Corona – Are you already acting? Plan for the time after
The corona pandemic affects all sectors and brought public life to a complete standstill for a short time. Even though a revival of the economy is being felt as a result of the slow easing, the macroeconomic effects cannot yet be fully assessed at present.
According to a study, 89% of all companies are currently suffering a decline in sales. 25% of the companies state that they even expect losses of more than 50% and more.
The transport and trade fair sectors in particular are under heavy financial pressure. Flight bans and restrictions on local and long-distance public transport have led to heavy losses in both sectors, which will probably not be offset over the year as a whole. Large and small congresses and trade fairs are important communication platforms, but also events with many people in a small space. The ban on crowds of people thus directly and lastingly affects the trade fair industry.
The B2B sector requires live events
However, trade fairs in particular remain an important marketing instrument for the B2B sector. More than ¾ of all companies had planned at least one live event per quarter in 2020. Whether and to what extent relaxations for major events will be adopted this year cannot yet be fully predicted. This will probably be decided in the weeks after the summer holidays when most holidaymakers are back at their workplaces. Many trade fairs have already been postponed to 2021 as a precautionary measure, as the current global uncertainty factor is still too great.
The marketing plan of many companies is, however, greatly changed by the lack of trade fairs. Only 11.7% of companies try to replace live events with virtual trade fairs. On the other hand, 67.2% do not even consider this.
Social responsibility and sustainability are becoming more important for companies
According to a May 2020 study by the Capgemini Research Institute, consumer behaviour is also changing significantly as a result of the current situation. The “social responsibility” of companies is moving more into the focus of the population. In the 25-34 age group, 83 percent of those surveyed said that they would prefer to buy primarily from companies that are also socially committed.
The issue of sustainability is also becoming increasingly important. According to a Utopia study from April 2020, 39% believe that this topic will become even more important after the crisis. In addition, 34% state that they will work more in their home office in the future and 41% believe that they will have to travel less for their work.
The current crisis has shown that processes that have been entrenched for years can indeed be changed at short notice. These changes point to opportunities for the future. For example, many companies have quickly switched over to home office operation and realized that they are still productive. It can be assumed that in companies that have introduced home offices across the board for months, a complete departure from this to Corona will hardly be possible.
Digitization as a solution approach
But how can processes that require more personal interaction be changed? How is it possible to support sales more strongly even if trade fairs or personal contacts are only possible to a limited extent? How can products be explained or training sessions be conducted on equipment without contact?
The digital transformation of companies is in full swing in Germany, but is far from complete. Right now, however, it is a key element of the solution approach to mitigate the limitations and problems of the current situation and create potential for the future.
How do we support you in this?
Thanks to our network technologies, programs created by us can communicate with each other regardless of location. Joint viewing of products with simultaneous interaction is thus possible. Configuration or information retrieval are further important functions. This enables your customer to make faster purchase decisions.
This can be done via computer, tablet, smartphone or VR glasses, thus lowering the entry barriers for your customers.
An app is not always necessary to fulfill your desired application purpose. Quickly set up web applications could be the ideal solution for you. We can fill them with photorealistic renderings or animations or place WebGL content for you.
If you have a specific need or would like us to advise you on digital topics, please contact us using our contact form or give us a call.
References:
Loss of sales due to Corona (German):
https://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/1102861/umfrage/umfrage-unter-deutschen-unternehmen-zum-einfluss-des-coronavirus-auf-den-umsatz/
Corona effects on marketing (German):
https://b2bmarketing.works/blog/allgemein/corona-pandemie-b2b-marketing-auswirkungen/
Utopia Study (German):
https://utopia.de/utopia-insights/utopia-studie-corona-krise-nachhaltigkeit/