A world we are living in today is not the world we woke up in yesterday.
The Coronavirus pandemic changed everything. No one could predict it, but we all need to live with it. We are all going through massive schedule and life changes which are causing a lot of tough personal situations and a lot of stress.
A massive shift in how we operate
These changes largely affected the way we behave, work, communicate and shop. The speed of change is just insane. Things and behaviour we anticipated to see 3 years from now are happening today. Online shopping has become a norm, video calls are being made all the time, customers are talking to chatbots more often than people, telemedicine is the new reality.
While some industries suffer, others are seeing a boost
Predictably, the majority of brick-and-mortar retailers, leisure, and travel businesses are pausing campaigns while they consider what their next steps should be. On the other hand, lots of businesses are thriving. Pharma, healthcare, and finance industries are seeing a boost in demand. Grocery retailers and restaurants are shifting their business models online, focusing on home delivery. Online education and courses are experiencing a huge spike in interest.
Online-first is the new reality
This is not normal, nor is it going to go back to normal. This is the new reality. Consumer behaviour is changing on a daily basis and consumers will stick to it, even when the crisis is over.
Things are changing, not just speeding up. It’s not about increasing productivity or advertising budgets. The business and marketing approach we all need to take is different.
Brands who were the market leaders could lose their position. We see people are searching more for generic products and are ignoring the brand names. They are in a desperate need for the product and they are willing to “sacrifice” their brand preference for a speedy delivery.
Customer experience and friction are playing a crucial role in this. If your online experience sucks, you are in big trouble. Currently, online is everything. If you are not an online-first company, you are dead.
The current situation even upped the game. You could be big today, but gone tomorrow if you won’t adapt to the situation.
We’ll be learning as we go
There are no rules, no textbooks, no MBAs. The only rule is to test, learn and adapt. We are still learning how to operate in this new reality, we will make mistakes at the start, and we will get better at it in time.
We can whine and cry about it, or wait at home until this is over, or we can do something about it. And I’m not saying we should exploit the situation. That would be wrong. The situation is critical, but in times like this, we should focus on the future even more. This is the new reality and we need to start preparing for it, start adapting our work habits, processes, companies, and the way we communicate.
We all need to share the knowledge
At Red Orbit we always believed that collective knowledge can move mountains. Now it’s even more important than ever that we step together as a (digital) community and start sharing the knowledge. That’s why we are launching a series of blog posts and webinars to help all of us cope with these dramatic changes.
We realize that you are probably just sorting out the best way forward. We’ll share more data and insights in the coming days and weeks and I hope that you’ll find it interesting.
Stay safe and healthy!