Global Brandemic: And the winners are…

2020 has been a stinger hasn’t it?

Most businesses are still in free fall where this pandemic is concerned. The impact on companies both large and small will be long talked about.

But it hasn’t been bad for everyone! For some, this pandemic has seen their brands leap from unknown to everyday household names and tiny sectors of the economy suddenly become vital. 

Zoom

Don’t try to pretend you had heard of it before you started working from home. Now? Now the blue Zoom is etched into our retinas (metaphorically and literally) and aside from the 2 weeks where stories of spying and data breaches were circulating – it has pretty much single handed taken over as our new video communications tool of choice. The lack of glitchy drop-outs definitely helps but for a business that’s been around since 2013 they are considered to be the overnight success story of the corona virus. On July 15 the company announced Zoom for Home, a line of products designed around for those working from home. The first product, with software by Zoom and hardware by DTEN, is called DTEN ME. It consists of a 27-inch screen with three wide-angle cameras and eight microphones, with Zoom software preloaded on the device. It is expected to be available in August 2020.

Amazon

OK not exactly a new business but Amazon are another brand that have been massively successful during the pandemic months. Let’s face it, if you were planning on starting a company a year ago that could capitalise on a potential global pandemic, it would probably look a lot like Amazon. From downloading books to occupy our new found ‘extra time’, to finding someone (anyone) who stocked toilet rolls – Amazon delivered (literally). When that box arrived, it smiled up at me with its distinctive yellow arrow and reassured me that the world outside was still operating and that it probably wasn’t going to end – at least not yet. Amazon have continued to grow even with issues around delivering in good time and they are predicted to emerge from the corona-crisis bigger and stronger than ever. That logo will be smiling for some time to come.

Plant-based foods

A slightly more surprising development of these uncertain times has been the success of plant-based foods. Food in general has been such a top topic of conversation. Due to the origins of the virus, never have we had more reason to think about what we eat or – more time on our hands to eat it! Chinese wet markets have been a hot topic, so it should come as no surprise that companies such as Beyond Meat have boomed in this environment. Although Beyond Meat has been in the Australian market since 2018, they have taken a strong marketing initiative during the pandemic to persuade consumers that plant-based foods are a great substitute to meat and it’s not necessary to switch to a full vegetarian diet but instead substitute veggie options a couple of times a week. The likes of Coles are already stocking Beyond Meat products and their distinctive logo is likely to become as recognisable as the ‘Australian Beef’ logo.

Takeaway delivery services

‘So, let me get this straight – you can order a single burger from McDonalds and have it delivered? Ha ha – that will never take off!”

In recent times it has felt a little like we had slipped into the fast lane on the highway towards the ultimate sedentary, sofa-isolated, dystopian future – too lazy now to even go out to get super-sized. Fast forward 6 months and delivering a pizza is an essential service! For many of us the contactless way in which food can get from takeaway chain to your dining table has elevated the humble delivery driver from bringer of our-once-a-week-treat to brown-bag legend, battling across the wasteland to drop packages of tastiness to the isolated hoards.

So while it has been tough times for many of us – some businesses are making serious headway. And it turns out you don’t need to be a creative agency to be creative! Whether it’s pivoting at the right time or just making sure you’re in the ‘right place at right time’ – in even the bleakest of times, good businesses just plough on.