Page 19 - Adnews Magazine Sep-Oct 2020

“In the past few months people have engaged with social content that shows empathy, honesty and genuine insight, and some brands have been quick to recognise this,” says We Are Social Australia managing director Suzie Shaw.
“However, too much ‘we understand you... we’re here for you’ wore thin pretty quickly.”
Shaw also warned against empty gestures to “anxious” consumers, such as McDonald’s separating its iconic M logo which drew criticism from many people online.
However, brands did learn to evolve their messaging and provide more valuable ways for consumers to get through months of lockdown and then readjust their lives for a pandemic where social distancing was needed.
“With people spending more time than ever scrolling through their feeds, many brands leveraged social media to show empathy through reassuring and heartfelt messages. They also showed how they were responding to the crisis to support their customers, staff and the wider community — such as Suncorp and Optus,” says Shaw.
“Others added value to their audience by offering a wealth of tips, how-to videos and utilities for people to adapt to their new normal — working from home, homeschooling, virtual socialising, etc — like Slack and Burger King. But many people were on the lookout for entertaining content in their feeds, wanting more funny content, memes and live entertainment, and brands such as Red Bull and Bud Light managed to deliver some much-needed light relief and distraction with their social content.”
Brooks says strong campaigns on social needed to deliver value to customers, and he saw his cli- ents lean into using influencers.
“The content inf luencers share is rooted in their everyday experience. Creators had no choice but to adapt and acknowl- edge their lifestyle shift, shared by their followers,” he says.
“This common experience helped brands achieve a sense of humanity and relatability that is difficult to muster on faceless brand accounts. Audiences have leaned in, too. With many of us spending more time than ever on our phones, they’ve provided a source of inspiration and enter- tainment in lockdown, deepen- ing that bond between influ- encer and follower.
“It [the pandemic] certainly accelerated the idea of using influencers as a content resource. While so many shoots around the world were being cancelled, influencers were able to continue creating content safely at home. We’ve seen an increase in content-only or con- tent and ad briefs from clients.”
On the other hand, We Are Social’s Suzie Shaw noticed the pandemic was tough on influ- encers, with a lot of their brand partnerships being dropped as brands tightened their budgets in a difficult economy.
“Influencers have had a tough pandemic with a lot of their brand partnerships drying up. Either because their traditionally glossy lifestyles feel off colour in a COVID-19 context, because they’ve been unable to travel to create their content, or brands are simply seeing them as nice to have in a time when budgets are under great scrutiny,” she says.
“Interestingly, many influ- encers were more effective than brands in responding to their communities and pivoting to the new context. For example, fash- ion influencer Birkin Boy went from posting expensive bags and luxury #ootd at fashion shows to organising his ward- robe, ironing and showcasing designer face masks, engaging his audience and adding value with his content.”
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