Though almost all kinds of companies have been negatively affected in one way or another by the pandemic this year, many are still incredibly proactive in taking extra measures to nurture their customer relationships and stay relevant amid changed consumer habits.
Here are two of the latest examples.
Disney+ Mulan
Mulan, the new remake of Disney’s animated classic, was supposed to draw millions to theaters this summer, but instead – the company said the movie will be released on Disney Plus, its subscription video-on-demand streaming service.
It will cost you 30 bucks to purchase the movie, and assuming you’ll watch it with some other people, it’s not too high of a price.
“We’re looking at ‘Mulan’ as a one-off, as opposed to saying there’s some new business windowing model that we’re looking at,” Disney CEO Bob Chapek said.
“We find it very interesting to take a premiere offering to consumers at that $29.99 price and learn from it,” noting that they would study the number of transactions and the number of subscribers generated by the movie.
After releasing their ESPN docuseries, The Last Dance, earlier than scheduled back in April, then Hamilton, on the 4th of July weekend, Disney is yet again exercising flexibility in mending their offering to accommodate this new reality we all live in.
Oh, and speaking of smart CRM tactics – in less than 9 months, Disney Plus now has more than 60 million subscribers. While this product is indeed perfect for our times of sheltering-in-place, which surely contributes to its early success – the way Disney is on-alert is helping in making it even more relevant for consumers these days.
What’s also noteworthy here is that Disney is striving to please their customers worldwide regardless of the company’s $8bn drop in overall year-on-year revenue, from $20.25bn to $11.8bn. Now that’s some serious dedication!
Best Buy + Walmart +Target ≠ Thanksgiving Shopping
Target, Walmart, and Best Buy are the biggest names so far to declare that they will not be open for business for Thanksgiving. Color us shocked.
The closures on Thanksgiving are yet another way retailers are adjusting operations as the coronavirus pandemic changes customers’ shopping habits.
This holiday, as you probably already know, is the unofficial kickoff of the shopping season. But, due to everything that has happened in our lives in recent months, and its effect on retail and work-life balance, and of course with social distancing in mind – here’s another old habit that is, at least, on hiatus for the time being.
“We can all agree that, so far, 2020 has turned out differently than what we might have expected,” Best Buy said in a statement. “And now, the holiday season at Best Buy, including Thanksgiving Day, is going to look different, too.”
Online shopping will be as available as ever, though – and this is has become the main avenue for these big retail brands to stay relevant. And just by announcing these measures, they earn more positive exposure, showing they care for their community of employees and customers by adapting to the NN.
And most likely, with online shopping more popular than ever, it won’t come with too much of a price to pay on their part in terms of losing business.
Being constantly proactive in adjusting your offering with the new reality in mind – you too can keep strengthening relationships with customers, solidifying your relevancy, getting positive exposure, and all of that – with a limited price to pay.