The coronavirus pandemic has pushed the entire world into a state of chaos and crisis. During this challenging time, it has become a continuous thought process for marketers on how to go about the communication of their brands to consumers.
Advertising spending cuts have been implemented by some of the major brands across the world. However, there are some sectors, such as household brands like P&G and Unilever, that have increased their spending due to a tremendous increase in their product sales.
So how are these brands spending on advertising during the COVID-19 world health crisis?
Digiday Research has recently analyzed the latest earnings updates from the top 10 ad spenders in the world (according to RECMA data from 2018) and how they are adapting their marketing strategies to the ongoing crisis.
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Proctor & Gamble (P&G)
The household product consumer brand has experienced a 7% increase in sales in its first quarter. P&G has experienced its best sales growth in a decade as people have stocked up on household staples that are part of P&G’s product portfolio. The company has increased its marketing spending by nearly 2% in the first quarter.
P&G CFO Jon Moeller mentions,
“There’s big upside here in terms of reminding consumers of the benefits that they’ve experienced with our brands and how they’ve served their and their families’ needs, which is why it’s not time to go off air.”
2. Unilever
Unilever’s sales performance in the first quarter didn’t exactly match that of its biggest rival and only experienced a 2.1% growth in sales. The chief executive mentions all their major ad productions have been halted, and they are shifting away from outdoor advertising.
3. L’Oreal Paris
The beauty brand’s first-quarter sales dropped by 4.8% as hair salons to which it sells products, and other retailers were forced to closed down when countries entered lockdown. The brand is cutting back on advertising in the short term as they are unable to sell products at the moment.
4. Amazon
The e-commerce giant, Amazon, has surprisingly recorded a 29% drop in profits with an operating loss of $1.5 billion. They decided to reduce marketing in some areas as a way to decrease consumer demand for non-essential items. Marketing expenses increased by 32% in the year-ago quarter to $4.8 billion.
5. Coca Cola
Coca-Cola has suffered a significant hit after bars, stores, restaurants, malls, and movie theatres closed down due to the virus. Coca-Cola CEO James Quincey said,
“We have reduced our direct consumer communication, [and we have] paused sizeable marketing campaigns through the early stages of the crisis and will re-engage when the timing is right.”
Coca- Cola sends a message regarding COVID-19 and its impact.
6. Mc. Donald’s
McDonald’s reports that their sales fell 6% in the quarter to March 31, while profit dropped by 17%. The brand believes customer engagement is their top priority for business, and therefore they will continue with advertisement spending. Their latest campaign is the promotion of free breakfast for first responders during the pandemic.
7. Glaxo SmithKline
The pharmaceutical brand, Glaxo SmithKline, is at the frontline, working on developing a vaccine for the novel coronavirus. For the first quarter of the year, it has expected a rise of 19% in sales. The brand continues to advertise digitally and plans on advertising on its new product launches.
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