Could a Pivot be your Brand Downfall? | Yup, Possible!

Could a Pivot be your Brand Downfall?| Yup, Possible!

 

In many cases, our current situation has caused the rulebook to be thrown out the window. Probably rightly so, too; as we struggle to obtain consistency (and reliability of data) to make effective planning decisions. With uncertainty comes change; hence, pivoting our business / business model to take advantage of what is ‘right now’, even though, it may not be ‘right’ for our brand sustainability.

How so, you ask? Isn’t pivoting for survival a good tactic? Absolutely. But remember, it’s just that; a tactic. Until some semblance of certainty resurfaces; but what happens after? Has the pivot been sustainable, or has it actually created damage to your brand?

 

In a conference in December 2020 I made an “off-the-cuff” remark that “a hospital is the least safest place to be during a pandemic”. Friends who are medical professionals shared their agreement to this statement, reinforced by the revelation that their business has dropped up to 75% in the past ten months; not because people aren’t getting sick – but because people are uncomfortable going to hospital or clinic environments to receive treatment – they simply don’t feel it’s safe. Such an essential service, anticipated to be somewhat bulletproof, simply hasn’t been.

 

That aside, because hospitals can’t really pivot; what about other categories of business?

 

Hotels, for example. Especially those, that due to the reduction in international (and local even) tourists, willingly contracted with governments to be used as quarantine centres.

 

Great pivot. Keep some numbers, be enabled to keep staff on board, stay open. Facilities being used mean less infrastructural breakdowns into the future (think the cinemas and shops that were covered in mould after lockdowns), it sounds quite sensible.

 

And, it probably is.

 

But what about society’s recovery phase? When travel resumes, you know, like it was in 2019? Might be a while off, but it will happen.

 

What will happen to hotels-turned-quarantine centres?

 

Will guests want to stay there, or will it be much like my hospital story? Guests too scared to frequent the hotels, because of its recent super-association to the pandemic?

 

There is a strong chance that their recovery, post-quarantine contracts, will be slow. The association with the illness, ongoing concerns about how long the virus can stay in the air and on surfaces (and in air conditioning ducts) may in fact put people off staying at certain hotel chains and brands. And that delay may be enough to kill-off the property.

 

So, can a pivot be a brand’s downfall? In some cases, the possibility certainly exists.

 

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After COVID we may never think about hotels in the same way again (ampproject.org)