Brands and the future

Neil Stollznow is a Director of Stollznow Research, a leading research and insights advisory that has a speciality in visitor and travel research and has provided this comment on how to prepare your brand during the COVID-19 crisis.

SINCE World War II, international travel has never had a significant decline in any year, no matter what was happening across the globe…until now. As of 24 Mar international travel has been banned, interstate and even intrastate travel is severely restricted, and there is now effectively no travel industry.

This situation will not last forever. People love to travel, and no matter how long the travel shutdown lasts the industry will recover and prosper.

So what should brands do? After the difficult decisions have been made, if an organisation is confident that it can survive until better times come along, it should not forget about its brand presence.

Our research shows that the people who love travel the most are those who work in the travel industry. The travel agents and others who are your customers will be the same people who will return to work when the pandemic ends and the industry resumes operation. They are the future for your brand.

Throughout the shutdown prepare your brand for this future market with three simple brand messages: we share your pain, this situation will end, and we will stay in business. In an uncertain world providing certainty that your business will still be there in the future will give reassurance. This positive communication will be remembered when the industry commences again.