CHICAGO — As IRI continues to monitor the pandemic, the company has released a special series, “Recession-Proof Your Business.” In past recessions, few large brands enjoyed substantial growth, but now, large, iconic brands are acquiring both new and lapsed buyers. In this new recession, the challenge will be for these brands to maintain buyer loyalty.

In its latest report, the fifth installment of the series, “Building Brands During Recessionary Times,”the company reviews examples of recessionary brand building and provide five key strategies to position brands for growth.

1. Optimize and Curate Portfolio

• Evaluate brands by strength and category potential
• Segment the portfolio by growth opportunities and short- and long-term risk
• Simplify portfolios and work with retailer partners to bolster value through curation

2. Hyper Segment the Shopper

• Segment shoppers by degree of recessionary stress
• Invest in unmet segment needs
• Conduct price-pack architecture studies on consumers’ willingness to pay for features
• Create value by consumer segment and channel; focus on planned purchases

3. Empathize and Emote

• Leverage targeted media to reach new buyers
• Invest in research to understand redefined consumer values, needs and motivations
• Demonstrate empathy in marketing messages; track amplification on social media

4. Invest in Innovation

• Reinvest trade dollars to support innovation
• Maintain commitment to innovation research, concept development and commercialization for post-recession
• Prioritize innovation platforms, allocating more money to bigger bets

5. Seek Acquisitions

• Understand demand domains that will be positively impacted by COVID-19
• Proactively identify insurgent brands with capital challenges
• Acquire brands that appeal to new consumer segments or are otherwise positively differentiated