Prof.Dr.

Aung Tun Thet Based on “The Cost of Confidence” by

8/2/2020 Brian Whipple and Mark Curtis.
 • Knocked consumer confidence hard
• Profound and far-reaching implications
• Disrupted every aspect of daily life,
including employment, consumption, and
freedom of movement
2
 • Create uncertainty
• Standard business upended
• Vaporizing norms consumers expected and
assumed
• Created challenges and opportunities
• Brand owners must respond

3
CONFIDENCE LEVELS
.

• Fallen to below 100 on OECD’s Consumer

Confidence Index (CCI)
• Lowest level since 2015
• Attitude of pessimism and cost consciousness

4
BRAND LOYALTIES & PURCHASING BEHAVIOURS
.

• Shifted
• Spending fell
• Result of lockdown measures restricting ability to
earn and spend money
• Expectations household income will continue to fall

5
COMPANIES
.

• Prepare for post-COVID era

• Rebuilding confidence business imperative
• Paving way for confidence economy

6
EXPERIENTIAL ISSUE
.

• Reinventing experience
• Changing way we do everyday things
• Brand bundle of promises
• Experience where promises proved

7
PURPOSE-LED APPROACH TO INNOVATION
.

• Best brands transcended immediate gratification

• Create meaningful experiences that revolutionized
daily lives and experiences

8
PURPOSE-LED APPROACH TO INNOVATION
.

• Linking Apple Card to iPhone user’s Wallet app - Apple

turned paying by credit card into smart financial
management opportunity
• Carnival reimagined cruise experience
• Embed smart digital technologies into physical
environment of ships
• Create made-for-me personalized experiences through
wearable smart medallion
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PURPOSE-LED APPROACH TO INNOVATION
.

• Successful brand offer experiences that create value

across every interaction
• Experience critical
• Salient for company’s response to COVID-19

10
COST OF CONFIDENCE
.

• Brand owners identify meaningful confidence-

building experiences to create
• Investment required to provide people with
reassurance

11
COST OF CONFIDENCE
.

• Rise in proportion to commitment level —

psychological or emotional effort
• Brand owners determine confidence factors most
appropriate to products and services

12
COST OF CONFIDENCE
.

• Health and sanitation: Banks build customer

confidence around touching an ATM screen and
handling physical money
• Timeliness: E-commerce retailer build shoppers’
confidence orders arrive on time

13
BRAND OWNERS
.

• Confidence in own understanding of human impact

of COVID-19 on people they serve
• Strengthening human insight to understand people
more deeply

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TRANSCENDING ONE-OFF
.

• Confidence-building actions emerging

• U.K., tourism agency VisitBritain developed “We’re
Good to Go” standard and symbol
• Appropriate physical distancing and cleanliness
measures in place

15
TRANSCENDING ONE-OFF
.

• In air travel
• Emirates introduced rapid COVID-19 test for passengers
• Southwest leaving middle seats open for social
distancing

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TRANSCENDING ONE-OFF
.

• One-off actions not enough to rebuild lasting

confidence
• Confidence cannot be built by advertising alone
• Companies create new transformative and
meaningful experiences to reduce uncertainty —
one cause of lost confidence — and add value at
every step along customer journey
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LISTEN, LEARN, REASSESS, PIVOT
.

• Optimize three essentials

1. Empathy
• Deep understanding of human impact of COVID-19 key
to creating new experiences that build confidence and
add real value

18
LISTEN, LEARN, REASSESS, PIVOT
.

• Brand owner’s response underpinned by in-depth

understanding of people’s attitudes and behaviours —
what’s changed, what hasn’t, and what further changes
may occur

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LISTEN, LEARN, REASSESS, PIVOT
.

• Valuable insights gained by understanding how people

responded to COVID-19 by innovating for themselves
• Do-it-yourself social activities conducted virtually rather
than in person
• Enable and enhance virtual interactions

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LISTEN, LEARN, REASSESS, PIVOT
.

2. Adaptability
• People’s attitudes and behaviours constantly evolve
• Companies continually evolve customer experience
• Brand owners assess people’s needs — not just now, but
next year and beyond
• Agility key
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LISTEN, LEARN, REASSESS, PIVOT
.
3. Reinvention
• Companies redefine role in emerging commercial ecosystem
• Brand owners identify new opportunities as situation evolves
• Explore and define how to expand core products, services, and
experiences
• Close gap between listening and doing to make pivoting a core
business habit
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LISTEN, LEARN, REASSESS, PIVOT
.
• Heinz pivoted in response to COVID-19: launched
direct-to-consumer platform to sell bundled grocery
products to consumers in U.K.
• Restaurant chains Potbelly, Panera Bread, and Subway
launched grocery services for customers

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WHERE NEXT?
.

• “Trends 2020” Report: Realignment of fundamentals

of business imminent
• How business function and impact on world and
society
• Individual organizations’ daily interactions with
people they serve
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WHERE NEXT?
.

• Behaviour changes caused by COVID-19 accelerating

trend
• Paving way for new habits — creating opportunity
for organizations to innovate

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 • Ongoing challenge all organizations face:
Volatility
• Confidence becoming new business
currency
• Every brand owner optimize ability to
empathize, adapt, and reinvent
• Best positioned to face challenges — and
capitalize on opportunities — that lie
ahead!
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