Post-pandemic, the need to maximize marketing ROI has increased for marketers: GfK Survey

GfK has just released a study into branding and marketing in the “New Abnormal” focusing on how COVID-19 has shifted marketing KPIs and budget

GfK surveyed 144 brand marketers across Asia. They included directors, VPs and managers from 13 countries, encompassing Australia, China, Japan, India, South Korea, Indonesia, Thailand, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam. 11+ industries, including automobile, financial services, retail, tech/ telecommunications, FMCG, travel, healthcare and the media, are represented.

 
The questions asked were primarily focused around four areas:
A. What are marketers’ priorities
B. How is marketing effectiveness being measured
C. How have budgets shifted during COVID-19
D. How has COVID-19 changed the way marketers engage with consumers. 

When asked how COVID-19 has affected their business, a majority (56%) say that business has slowed or come to a screeching halt. Diving into individual industries, retail is hit hardest, with 80% saying that business has slowed, and 10% saying that it has come to a screeching halt, followed by automotive and consumer durable, with 100% saying business has slowed.

 
The survey found that overall the marketing budget of 73% of businesses has been reduced with those in FMCG and healthcare hit hardest.
 
 
 
The survey also found that the order of KPI’s have changed for the pre and post COVID world.
 
Pre-COVID Driving Sales was prioritised, but that now maximising ROI is now the top priority, followed by driving sales and then brand positioning, and according to GfK this speaks to putting a finer emphasis on making sure that money is doing more, with 52% say they’ll shift budgets from short-term ROI to long-term brand building and reputation building.
 
Digital transformation has become a top priority for marketers since the pandemic began but of respondents who state digital transformation as an objective post-COVID-19, only 40% have marketing mix modelling in place.
 
In the next six months 61% of marketers say they plan to gain better knowledge on consumer engagements, while 59% say they plan to gain better understanding of consumer preferences and behaviour change.
 
40% say the allocation of budgets is a key concern, but 42% within this group have no data-driven measurement tools in place.


 
What should organisations have in their COVID-19-proof marketing toolbox? 

  • Transformative tools: measurement is important; equally important is selecting the right tools to help teams generate actionable insights.
  • A varied toolbox: as the survey says, respondents who take a holistic approach to measurement and engagement experience the most growth.
  • Agile mindset: only by being flexible in resource planning and measurement will strategies be able to evolve with fast-changing times.

 
 

 

 


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