COVID-19 has touched every part of our lives in the UK, and brands are no exception. How is your brand tracking the way consumers are changing their buying habits, their immediate needs and their future brand choices?

The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has fundamentally changed how we live. Almost overnight we became a #StayAtHomeNation in order to save lives and prevent the spread of the virus. For many of us, we’re learning to cope with being sidelined from the outside world, from being separated from our family and friends and the normality of our day to day lives.  Our homes are now our workplaces, our supermarkets, our playgrounds.

The transition into isolation hasn’t been easy. We may be more au fait using social media to stay in touch, or resourcing essential items online that we could previously just pop out and buy. But no one can be sure exactly how long the lockdown is going to last, or how damaging this financial crisis will become. As a nation copes with job losses and furloughing, self-isolation and social distancing, we’re asking ourselves – how do we plan to get through this, and how are we going to adjust when the lockdown is over?

Showing support

Despite the restrictions, we’re finding ways to stay connected and show support for the people keeping our country running in this time of crisis. The most powerful example of this so far happened on Thursday 26 March, at 8pm.  #clapforourcarers was an inspiring message of unity and resilience that rang out across the country, to show gratitude and support for our NHS workers. We wanted to understand more about these moments of connection and separation. What do they mean for how we buy and engage with products and services?

We’re all looking for answers. For some time now, delineate has been providing real time data to marketers and communicators, allowing them to be more responsive and make relevant decisions. More than ever, in this time of rapid change and instability, we want to help brands understand what actions they can take to support their customers. Our data is helping businesses plan for whatever the new consumer landscape is going to be.

Keeping track

So how do consumers wish to be communicated to, if at all, right now? And how with this change over time? As our shopping habits and interactions change, consumers need their brands to keep up. So, to supplement our existing data sources, we’ve also been collecting data on the challenges that people are facing as a result of the coronavirus.

Our COVID-19 Impact Tracker asks consumers about their health and financial concerns, their new buying habits, how they’re adjusting to a lockdown life, and their expectations for the future. The data provides an evolving picture of the nation’s behaviours and needs as we progress through and out of the crisis.

This week we released our COVID-19 White Paper  #StayAtHomeNation, which reveals our findings from the first couple of weeks of lockdown. As well as providing a snapshot of the nation at the start of the pandemic it also provides a glimpse at the constantly evolving story being uncovered by our COVID-19 Impact Tracker.