It has been more than a month since India is under lockdown. The recent outbreak of the COVID – 19 has caused a tectonic shift in most people’s lives. There are so much stress and anxiety about job losses, loneliness, and other factors.
WFH is the new norm now, many companies are now willing to extend this facility even after the lockdown is lifted. In our endeavor of bringing our readers views from a wide variety of stakeholders in the industry, Medianews4u spoke to Vishal Chinchankar – Chief Digital Officer – Madison World.
As a leading Digital agency, how are you coping with this lockdown?
Personally, it’s not been easy at all, initially, I had a mixed feeling of confusion, stress, adventure, however now after 3 weeks, quite stable physically & mentally. In Initial days, it was quite a struggle to put some discipline on WFH, however, we, have set some rules on WFH which include Defined Work Hours, Make To-Do Lists & Use a Planner, Check-In With Co-Workers Frequently and Use Professional Communication Tools. I believe this is the new normal and we have pivoted this too. I knew what’s KYC (Know your customer), & now given the lockdown I’ve also learned KYF (Know your family)
This crisis is seeing a lot of disruption, what is your strategy to stay ahead of the curve?
The best approach is to prepare for the future by understanding what the new normal is. We need to think about how consumer needs and behaviors may change and be prepared. Constantly engaging with the client either in form of media updates, changes in the categories, research papers, and available opportunity, and last but not least as organizations are taking care of talent, in tough times will reap the long-term benefit of loyalty that has always been underestimated. Staying invested in clients, consumers, & talent will be at an advantage, once recovery is underway.
How are clients responding, is a business being affected?
We’ve seen some kneejerk reactions, there is a bit of panic in some categories, as we all have been in getting into unknown territory, at the same time we’ve also seen some client taking advantage of the opportunity with increased eyeballs & rate benefits or value-adds
How are the teams being motivated at this time of crisis?
Thanks to technology which has helped us to constantly keep engaging in our regular leadership & team calls. In an effort to keep teams motivated at the same time help businesses navigate through such times we keep regular learnings & training sessions called #KnowMAD” series. Over and above there is a fun element series called “The MAD – Nation wants to know”, where one of us asks leaders a little more about his/her life, interest, hobbies, aspirations, inspirations, learnings, and a lot more. And we are quite happy with the responses.
Are you seeing a tectonic shift in the way branding and communication will be adapted by clients?
There indeed will be a tectonic shift in the way consumption was happening in pre-pandemic days, which essentially means there will be an equal shift in the way marketers think. Brands have to be agile enough to adapt to this change. Predominantly, Marketers had a sales-first approach, but now brands have stepped up to create interest groups who will be a loyalist for the long term. This time is well utilized by marketers to get their assets in order & focus on building a brand community.
How are you seeing the Post COVID 19 scenario for the Digital business?
Been an optimistic person, I strongly believe that we should see a “V” shape recovery and not a “bath-tub” shape recovery. With festivals back post a few quarters & if monsoons are good I am quite confident to see a rise in digital business, and hopefully, if IPL happens it may just get better.
