Pandemic Celebrates its Second Birthday - Article Published in The Hans India today (02-01-2022)

 

1^st January 2020 was when WHO announced the arrival of the new Corona Virus popularly called Covid 19. Initially dismissed as a joke or simple flu, there were boasts that the hot Indian climate would sound the death knell for the perky virus. One of the chief ministers said (on record) that it was a simple flu and that paracetamol would take care of it.

But the death dance of the Covid pandemic goes on and on, unabated and the death toll keeps climbing. The numbers are staggering: nearly 29 crores have been infected and 54.5 lakhs have succumbed to the deadly disease.

USA leads the tally with 8.5 lakhs deaths, followed by Brazil 6.2 lakhs, India 4.8 lakhs and Russia 3.1 lakh, Mexico 3,0 lakhs and Peru with 2.0 lakh deaths are the other countries with more than 2,00,000 deaths.  Truly a pandemic that ravaged the world!

The lessons learned so far:

1)      Any technological advancement comes with a curse! The speed of travel that meant easy commute also meant that the virus had spread the world at a lightning spread. Any amount of restrictions or lockdowns have at best a limiting factor but could not really stop the virus from spreading.

2)      No country or region has been spared. Every country, poor or rich, irrespective of caste, creed, race, religion, or region, has reported the virus and is still fighting it.

3)   Initially thought of as a virus that will die a quick death, Coronavirus is mutating and thriving. Two years into the pandemic the end is still not in sight.

4)      Some sectors have been affected very badly especially travel, tourism, air travel, realty (real estate) and education have been dealt a severe blow.

5)   Film industry has been brought to its feet and with the theaters shut, ticket prices issue, and with 50% occupancy the film distribution is in utter chaos and if it was not for the OTT coming to the rescue the film industry would have been wiped out. Movie watching would be restricted and already OTT seems to be getting an upper hand as far as reaching the customers is concerned.

6)      The house rental sector is in the doldrums and there are scores of apartments, commercial areas, and houses vacant as the I.T companies have extended work from home facility. This has resulted in IT employees moving to their hometowns and operating from their residences.

7)      The plight of the IT workers who work from home is terrible. They put in long hours of work (in excess of 10 hours), can’t socialize, have huge health-related issues (like obesity and lack of exercise). Families are falling apart as both husband and wife operate in the same house along with their children and too much interaction is leading to friction.

8)      The worst affected are the children. They are forced to stay at home, attend lectures on mobile phones, can’t interact with their friends, and can’t play outside their homes. Houses are becoming prisons! This has resulted in violent behavior, mood swings, reduced attention spans, and consequently the children’s performance in the examination had plummeted down and the failure percentages are going up all the time.

All in all, the two years of the Covid pandemic have been a disaster, and let us hope that we don’t have to witness its 3rd Birthday on the 1^st of January 2023! 

Oh God Save Us - The Marketers are Coming!

Corona Virus is ruling the world and it is T.O.M (Top of the Mind) in  everyone's  conversation.  People are flexing their regional, country-specific chauvinistic muscles claiming superiority.

They are claiming that some countries will not get the virus because of food habits, skin colour, high temperature etc. Still, many others are claiming wonder cures without any authentication from any reliable sources including the medical fraternity.

As usual, the business community has jumped into the fray. One saree manufacturer is selling Coran Virus sarees. It is not clear if the wearer has to wear the saree before getting the virus or after getting the infection or after testing positive or after getting treatment. Photo Courtesy Dr.Krishna Veni Lankapotu Madam.

So very confusing. The second manufacturer is even better. He is selling Corona Virus-free sofas. So how do I not get Corna Viris simply by sitting on the Sofa? GOK! (God only knows)! Photo Courtesy, Siddhartha Reddy Avija.

Initially, the rumours were that eating meat was dangerous and the sale of chicken, fish and meat nose-dived. The government and the concerned ministers had to eat chicken in public to allay the fears. Slowly the sale of meat and chicken started coming back to normalcy.

Sneha Chicken hits back, It says "Chicken boosts immunity to fight against Corona. IF YOU CAN'T FIGHT THEM, JOIN THEM. It almost appears like a Rajanikanth movie. Only the chicken has to say "Enna rascala' addressing the Corona Virus and the virus would simply be blown away. Picture courtesy Aditya Sunkara.

Oh, almighty save us from these people!

Marketing in Action - Corona Beer and Zica Car from TATA MOTORS

Most of my students of management, especially marketing students, think that mistakes committed by companies should not be committed in the first place.

They conclude saying "these are such basic decisions, why could they not have anticipated such an event". They seem to think everything is orderly and clockwork-like precision watches. What they fail to understand is that the business world is dynamic and fraught with uncertainty.

This Mexican brand of beer could not have even imagined in its wildest dreams that a deadly virus would be named after its famous brand - Corona. And the result, the stock nosedived by 8%. Whom does the company blame, nobody but its fate? That is why Business education is still called Masters of business administration. It is an art and not a science.

A similar fate was forced on Tata motors when it withdrew the name of its car named Zica which was exactly a virus-like Corona that led to many deaths in the year 2016.

Tata was forced to rename its car as Tiago. The loss that Tata would have incurred - many crores, opportunity cost and wasted time, effort and money in brand building the name - Zica.

Business students wake up. The real world is very different from what you read in the books or what you read in case studies. Be ready. The world is full of surprises.