Still, it is remarkable: we are comparing a situation with only one exposure with a situation without. Where the people who did not get the message did of course get some things. So that it seems to do something is interesting.
Even more interesting is that in this situation of persistent negative news it is still good to communicate about this. The negative effect of making the (non-logical) connection yourself does not seem to occur, because the connection has already been made by the amount of attention in the media. In this situation where the 'damage is done', a counter-voice is a good idea. In fact, it seems advisable to take control of the positive news and thus repair the brand damage.
Corona considered (temporarily) renaming the brand to Coronita, the name they already use for their premix tequila drink. This had to do with the ongoing media attention. What the media (probably unintentionally) caused was that the public started to make a connection between the two coronas. And the brand itself also did its bit by denying that there is a connection.
The brain is unfortunately wired in such a way that if a connection is made, we ourselves will make sure that it fits. If you make a connection often enough, one is made despite the lack of a fit and switzerland telegram data associations, feelings and attitudes are transferred. It would have been better if Corona had not communicated at all or had started about something completely different. But they will have felt that they had to fight the unjustified connection.
Brand owners also make mistakes
Because we too tend to think that what big brands do is good, we challenge that assumption by investigating whether it is correct. The brand has clearly suffered damage, but it is an external association that has been temporarily adopted. However, the essence of the brand has remained intact and the brand personality has even been made distinctive. Therefore, there may be confidence that the brand will recover when the attention for COVID-19 decreases.
We see that bringing positive news during all the violence can still contribute to the recovery of the brand. So don't throw it out with the bathwater, as three quarters of you already said, but steadily work on recovery, with good news! You were mostly right, but now you know: even big brands sometimes make wrong decisions and you know why you were right and how you can substantiate that!
Have a great summer and we hope to see you at the next challenge.
