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Consumers Stay Loyal to New Brands Purchased During Panic Buying

Has the new brand of paper towels you snagged from a barren grocery store shelf in March become a mainstay in your kitchen? You’re not alone.
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Francis Scialabba

· less than 3 min read

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Has the new brand of paper towels you snagged from a barren grocery store shelf in March become a mainstay in your kitchen? You’re not alone.

As the pandemic rolls on, consumers are becoming more loyal to the smaller brands they were basically forced to try back in March.

  • Over 39% of respondents to a global Bazaarvoice survey cited by Marketing Dive said they experimented with new brands during quarantine.
  • 88% of those who bought a new brand said they continue to keep buying those products.

Zoom out: Those stats represent long-term friendship bracelets in the making. The COVID-19 pandemic could accelerate the shift from consumer interest in CPG mainstays to smaller, more niche brands.

Key word: Accelerate. That shift was already happening before the pandemic. In pre-pandemic 2020, smaller manufacturers saw market share jump 0.1% compared with a 0.4% decrease for larger CPGs. Since the end of April, big CPGs have seen market share slide 1.6%, while smaller businesses have enjoyed a 0.7% bump.

Living in the future

Larger CPGs are pretty well-positioned to slow the changing tides—particularly through changes to packaging and broader marketing strategies.

Big picture: Conagra (which heads up brands like Healthy Choice, Marie Callender's and Banquet) found that modernizing the packaging of its old-school mega brands and adding more global flavor variety, “bowls,” and trendy ingredients helped it keep up with new kids on the block like Beyond Meat during the pandemic.

TL;DR: Just like the smaller brands purchased out of necessity at the start of the pandemic, these larger brands showed strong repeat buying rates among new buyers in the 14 week period ending May 31, due to their revamped product offerings and package design.

Get marketing news you'll actually want to read

Marketing Brew informs marketing pros of the latest on brand strategy, social media, and ad tech via our weekday newsletter, virtual events, marketing conferences, and digital guides.