The past year-and-a-half has orchestrated such radical changes in the world that everything stands altered and affected. When uncertainty is higher than ever, predictions become even more challenging. To assist the cohort of business leaders through this adversity, Marketing and Business Development Expert Oliane Piana shares her insights on what's actually going on in the world!
She served as a partner and the Director of South California involved in the Growth Management & Marketing department at FrenchFounders, achieving over 100%growth in just one year. She also previously served as FrenchFounders' West Coast VP, focusing on business development & marketing for two years. Bagging her (First Class Honours) Master's Degree of Arts in International Marketing from Dublin Business School and her Bachelor's Degree in Business and Management at KEDGE in France, Oliane holds unmatched experience in navigating the intricacies of the business world.
Peaking Uncertainty Forces Businesses to Pivot
Even after more than a year-and-a-half of the prevailing COVID-19 crisis, businesses are still bracing themselves to navigate through this treacherous space. Uncertainty continues to unfold, plucking out the shreds of security from business plans and strategies. It is because, since its onset, scepticism and perplexity have continuously increased in terms of our understanding of the virus, as well as the pandemic's severity and its consequences.
In the last few months, organisations that did possess the cushion to bear the initial impacts have been thriving under enormous pressures of innovating and deploying survival strategies. Businesses had to pivot their operations, redesign their procedures, and overhaul their setups. For leaders in particular, cultivating a new vision and approach to meet the new reality was critical
However, most experts agree that, even months into this devastating ruin, organisations around the world have not yet been able to process what has taken place. The magnitude of displacement and impact on different industries have not been alike. Piana explains that, "Organisations have not only faced an economical crisis, but also a sanitary and financial catastrophe. Although there were plenty of guides and manuals about how to handle a crisis, the reality of dealing with the global disaster of COVID-19 was truly unprecedented.
The pandemic is shaping our behaviour
The pandemic has been the catalyst for fundamental transformations in human behaviour. The permanence 1Q of these changes will depend on how value-added they feel. Yet, for now, consumers have indeed altered their choices, and companies their production and distribution patterns.
Locked down at home for months at a time, consumers began online bulk-buying, focussing on their health and cleaner consumption. Research suggests that consumers now have a better understanding of what their necessities actually are. They understand how little they need to survive, which is sending businesses into a creative overdrive. People are more conscious of their environmental impact, consequently preferring brands that are sensitive to such concerns. For such a purpose-driven clientele, businesses must be wiser with what they design and how. Moreover, with high levels of unemployment and reductions to income, consumers have become more mindful of their choices than ever before.
Inevitably, these shifts have had a direct impact on businesses. The world has shifted online, almost in its entirety. In this time of extreme isolation, technology enabled us to do the unthinkable. Businesses relied on technology for almost all of their operations and previously-held ideas about working from home leading to a decrease of productivity disintegrated almost instantly. Now, many ventures advocate for a concoction of both working from home and working in the office. It has further bestowed more flexibility on employees, resulting in greater organizational satisfaction and happiness.
More benevolent employee-organization relationships
The employee-organization relationship has transformed greatly in the past year. Businesses became more conscientious and embraced their humane qualities. Business strategies were revamped to revolve around employees' needs.
Even though industrial scenarios vary quite a lot, organizations finally discovered that effective and healthy relationships with employees were possible. Simple tools and techniques can be put in place to ensure productivity. Employees are exposed much less to the stress caused by day-to-day activities like commuting. Numerous organizations are now leaning towards having a reduced number of weekly working days, as well as allotting a few work-from-home days.
Employee well-being is now valued more than ever, and Oliane Piana sees working from home as a promising pivot.
Going online: a reinforced future of retail
Retailers and stores were already radicalising and shifting their operations and sales online, even before the pandemic struck the world. However, the occurrence of such a huge calamity has reinforced this dramatic transition, which is riding on the sweeping waves of technology.
Although some believe that COVID-19 was the sole propeller to shift life online, many brands and retailers already viewed the online space as their future. From the smallest businesses to the most luxurious brands, all were rethinking the experience they offered in-store and the pandemic only amplified things. Design, technology, and customer-services have become the major investment pools for businesses of today.
Oliane's piece of expert advice to all businesses is crisp and unadulterated: lean towards a strategy that incorporates your clients, partners, and employees. An understanding of your community is integral, which will help to adapt your products and services in an ever-evolving environment. Consumers are more purpose-driven today than ever; so, marketing strategies must also reflect this shift.
We have witnessed a paramount event, highlighting the uncertainty of our world. Consumers have adapted rapidly with great ease and creativity. If businesses aspire to continue to thrive, they must evolve beyond the consumption patterns and standard rates of their clientele.They must arm themselves with the same remarkable adaptability.
