Every day, you and your organization strive to make the best decisions possible to achieve the best outcomes. But in times of greater uncertainty and rapid change, those decisions become even more critical.

While your organization must choose the strategies most appropriate for your brand and industry, there is tremendous benefit in learning from others and the decisions they made in order to be successful.

In a recent webinar, Mike Edwards, CEO, Hanna Andersson, talked with Alex Timlin, SVP of Verticals, Emarsys, to share insights on how the Hanna Andersson brand realigned and adapted their customer engagement strategy to achieve better business outcomes in the wake of COVID-19.

Below are the five key decisions Hanna Andersson made to help their business thrive during the onset of the coronavirus, and position themselves for success in the months (and years) to come.

1. Adapt to Shifts in Consumer Demand by Focusing Efforts Online.

“We are in a great position from an online perspective. Online is almost 80 percent of our business, so we’ve benefited from that. And, in fact, the first couple weeks of COVID, our business was severely impacted to the negative. And then it came back roaring to the point where we couldn’t keep up with it … as the customers made that permanent shift [to] shopping online and being comfortable with it.”

Hannaandersson
Mike Edwards
CEO

2. Take a Customer-Centric Approach to Marketing

“From a marketing messaging standpoint, we’ve shifted off [of] our day-in and day-out creative to [thinking] more about the parent at home, and speaking to her in a way that she relates to, and using a lot of user generated content and quotes from our customers to just talk through what that experience is like, and do it in a way that’s warm and empathetic. We haven’t cut back on our technology spending at all … We’re really doubling down on the optimizing of our digital marketing as well as our UX experience.”

Hannaandersson
Mike Edwards
CEO

3. Define the Needs of the Customer and the Business

“We obviously did a pretty deep dive into our strategic plan, and I split out the digital marketing needs from the UX needs. And we went through all the basic questions you would have with the site in terms of its speed, its content, its ability to serve our recommendations … We weren’t just selling apparel anymore. We’re selling experiences and talking parent to parent. And that was a real shift.”

Hannaandersson
Mike Edwards
CEO

4. Reset Now for Better Business Outcomes Later

“This year is more of a pivot reset year. We’ll figure it out as we go. 2021 is how we were thinking about 2020, which is the transformational growth year, where we really start reinvesting back in and leaning in on expanded distribution, international sales, and strategic partnerships, and all the things that were on our list just got moved out about eight months, nine months.”

Hannaandersson
Mike Edwards
CEO

5. Use Customer Data to Make Better Decisions

“Get as much customer data as possible so that you’re fully grounded in the expectation of the customers. And then you can make the right decisions [for your] team and customers. And then the brand comes together. And building a great brand — it’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon.”

Hannaandersson
Mike Edwards
CEO

Final Thoughts

Though no one could’ve expected the challenges we’ve faced this year, it’s inspiring to see how leading brands like Hanna Andersson have adapted and responded to the situation, and positioned themselves to not just survive the current retail and e-commerce climate, but actually flourish.

For brands who are reevaluating their current customer engagement strategy and looking for ways to accelerate business outcomes in 2020 and beyond, the insights shared in this blog can be incredibly powerful.

As you find successful ways of driving business results for your brand, consider this: What has worked for you, and what insights would you share with others?


Do you know the 3 essentials for accelerating business outcomes in the next phase of retail?

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