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Instead of competing on product and value, brands are investing in their retail customer experience to keep consumers coming back for more—well beyond the initial purchase. These days that means offering features like online shopping, instant fulfillment and curbside pickup—anything that simplifies the customer’s path to purchase. Brands need to be online more than ever before Maintaining relevance in a customer-driven marketplace means the customer experience has to be consistent everywhere, regardless of which channel (physical or digital) consumers start and end their journey on. Consumers today expect a consistent buying experience that moves with them, whether they’re at home on their computer, in a physical retail store or on the go on their phones.

Any brand that hopes to retain their customers, manage through the current crisis and ensure long-term growth should take a page out of the direct-to-consumer marketing playbook and prioritize connections In the wake of COVID-19 and the rising social justice movements following George Floyd’s and Breonna Taylor’s murders, direct brands are leveraging those connections to listen, learn and better understand how to support their customers and authentically give back to their communities. While social media helps Parachute stay connected to all of their followers, their one-on-one styling services also ensure the brand maintains a personal connection to individual customers. To get to know their customers better, direct-to-consumer brands are focused on building connections with people who align with their brand’s mission and values.

To thrive in today’s new normal, CMOs need to address these digital skills gaps first Prepared or not, businesses have had to accelerate their digital transformation efforts practically overnight, or over a couple of weeks, because of COVID-19. To guide the development of consumers’ online journey, marketers need to ask themselves questions like: What channels are customers using to learn about new products and services? Where buyers go, brands go: Building the retail customer experience 2.0 Instead of competing on product and value, brands are investing in their retail customer experience to keep consumers coming back for more. How direct-to-consumer brands are rewriting the meaning of marketing Direct-to-consumer brands are leading a marketing revolution across every industry imaginable, putting legacy brands under pressure to adapt.

It has also encouraged leaders to think differently about how they can support their teams, promote more open discussions about mental health and foster psychological safety at work. To understand how marketing leaders can promote mental health, productivity and engagement on their teams by prioritizing psychological safety, we spoke to two experts who specialize in psychology and organizational dynamics. For leaders who manage customer-facing teams working in areas like social media, customer support and community management, it’s important to be aware of additional risk factors in team members’ everyday roles. Leaders can provide support by creating forums in which employees are able to process the experience of being the recipient of anger, hatred and aggression,” says Philbin.