ABSTRACT:
In recent years, the world has gone through, and continues to go through, periods that no one anticipated, and on the contrary, society excluded as even possible. In 2019, COVID-19 and its global pandemic appeared. In 2022, the war in Ukraine began. The whole world and society in particular, is thus facing a completely new reality and the changes that this reality brings. More than ever, human values and psychological aspects are coming into the centre of interest and attention. Within companies and business, especially marketing and marketing communication must react and adapt to these changes and trends. Their importance is growing primarily as tools for achieving company goals. The branding phenomenon is closely linked to marketing and communication. The brand, its image, persona, values, opinions, attitudes, but also its emotional state and archetype, these are the key factors for its current success and its power. The aim of our study is to describe the current state and trends in the field of marketing and marketing communication in close connection with the brand, which is essential for the success of the company. In the next part our study focuses on the brand primarily from a psychological point of view. The theoretical part is followed by the research part, in which we analyse in detail the studies by Kantar agency, which were focused, on the one hand, on the consumers, changes in their behaviour and decision- making, and on the other hand on the brand, its position and communication in times of crisis. Our objective was to identify key factors and recommendations for these areas that are appropriate and beneficial to apply in business practice.
KEY WORDS:
brand, consumer behaviour, COVID-19, crisis, strategy