After being on nationwide lockdown, businesses have slowly started to reopen over the last few months. However, the term “reopen” comes with a high level of consumer expectations.

The CoronaVirus pandemic demands changes in how businesses execute plans to reopen and operate safely. For many, this involves careful consideration, implementation, and communication of a phased reopening strategy.

Brand judgment and purchase decisions are also influenced by how well a brand treats its workforce and whether they are acting as good corporate citizens. People are looking for hope, reassurance, unification and your messaging should try to reflect those feelings. Brands can tap into behavioral insights to help them strike the right tone with rightly cautious consumers.

Many companies have turned to social media and email marketing to stress the importance of in-store mandatory social distancing measures to keep employees and customers safe. Many companies (ourself included) have embraced online newsrooms, video spots, and even Spotify playlists to welcome customers back to their storefronts.

Whether you’ve already reopened, partially reopened, or will be opening your doors soon, here are some important tips to consider when gearing up to welcome customers back.

Execute A Thoughtful Reopening

Brands’ top priority should be welcoming consumers back into the world and into their businesses — but only when they’re ready.

For many brands — not just retailers — their focus has been making consumers feel comfortable about navigating this new normal. Take Lexus as an example. The car brand debuted TV ads asking viewers where their first trip outdoors would be to when lockdown eased.

Reopening requires brands to recognize that customers and employees are still in this state of fear and anxiety surrounding the pandemic. After Southwest Airlines chief executive, Gary Kelly declared that it was now safe to fly and he would be taking steps to reopen bookings, he was seen to be “out of step with the public mood and the pronouncements of health experts, thereby putting his firm’s financial interests ahead of public and employee safety”.

Don’t Forget To Be Lighthearted

While brands need to show how seriously they are approaching reopening, it’s important they don’t forget to show their personalities, too. With the appropriate balance of lightheartedness and seriousness, they can strike the right tone in their messaging to consumers.

Here are a couple examples of creative messaging brands rolled out to welcome customers back.

• KFC You Soon

In Malaysia, KFC launched an 86-track Spotify playlist titled “KFC You Soon” to serenade customers back to its stores. 86 tracks signified 86 days — the period of time that the dine-in service was unavailable. The trilingual playlist aims to tell consumers how much they missed them.

• Burger Klean 

Upon reopening in France, Burger King created a spoof airline safety ad titled “Burger Klean”. The commercial reveals the measures Burger King is taking to ensure a safe customer experience in its restaurants. These include disinfection processes, the distance between employees, and the correct use of mouthguards.

Don’t Overpromise Or Overwhelm

It’s better to undersell and overdeliver than oversell and underdeliver. Rather than making major proclamations, businesses should simply be honest about the steps they’re taking to reopen safely.

Similarly, you don’t want to overwhelm consumers with too much information, as consumers are weary of lengthy and dramatic over-communications. Brands simply need to tell people how they’re going to keep them safe, then make sure they can deliver on that promise.

Take An EPS Approach

EPS stands for early, proactive, and specific — and this is definitely the type of communication you want to have with your consumers. As consumers continue to weather this period, they will prioritize communications that are timely, proactive, and full of valuable details over communications that aren’t.

When it comes to details, it’s best to briefly address some important changes to your business operations and policies. How exactly will you ensure cleanliness and proper safety protocols? Are all your locations opening, or just a select few? Are there alternate options, like curbside pickup? Consider linking emails or social media posts to an FAQs landing page.

Restaurant chains like Chipotle, McDonald’s, and Starbucks have been praised for having transparent safety protocols available and frequently updated online.

Final Takeaways

For better or for worse, the country has begun to slowly reopen. Brand actions during reopening reflects how consumers will perceive them and how successfully they’ll perform.

Simply put, brands need to communicate their concern for each consumer’s health and safety. They should be proactive, avoid overwhelming the consumer, and wear their heart on their sleeve when communicating in this new normal. With that said, please enjoy the YtC Summer playlist we have put together for your listening pleasure!