Daniel Todaro, MD, Gekko OPINION


12


Adapting for the peak season and beyond


The festive period is here and retailers are hoping for a busy season ahead, but the Christmas cookie-cutter approach is no longer relevant and adapting to your local audience is critical to success, says Daniel Todaro.


W


e are living in a time of significant disruption and reimagined stability, requiring an updated approach


to brand


communication in sync with current trends. Established brand value propositions built up over many years are increasingly becoming irrelevant with so much going on in the world, and the retail environment we all knew as recently as 2019 is becoming more like a faded memory.


The question is – do brands and retailers need to redefine their appeal to stay relevant to a shifting consumer appetite based primarily on economic, environmentally and socially relevant trends? Particularly when facing a predicted period of economic uncertainty, making the most of this festive trading period is essential in order to capitalise on consumers’ appetite to shop either for themselves or for gifts. The pandemic’s cultural legacy has been a shift to a life where many of us need products and services


that cater to a new stay-at-home existence. And the climate crisis is also front of mind and certainly hasn’t dissipated despite the more immediate worries. For every retailer as a result, a new brand playbook is needed for this new age. Our understanding of consumer behaviours


is aided by research, and a recent study we conducted with YouGov pointed to five key motivating factors driving consumers’


intent


to purchase. These may assist to ring in the Christmas cheer during this peak period.


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