Section 11.06 Covid-19

Module 10 

Section 10.06

Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning – Bill Gates.

Covid-19 Impact On SM

In years to come, we will look back at 2020 as the moment that changed everything. Nowhere else has unprecedented and unforeseen growth as in the digital and e-commerce sectors, which have boomed amid the COVID-19 crisis. Amid slowing economic activity, COVID-19 has led to a surge in e-commerce and accelerated digital transformation.

As lockdowns became the new normal, businesses and consumers increasingly “went digital”, providing and purchasing more goods and services online, e-commerce’s share of global online trade increased by an average of 15% in 2019, making it the greatest shift to online shopping.

Latin America’s online marketplace Mercado Libre, sold twice as many items per day in the second quarter of 2020 compared with the same period the previous year. And African e-commerce platform Jumia reported a 50% jump in transactions during the first six months of 2020.  China’s online share of retail sales rose to an average of 24%  in 2019.  

The pandemic has forced businesses to embrace technology to move online.

There are now hundreds of millions of competitors online, the longer you leave it to set up your business.

The New Reality 

We’ll discuss how Businesses can reassess their growth opportunities in the new normal, reconfigure their business models to realise those opportunities better and reallocate their capital more effectively.

Reassess Growth Opportunities

The Covid-19 pandemic has severely disrupted global consumption, forcing (and permitting) people to unlearn old habits and adopt new ones. A study on habit formation suggests that the average time for a new habit to form is 66 days, with a minimum of 21 days. As of this writing, the lockdown has already lasted long enough in many countries to significantly change habits that had been the foundation of demand and supply.

A systematic understanding of changing habits is key for businesses that aim to recover and strengthen their position after the crisis, and it may be necessary for several firms to develop a novel way of detecting and appraising alterations before them becoming evident to everyone. Mapping out how behavioural trends might impact different products or services is an essential starting point for identifying growth and decline, and more individuals are remaining at their residences due to the pandemic. With the implications at hand, we may see increased interest in renovating one’s home office and higher demand for things such as printers or paints. Missing the subtle signs of change is inevitable if we do not open our eyes towards adopting the latest trends that have a cascading effect on markets.

Prepare Against Pandemic Scenario 

The United States government and many other national governments long ago acknowledged that widespread infectious disease outbreaks posed a threat to both global and domestic security and made preparations for them. However, in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, they could not adequately fund and carry out those plans. Major institutional and policy adjustments are needed to strengthen the pillars of U.S. national and international health security to prevent a repeat of similar failures in future pandemics.

The Task Force divided its suggestions into four categories: a plan for enhancing domestic and international pandemic readiness, followed by recommendations for prevention, detection, and reaction.

The only way for this plan and these ideas to be successful is for U.S. policymakers to take the initiative and collaborate with their colleagues in other governments and multilateral organisations. Any future pandemic response will be no better than the current, clumsy performance, with significant human and economic consequences, without such leadership, teamwork, institutional reforms, and proper resources.

• Pandemic Preparedness

Adopt a Sound Pandemic Preparedness Plan for the United States and the World;

This all-inclusive plan for advancing pandemic readiness suggests making investments in new facilities at both the national and international levels. The Task Force urges the United States to prioritise pandemic preparedness as a key national economic and safety goal, organise and fund it accordingly, rejuvenate the CDC, and define the roles and responsibilities of federal and state governments in pandemic response. On a global scale, we support the continuation of the United States’ membership in WHO and its support for its leadership role in the international health response to pandemics, as well as a more active United Nations, the establishment of a new Health Security Coordination Committee to mobilise the answer to the pandemic on issues of economic and security, as well as increased participation from civil society and the private sector, and the continuation of the World Health Organisation.

• Multinational Framework 

The multinational framework for anticipating and addressing pandemic threats should be updated;

ACCORDING TO THE TASK FORCE’S RECOMMENDATIONS, the WHO’s capability and efficacy in preventing, detecting, and responding to epidemic threats should be strengthened. The United States should continue to be a member of the organisation. No multilateral alternative can serve U.S. interests in the current or future pandemics, despite the UN agency’s institutional flaws.

The Task Force is aware that WHO is not a faultless organisation. Its flaws, bureaucratic procedures, and dysfunctions have occasionally become apparent in this pandemic. However, there is no multilateral alternative to WHO in international public health emergencies. 

Changes were made following the West Africa Ebola epidemic, and the world health organisation (WHO) has performed better in many significant ways throughout the current outbreak. U.S. policy ought to aim to improve.

• Support Pandemic Prevention;

The United States and its foreign partners should be better equipped to implement the crucial components of pandemic preparedness and to act swiftly and effectively when the next pandemic emerges with a solid national and global plan, more efficient organisation, and sufficient resources. The Task Force offers suggestions for enhancing U.S. and international capacities to deliver the three essential components of pandemic preparedness: prevention, detection, and response, based on the bitter lessons learned from the current pandemic.

The Task Force suggests updating the metrics for evaluating and tracking the nation’s preparedness capacity for pandemics, prioritising readiness with response triggers, mitigation guidelines, and drills, and strengthening safeguards for the front lines of the American healthcare system and at-risk populations in the event of pandemics.

Importance Of Digital Marketing 

With the flood of new consumers and businesses in the digital space, brands are competing heavily for consumer attention, even if a direct sale isn’t offered. A multifaceted digital marketing strategy is vital to cut through all the chatter and stand out from competitors. Despite the rise in spending, since March 2020, over 31 million Americans have been out of work and receiving unemployment benefits. Their dollars must go further than before, and they think more critically about their purchases. Demonstrating value in the digital space is now more critical than ever.

Consumers will typically only respond to and engage with your brand if they feel they are getting something in return, especially with the influx in brand presence via digital. This is where providing value comes in. Regardless of industry, there are plenty of ways to offer value across your brand’s digital marketing initiatives. For example, a health insurance company might provide value to their audiences during COVID-19 by giving helpful tips, insightful educational materials, Q&A webinars or offering limited-time promotions to help with the unexpected financial strains of COVID-19.  Shifting from simply providing a service to becoming a helpful resource during a crisis will give the added benefit of showcasing social responsibility for your business, thereby increasing trust and transparency and helping solidify audience connections.

Audience connections can be further solidified via digital conversations. Be sure to involve your audience in the brand conversation. Don’t just communicate to the audience, but with them consistently. A common mistake many brands make is simply dumping information on their audiences. The conversation must always be two-way. Otherwise, it isn’t a conversation and will easily be bypassed for brands with more powerful marketing strategies. 

Finally, one of the most critical tools for cultivating business success during the COVID–19 crisis is to listen. One must monitor and report what digital marketing initiatives are received well and which aren’t, then modify your digital strategy accordingly. Many digital marketing platforms have automated measurement tools in their software, available for a trial period, free of charge.

The Next Generation Of Consumers

All consumer behaviour has vital location and time dependencies. Behaviour can differ significantly from one place to another depending on cultures, geographies, etc. The pandemic is making this dimension of consumer behaviour more complex. For example, since physical movement is restricted, consumers are migrating into virtual worlds at an unprecedented rate and are exposed to newer influences. This could require us to go beyond traditional methods of modelling their behaviour.

Today, consumers are settling into new patterns of behaviour for considerable lengths of time in response to the multiple waves of this pandemic. This is fertile ground for new habit formation.

The e-commerce sector has responded rapidly to the challenge of creating positive experiences in response to the pandemic. Businesses have invested in logistics and supply chains and widened their product ranges, attracting many consumers. A survey earlier this year found many of them were likely to continue to buy online for non-health reasons such as convenience, time savings and broader product ranges.

Consumer Behaviour Hanging

There are a few key trends in the behavioural changes emerging from the impact of COVID-19:

1. Increased digital adoption;

 People are shifting to digital platforms for day-to-day needs. COVID-19 has accelerated the scope and reach of the shift to digital, from shopping and eating to entertainment, financial services, fitness, education and more. Downloads of apps for business and videoconferencing have increased sharply.

Still, the increase in the use of digital apps is not uniform, and downloads and usage have slowed in some geographies and business areas.

Digital adoption is no longer age-related but has become mainstream across generations. All age groups have begun to adopt a “millennial mindset” in which they rely on friends and digital channels to learn and buy, rather than traditional information sources.

We expect digital adoption to accelerate as ongoing constraints on mobility incentivise people to learn and extensively use these channels. 

2. Change in mobility patterns;

Less use of public transport, more remote working etc., is the new normal and is being encouraged as we plan for the next pandemic. 

For better or worse, depending on the argument, a 15-minute travelling distance from the World Economic Forum WEF website; 

• The 15-minute city aims to reorganise urban space around work, home, community and amenities – the idea is that every need is fulfilled within a 15-minute walk or short bike ride.
• Various cities around the world have begun to embrace the 15-minute city approach.
• But urban life is about more than access to amenities, and the 15-minute model risks excluding disadvantaged communities.
• Even if there’s a 15-minute baseline, great city centres with world-class experiences should remain accessible to all.

3. Change in purchasing behaviour;

 Move to value-based purchasing and online shopping. There are noticeable changes in consumers’ purchasing behaviour in addition to the shift online. Surveys have found consumers in several regions worldwide shifting more to value-based purchasing, prioritising obtaining maximum value for the consumer for the money spent. Consumers have focused on essentials and reduced discretionary spending. Consumers try out new brands when their regular purchasing pattern is disrupted, and if these yield better value, there is a high chance that they will stay with a new brand. 

4. interpersonal behaviour

Changes in interpersonal behaviour: increased divorce, increased pet adoption etc.; THese trends are interconnected and overlapping. The pandemic has increased people’s use of digital tools in life and business to stay connected in a physically disconnected world. Increased use of digital tools blurs the lines between work, lifestyle and social interaction and between domains like mobility, health and finance; this will continue in the post-COVID-19 world. (cited from swissre.com)

Value For Digital Marketers

The coronavirus pandemic forces more key business decision-makers to work from home, so webinars are booming in popularity.

Experts in digital marketing seek to unpack the best practices we’ve gained by organising digital thought leadership products up till now. Moreover, we aim to tackle critical questions marketers may have about the value of and delivery of webinars in these uncertain times.

The Need For Webinars 

Firstly, webinars help to engage your existing pipeline. Customer engagement is more critical than ever to recover valuable market share, and brand recognition is retrieved before the recovery starts, particularly if your business is shuttered.

The popularity of webinars was already rising before the pandemic; they’re a powerful tool for showcasing thought leadership and increasing brand visibility. Moreover, as part of a more comprehensive content marketing strategy, webinars provide a valuable opportunity to secure the ‘top of funnel’ leads critical to future sales opportunities.

In times of crisis, it’s easy for organisations to default to old habits, but those are often when new approaches are most valuable. As Businesses position themselves for the new normal, they cannot afford to be constrained by traditional information sources, business models, and capital allocation behaviours. Instead, they must highlight anomalies and challenge mental models, revamp their business models, and invest their capital dynamically to not only survive the crisis but also thrive in the post-crisis world.

Every problem is a gift, without it, we would not grow -Tony Robbins.

Summary

• Covid-19 has had a significant impact on social media usage.
• People spend more time online and engaging with various platforms.
• Social media became a vital source of information during the pandemic.
• Users relied on platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram for real-time updates, news, and guidance from health authorities.
• Misinformation and disinformation about Covid-19 spread rapidly on censored social media platforms, leading to challenges in combating false information and conspiracy theories.
• 15 mins travelling baseline. 
• Uncensored Social media platforms implemented measures to combat misinformation, such as fact-checking labels, warning messages and partnering with reputable health organisations to provide accurate information.

Activity 11.06 

COVID-19 first wave impacted the whole world. 

i) How are you preparing to continue to trade when the 2nd wave comes? 

ii) what are you doing online to allow you to continue trading without interruption?    

Please grade yourself on this section.

Please provide your feedback on the section.