Roger Blight was in my team of Brand Consultants.
At the first Brand Consultancy that I founded, Violet Bick.
Roger Blight.
Before Roger and I worked together.
Roger had been Financial Director of Nike (UK).
He was with Nike for 18 years through much of the 80’s and 90’s .
So Roger worked at a comparatively small Nike at the beginning.
And the stories Roger told about how Nike grew.
Are as important now as they were 40 years ago.
From 3 to 1.
Nike were third in the world behind Reebok and Adidas when the 1991 recession hit.
Adidas and Reebok, fearful of the future, adjusted brand communication and (amongst other things) reduced advertising spend.
They held their breath.
Roger and Nike didn’t.
They kept on investing budget, time and energy.
They kept the brand breathing.
And Nike leapfrogged them both to emerge as the global number 1 just a few years later.
Business as Usual.
OK, so it’s not ‘Business as Usual’ at the moment.
But – more than we think – it really is ‘Consumers as Usual’.
Consumers today are the same people they were 6 months ago.
They’ll still be fundamentally the same in a couple of years.
And there is always a gap between what consumers say they will do and what they actually do.
Especially when data is gathered in exceptional times.
Don’t Pause (Completely).
So shift shape and shift gear yes.
But don’t pause completely.
Don’t hold your breath.
Because you may not last very long at all if you do.
Endnote.
OK.
OK.
I have to add an endnote to this apparently simple bit of, ‘keep spending (budget, energy and/or time)’ advice.
As well as my apparently simple observation that ‘people stay the same no matter what’.
Especially because I am the Founder of Always Wear Red.
A brand dedicated to changing the way consumers buy clothing.
Banking on (and influencing) morphing consumer priorities.
Look…
All I am saying is be careful of these two things:
- Be careful you don’t make the mistake of seeing the world how you’d like it to be – instead of how it really is.
- Be careful you don’t make any long term decisions for your brand based on what people are feeling, saying and doing right now.
So if it sounds like I am zigging and zagging a bit with this subject.
I am.
And if it sounds like I am almost ‘advising myself’.
And reminding myself to be careful of the two things I’ve mentioned just above, too.
I am.
Important.
This is important.
Because, in summary, whilst there will be some behavioural changes in your customer base because of the virus.
History tells us that the change us unlikely to be anywhere near as extreme as you imagine.
And it is also unlikely to last anywhere near a long as you’d imagine either.
If you want to chat about this, please email me at hello@mychael.co.uk as a get-go.
You’re welcome anytime.
