COVID-19 Learning: Building Trust in a Global Crisis

Edifier, a trusted global audio brand with a quarter-century of industry leadership, connected with GreenRoom to help strengthen its brand recognition in the US market. Based abroad, the marketing team relies upon GreenRoom to be their eyes and ears on trending media conversations in the US audio consumer market.

When COVID-19 reached North America and communities went into quarantine, the Edifier team expressed concern about the potential for dwindling American media coverage and sought GreenRoom’s counsel on whether it made sense to pause public relations. At a time when many companies were retreating from spending in an effort to insulate themselves from the uncertainty, GreenRoom underscored the risks of halting a consistent earned media program in a market that is a critical sales driver for the brand. Thanks to consistent dialogue with media colleagues, the GreenRoom team advised that the potential for great coverage would be strong for Edifier. With tech and lifestyle journalists continuing to publish content while working remotely and Edifier’s product attributes being uniquely suited for budget-conscious consumers confined to their homes, the opportunity to make an impact was significant.

Focusing on the Edifier brand’s high-quality tech, diverse product suite with options for all users, and affordable price points, GreenRoom crafted a series of outreach strategies that highlighted the brand’s relevance to new consumer needs that arose in the midst of a pandemic. To keep coverage momentum flowing, the GreenRoom team coordinated sample fulfillment and shipping that entailed receiving product delivered to staff homes and taking samples directly to shipping service centers on a regular basis to ensure that media and social influencers would receive everything they needed in a timely manner. This process prevented Edifier’s coverage from lagging due to pandemic-related international shipping delays that many global companies experienced.

The results were successful months of coverage that exceeded the brand’s expectations and prior months’ deliverables. Week after week of noteworthy product reviews and media recommendations in national and regional marquee tech and consumer lifestyles outlets, spanning across print, digital, and social platforms like YouTube, helped the brand gain notoriety as a reliable provider of affordable, top-quality work and school at home audio devices. An incredible 155 pieces of media coverage were delivered to the Edifier team by GreenRoom between March and May 2020.

Recently, the brand shared details from its 2019 Fiscal Report showing strong net gains in spite of what had been a rocky year and fourth quarter for many companies. The Edifier team expressed their excitement in seeing that they are on target to continue to outperform expectations for 2020, unhindered by a global pandemic, thanks in part to GreenRoom’s trusted counsel, attentive media listening, and willingness to go above and beyond for impactful results.