The COVID-19 pandemic has hit brands and agencies hard. With the former cutting budgets and the latter trying to adapt to an ever-changing situation, it looks like things have been permanently altered.
Simon Long is Intermarketing Agency’s (IMA) Executive Creative Director. The international agency has offices in Manchester, London, Leeds, Munich, New York and beyond – working with a range of international clients.
In the midst of COVID-19, Intermarketing went into planning mode – and set their sights on doing things a bit differently. Their new concept they titled “thinking longer”.
“The most successful brands through the pandemic are the ones that really thought longer and talked about purpose rather than products,” Simon tells me.
“The world has changed – people have changed the way they shop, the way they consume, the way they connect. And because of that, brands have to change as well.” Thinking longer involves no longer focusing on one high-profile activation – a TV ad or big billboard. Instead, brands ought to champion purpose, and think about each consumer individually.
Think longer to last longer
“Big changes are needed but not necessarily big ideas,” according to Simon. One example, taken from IMA’s experience was its work with KIND – the healthy snack brand. With people staying away from shops more and more, and no longer picking up things to eat on-the-go, there was a need to help the brand another way.
The strategy was to add a purpose, which Simon says revolved around “making the world a little kinder.”
