“ I think that the interactive content is really going to be essential to touch points all across the consumer journey. ”
Matthew NOLAN, Partner, MINDSHARE China

What behavior(s) will stay / normalize?

“When we analyzed consumer behavior at the end of 2019, we were already seeing a rapid evolution. There was enormous growth in mobile time-spent, which is not surprising in a nation that is already mobile first. 

There was enormous growth in the amount of social activity we were seeing. Covid only sped that up as audiences turned digital brand experiences to cope with being trapped at home. GenZ creators became powerful content creators that are shifting the scales from brand / network created content to consumer created content.” What’s more, GenZ is being paid for their creative work, showing the dramatic rise in what peers / influencers say over any other. Covid only sped that up.

 In line with the growth of content creator behavior, the rise of livestream has been phenomenal. It has become a powerful tool for social connection, and it is quickly becoming a critical form of brand experience for consumers. “With the rise of covid, livestream become the sole form of real-time connection with audiences favorite celebrities and influencers, giving them seemingly one-to-one experiences.”

Nike case study
2020 was to be the year of the Olympics, a key sporting moment for the brand that impacts communication across the entire calendar year. However with the uncertainty that Covid19 brought, everything changed. “People were confined to their home, creating a major obstacle to Nike’s purpose: to make sport a daily habit. China was in need to inspiration and enablement to keep moving despite the odds. This led Nike to launch a new brand POV (Point of View): ‘Just Don’t Quit’ ” in which Nike tapped into established livestream platform Douyin, and tested new livestream capabilities within WeChat.

  And while Nike began this program with experiential inspiration and enablement, Nike quickly recognized the hunger for e-commerce connection. In fact, consumers had an increase interest in product and the innovation stories behind them. It didn’t hurt that it was being worn by some good looking athletes.

 Looking forward, Nike is looking for ways to continue this type of brand experience in the future, showcasing how consumer behavior was changed during the crisis, and will continue to have an impact on behavior moving forward.

That really has us thinking about three key pillars moving forward: Audience ; Landscape ; Brand. 

Watch the Pillars details: 48”35 → 50”50

“ The market has been rapidly pushed into the next phase: provide more of a personalized, immersive, omnichannel experience ”
Jiapeng SONG, Senior Experience Designer, AKQA China

Pandemic is catalyst for innovation in experiential marketing. “ Some brands have been extremely innovative during the crisis through their content, products, services and offerings.They are using existing resources as a temporary solution with no doubt. A lot of these temporary solutions has actually set the new standard for the market ” 

Contact becomes contactless. “ Digital has really provided us the ability to stay connected without connecting physically ”, and encouraged brand to innovate and continue to meet changing needs. “ The need of having a personal vehicle has been growing a lot, because it was seen as safe to go anywhere which leads to a rising vehicle upgrades demand ”. Ford managed to use a digital solution to answer this demand while respecting measures. All the schedule, and the location of car and keys drop-off and pick-up (secure box for the key) was digitally managed. Furthermore “ Live Streaming is being used in a different way by Ford: showing picture of the vehicle while Ford repair it to provide a sense of transparency and comfort while the vehicle is away from the customer. ”

Watch other examples of digital initiatives in the beauty & fashion markets: 36”21 → 41”28

“ Brands nowadays are providing a holistic brand experience. Customers don’t really distinguish from one product to another. The experience provided become the differentiator for them to stand out in the market ”  

“ The opportunity for a lot of brands is to focus on acquiring customers and building brand loyalty which nowadays means, the brand needs to be loyal to their customers”