***This page is no longer updated. Click here for coverage of WARC's latest coverage of the COVID-19 crisis.***
A special Snapshot series offering guidance and insights to marketers amidst the ongoing novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.
Unprecedented disruption calls for an unprecedented response.
Plans for 2020 are mostly out the window, with the on-going novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak keeping marketing teams stuck in a holding pattern. Activities from manufacturing to logistics have been thrown into chaos. Limitations on travel in some markets will hurt categories like tourism, fast food and brick-and-mortar retail. Rising consumer anxiety as the epidemic grows could, in turn, lead to a fall in discretionary expenditure worldwide.
Right now, charting the most effective route possible in these uncertain times – coupled with hope and optimism that steadier conditions lie just mere months away – tops the priority list.
In response, WARC has launched a special guidance series that will give marketers the advice, frameworks and tools they need to recalibrate strategies, and ensure they’re in a strong position for recovery. This WARC Snapshot will be an ongoing series featuring insights from a range of industry experts — both endemic and non-endemic to the marketing function.
Do bookmark this link and check back often as we add fresh perspectives and thinking to help inform and inspire new strategies for the year ahead.
Articles in this series on Marketing in the COVID-19 crisis
DATA POINT: E-commerce shopping more frequent because of COVID-19 - Rob Clapp
DATA POINT: Almost all Chinese SMEs hit by COVID-19 - Rob Clapp
DATA POINT: Consumers expect businesses to step-up and help tackle COVID-19 - Rob Clapp
Four ways hard-hit retailers can overcome the coronavirus crisis - Low Lai Chow
DATA POINT: Nearly 90% of consumers have changed their behaviour because of COVID-19 – Robert Clapp
DATA POINT: Travel sector most-exposed to COVID-19 worsening in China – Robert Clapp
- Applying behavioural science to the coronavirus outbreak: Four key implications for brands – Ashok Sethi
How consumer behaviour is evolving
Will low-cost brands be more resilient against COVID-19? The case from Spirit Airlines - Stephen Whiteside
Rosetta Stone studies the business paradoxes of COVID-19 - Stephen Whiteside
How major companies are responding to COVID-19 - Stephen Whiteside
COVID-19 proves digital transformation is a business imperative that marketing must lead - Clement Yip
COVID-19: How sponsors should handle the turbulence upending the 2020 sports calendar - Alex Burmaster
What Delta Air Lines’ response to COVID-19 can teach other brands - Stephen Whiteside
Corporate ethics and the COVID-19 crisis - Stephen Whiteside
How AB InBev is thinking about the coronavirus - Stephen Whiteside
- How to adapt your strategy during the coronavirus lockdown – and what to anticipate after the crisis is over – Jenny Chan
- How Alderfer’s E.R.G. Theory can inform post-coronavirus strategy for brands – Dr. Mansur Khamitov
- Bouncing back from COVID-19: Five data-driven strategies for SEA marketers – Stephanie Caunter and Simon Samuel
Luxury brands’ three best practices in coping with COVID-19 – Xiaofeng Wang
Building a COVID-19 strategy
DATA POINT: Brands should help keep consumers informed about COVID-19 - Rob Clapp
The craft of turning adversity into a win Anindya Dasgupta
- Turning to agile in times of uncertainty: Three tips for marketers – Cameron O’Connor
- How marketers can de-risk the COVID-19 disruption – Amit Narayan
Coronavirus forces agencies to rethink the agency employee experience – Jay Pattisall
Adapting the marketing function
The impact of COVID-19 on media strategy – MediaSense
COVID-19: Three scenarios for the impact on media planning – James McDonald
Changes to media plans and adspend
To curse or to cherish? How Hong Kong’s brands can conquer the COVID-19 challenge – Terence Ling
- Confronting a crisis of clarity amidst COVID-19 – Agung S. Ongko
An advertiser's agony amid the coronavirus conundrum – D. Sriram
Reviving tourism for ‘Brand Wuhan’ after the outbreak (Chinese) - Kevin Guo
Adapting creative communications
Further Reading
The WARC Editorial team welcomes comments and feedback. Contact us at:
Americas: americas@warc.com
APAC: asiapacific@warc.com
EMEA: enquiries@warc.com