Page 79 - IMDR EBOOK 20 OCT 2020

"Pandemic and Beyond: Naviga ng the New Normal" E - Book Year 2020

10 Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on marketing and advertising strategies

Rasika Datar
Background of the Study

The crisis caused by the global Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has created an
extremely difcult business climate. International borders have been closed and
businesses have had to shut their doors and people have been quarantined at home.
Many companies worldwide will face permanent or temporary closures. Employees and
the entire work force will be faced with nancial uncertainties.
This will change the consumer behaviour on a massive scale. People are isolated and
under lockdown are unable to perform their usual routines since shops have been
closed for safety reasons. Events and social gatherings have been banned. Schools,
colleges, malls and multiplexes and all other areas of public gathering have been
closed. There have been concerns about the availability of certain goods which has
encouraged panic amongst buyers leading to buying of certain items in bulk. While
there is nancial uncertainty a prospect of a severe long-term recession seems to be
inevitable.
All these make a stark backdrop which has led to an impact on consumer outlook,
perceptions and behaviours. A prime task for all marketers in the technology loaded
online market is to map consumer behaviour and respond to it. The consumer
behaviours will dene the response of the marketers and their sales promotion and
advertising strategies.
As of now we can only gauge the data coming in from the countries which rst suffered
the effects of COVID-19. This data just gives an indication of what might happen to
businesses and the economy.

What are the best strategies to be adopted?
We are still in the middle of the pandemic which has paralysed the biggest economies of
the world. The Coronavirus pandemic is new and the circumstances are changing on a
daily basis. Dening a strategy is very difcult as there is very little evidence to base
assumptions on. However, the businesses that remain active at this time it is time to
analyse the impact of COVID-19 and how best to cope with the prevailing conditions.
This study focuses on the Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on advertising strategies.

The Research
1.1 Research Aim

The aim of the study is to analyse the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on marketing
and advertising strategies.

1.2 Research question
What is the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on marketing spends, marketing and
advertising strategies?
1.3 Research objectives

• To understand the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on marketing and
advertising strategies.

• To suggest the marketing approaches to marketers, post the COVID-19
pandemic.

The research objectives revolve around critical variables of the study which include
marketing mix and marketing spend. A link between the two will enable us to predict
the advertising strategies post the pandemic.

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