
more than they trust your brand,
which is why establishing a human
connection between your brand and
consumers is so important. “Don’t
underestimate the power of your
employees to help achieve these
connections,” McGillis says. “They
are your brand and giving them the
tools they need to express that is key.
If a brand is able to humanize itself,
whether through brand advocates,
ambassadors, or employees, in a
way that’s authentic to its DNA, then
it’s going to be that much easier to
form authentic connections with
consumers.”
It is the kind of confidence that
builds sustainability.
THE WAY FORWARD