How Does Brand Enhance Its "Anti-Virus Immunity"? Overseas Consulting Group Has Something To Say

Boston Consulting Group, McKinsey Co and Kay consulting and other internationally renowned enterprises strategy consulting firms have released some opinions on the situation in the February report to outline the strategic adjustments made by enterprises to better survive in the new crown pneumonia epidemic.  

Prepare for the worst.

Brand may take longer than expected in China to recover before the outbreak, so it is necessary to conduct an appropriate assessment of consumer sentiment. Kay predicts that if the epidemic is properly controlled, consumption will not rebound until mother's day in May 10th and another Chinese Valentine's day May 20th. However, different luxury goods may have different "recovery time". Jason Yu, managing director of the Greater China region, said consumers are more likely to spend money on affordable luxuries, such as the accessories of big brands. Sales of these products are likely to rebound to compensate for previous losses in the first quarter.

The McKinsey report also predicted similar sales "recovery" time, indicating that in the basic case, the recovery time of consumer confidence is longer than that of economic restart. The Boston consultation recommends that enterprises focus on three situations: the positive situation is that the epidemic is curbed before the end of February, apparently this has not happened; or the general situation is based on the end of March; the most pessimistic is that the epidemic will be curbed before and after June.

Establishing a fast response center

McKinsey and Boston have recommended that brands build a centralized leadership team to overcome the crisis. McKinsey wrote in the new crown pneumonia crisis response report: "in addition to protecting employees and following the basic knowledge of health advice, it is time to establish a systematic" nerve center "to deal with this sudden situation and ensure that top brands can make decisions with the fastest speed. In addition to the central decision-makers, the Boston consultation also recommends that the brand set up a special team to assess the crisis situation, communicate internally and externally, reduce the cost to the greatest extent, and prepare for the rapid resumption of sales process under the supervision of the market and sales team.

For brands, the challenge lies in how to cope with the sharp decline in consumer demand while maintaining cash flow and forecasting in 3 months. McKinsey said in its report that the primary task is to assess the company's financial position under potential scenarios and ensure strong response in the supply chain, inventory management, operation capital and balance sheet management.

Increase D2C contact point

During the outbreak of the crisis, more and more consumers are turning to shopping APP and WeChat applet shopping. All brands should increase D2C contact points on different APP, small programs and even community groups.

McKinsey suggests that the brand's operation team should focus on social marketing through the relevant KPI, or outsource it to the third party organization. In the case of information flooding, KOL has become a manager of consumer news and information to some extent, so it is also very important to use their power to disseminate information. Investment in this area should also be shifted to D2C centric investment, such as stopping advertising on line, and releasing advertising emphasis on different APP. As the epidemic is gradually being controlled, we slowly increase the display below the line.

The sudden outbreak is like a mirror, reflecting the problems that the brands may encounter in their daily operations, which are difficult to detect or difficult to handle, and have become a black swan event that can achieve or destroy a brand. It remains to be seen how brands transform these difficult challenges into opportunities and remain competitive.