Finding direction in uncertainty
During this worldwide pandemic, the only certainty we know now is that we cannot be certain for the future at all. It is difficult to maneuver through this situation and find a clear direction to head to, regardless whether you’re a singular or business entity.
Nevertheless, one has no choice but to sieve out the best plausible solution to navigate through this arduous and crucial situation. Even for renowned brands like Dettol, globally known for its scientifically proven defense against the virus, the pandemic posed an obstacle since public sentiments about the Covid-19 virus were increasingly volatile. Amidst the lack of control of the situation and despite its products being a vital household tool in the fight against Covid-19, Dettol had to re-strategize in order to create and distribute communications that would be helpful to consumers.
Through reading about how Dettol and its employees scrambling to unravel their optimum strategy, here are the key highlights that we can takeaway and apply to our own business and hopefully, turn the pandemic mess into a neater mess:
1. Diversify to optimize
Senior vice president of global brand strategy in Dettol, Karen Crum acknowledged: “We’re in crisis, and Covid-19 is four or five crises in one, and it’s going to keep going. So, what we’re doing is making sure that we can have several different paths we go down to can support the public based on where things go.” Dettol and it’s employees spent up to 9 hours a day planning on how to respond to various situations which were fluctuating day-by-day.
2. Stick to your brand heritage
Build on your brand’s mission and vision and suit it to tackle the tough situation. Despite fluctuating public sentiment, Dettol’s campaign focus and strategy remained unchanged as it aimed to promote the decades of virus protection it’s products had supplied, with the pandemic producing the latest enemy for it to tackle in order to reduce illness.
3. Never falter from mistakes
Turning mistakes into lessons may sound cliché and sugar coated, but Dettol has proven to us how this is essential to navigate through this sticky situation. For Dettol, one element of the brand’s communications that did not run smoothly but nonetheless provided the team with valuable lessons was a poster released near the end of 2020 targeting commuters returning to work. It was criticized for its lack of empathy as some traveling on public transport said they still felt nervous about being in public following a protracted period of lockdown.
Dettol’s response?
They conceded to misjudging the public sentiment; “It didn’t get the reaction from people that we were expecting at the time, and I think we learned from it,” said Crum. Correspondingly, the team became more aware of customers’ needs and started tracking consumer sentiment, while asking people what they love and how the brand can help protect it.
We are no Dettol to provide products that serve as an ally against the virus, but what we can say for sure is that for us at BCD, we are always striving to learn what we can to improve what we can.
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