Marketing strategies have evolved significantly over the years. Traditionally, marketing was mainly focused on advertising, where companies would promote their products or services through various broadcast channels such as television, radio, print media, and billboards. While advertising remains an essential component of marketing, it is no longer sufficient to achieve long-term success in today’s dynamic and competitive business landscape.

At Velvet, our pride and joy is to develop comprehensive marketing strategies with clear direction and well-developed ideas that make sense for the target consumer.

We are aware of the ever-changing consumer behaviour. People nowadays have access to vast amounts of information at their fingertips and can actively seek out products and services that meet their needs. Traditional advertising methods might not effectively reach these informed consumers.

A Customer Centric approach is now crucial to be able to convert. Businesses need to understand their customers deeply, identify their pain points, and tailor their products and messages to meet specific needs. Simply bombarding customers with ads might not resonate with them and could even lead to a negative brand perception.

Content Marketing has become just as important. Brands are expected to provide valuable and relevant content to their audience. By telling compelling stories and sharing meaningful content, companies can build stronger connections with their customers, create brand loyalty, and establish themselves as thought leaders in their industry.

Additionally, today’s consumers care more about the values and ethics of the brands they support. Marketing strategies need to focus on building a strong brand identity and communicating the company’s values effectively to create an emotional connection with the audience.

Modern marketing strategies require a more in-depth understanding of the target audience, the proper use of digital technologies and a particular on building meaningful connections and long-term relationships with customers.

At Velvet, our expertise is to work closely with our clients to develop such effective strategies. Let’s grab a coffee together and find out ways where we can help you. Don’t worry – it’s on us!

As Malta registered a significant decline in Covid-19 active cases during the past days, the Government has announced measures to ease restrictions adopted due to the coronavirus pandemic.

As from next Monday non-essential shops which include lotto booths, VRT testing stations, retail shops, jewellers and perfumeries, home decor, discount shops, toys and hobby shops, furniture outlets and florists can reopen for business. However, in order to visit these stores, one needs to wear a mask and wait in line so that the threshold of people inside the store is not reached and social distancing is kept at all times.

Even though people will be able to visit retail outlets physically, this does not mean that new marketing trends have not emerged and will not be significant to revive business operations and market interest.

The COVID-19 pandemic has led everyone to be more adapted to digital services, and thus, digital marketing techniques have become more significant than ever. Companies need to adapt their operations and logistics to cater for this new trend in consumer behaviour. For example, until a few months ago, consumers were still reluctant to purchase certain kinds of food (not referring to takeaway) online. This is new trend that supermarkets, grocery stores and others are now facing and should seek to adapt to as soon as possible.

This is the new ‘normal’ that consumers will be adapting to. More people will be resorting to delivery services, eCommerce services and subscriptions.

At Velvet Marketing inc, we will be providing tailor-made solutions, strategic advice and implementation for small to medium enterprises.

If interested, we can offer you a free consultation. Feel free to contact us now.

The Coronavirus crisis has led to a greater demand in Cargo supplies for airlines, which have led airlines to tweak their offer during this period.

In fact, airlines in the Gulf region have seen a remarkable surge of 20% for cargo services as such airlines are repositioning their offer due to recent emerging market opportunities.

Airline cargo services are expected to keep growing in the coming week due to greater demand for essential goods, such as food and medical supplies during the battle to combat the Covid-19 coronavirus outbreak.

In a report by Arabian Business, DAA International CEO (Riyadh) Nicholas Cole has confirmed that this trend was felt at a number of airports the company manages in the region.

Emirates SkyCargo said that “it stepped up its commitment to cargo services and supplies.” In a single chartered operation, Emirates SkyCargo transported close to half a million units of hand sanitisers in a single Boeing 777 freighter aircraft.

Additionally, Etihad is also investing in additional aircraft to cater for the demand.

Other reports confirm that other major airlines, such as Cathay Pacific, Korean Air, and American Airlines are filling their planes with cargo as they converted to cargo to stay afloat.

https://publish.twitter.com/?query=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2FIATA%2Fstatus%2F1241772982588133382&widget=Tweet

Ever seen a passenger aircraft converted for cargo?#Airlines are taking extraordinary measures to keep the world moving, while their own business is in crisis. #COVID19 https://t.co/TcpqeiZ3SW

— IATA (@IATA) March 22, 2020

Lufthansa is also considering dedicating A330, A350 and 747 jets to freight-only flight in an attempt to secure supplies in Europe and eastern Europe, CEO Carsten Spohr confirmed.

This can be considered as a ray of hope for the airline industry given that the majority of airlines were hit hard due to Coronavirus crisis. Due to various restrictive measures, the airline business may lose billions of dollars in revenue.

The current coronavirus crisis has hit the majority of businesses hard around the globe and has led most countries into an economic slowdown. While almost everyone is feeling the pressure, the most impacted companies include those in hospitality and tourism, such as airlines, hotels, destination management companies, tour operators and travel agents, restaurants, bars, clubs and so on. Governments of countries under partial lockdown, such as Malta, the UK and Dubai have all told their entertainment areas and businesses to shut down immediately.

Naturally, this is a temporary period, and we need to look ahead to when we start getting back to the ‘normal’ times. Every business is looking forward to the ‘normal’ period to come, and thinking of strategies on how to get back on his feet.

A recent survey conducted by LuggageHero, a network of short-term luggage storage options in shops, cafes, hotels etc., shows that more than half of Americans (58%) are planning to travel between May and September 2020, as long as their destinations aren’t in quarantine. John Lovell, president of leisure travel and supplier relations and networks at Travel Leaders Group, is optimistic that destinations will recover quickly. Lovell told Forbes, “Ask experts, and they’ll tell you that travel will come back quickly. Probably faster than anyone expects.”

Experts all acknowledge that businesses and destinations will immediately begin an aggressive coronavirus recovery program and strategy the moment the “all clear” signal is given.

This means that most businesses in the hospitality industry will be the first to invest in aggressive marketing strategies as an attempt to reap the first fruits of normality. And that is why most businesses, especially smaller ones, need an adequately defined plan to be able to compete with others during this growth period and benefit as much as possible from this change.

The Coronavirus crisis means brands need to be flexible and adapt to change. As the Coronavirus crisis continues to gain traction, more companies and businesses around the world are thinking about innovative ways to adapt to safeguard some of their income for the coming days. Of course, one needs to keep in mind that most countries are on a partial-lockdown, if not a full lockdown, and thus we need to adapt to this situation.

This situation has led to much more people working from home, using Virtual Private Networks (VPNs), conference call applications, eCommerce, amongst others, making the world a more virtually-connected world. As more people are stuck in their own households, the overall audience on the internet has skyrocketed during the past days and will continue to do so in the days and weeks to come. This means more active people on socials and the internet in general.

This change in lifestyle brings about change in consumer behaviour, not just for this period – but for the weeks and years to come – and it is why businesses need to think ahead and adapt fast for the current situation while developing a strategy for the following period.

During this crisis period, more and more people are now getting used to digital services and eCommerce and will continue to keep using such services even after this time of crisis.

Established and large businesses in the market may be already well-geared up with eCommerce services, but smaller and mid-sized players may be less so, forcing them to re-evaluate their main marketing channels and efforts. The small-to-medium business may have a more limited eCommerce presence (i.e. take orders, receive payments, automation, etc.) and thus, will certainly be considering new eCommerce strategies. Such strategies will help them reach and acquire new and potential clients who are afraid to go to stores physically or are on self-quarantine.

Now is the time to keep as much contact as possible to clients and customers and develop your online presence, channels, and experience. This will help you survive the current crisis while making you more robust for the period to come.

After the current crisis, a transition to digital alternatives is expected. In fact, China has recorded an increase in online car sales during the first weeks of the crisis. Museums around the world have started to create online experience strategies by creating virtual rooms.

This change will be the new normal.