Experts in the field of marketing and public relations have agreed that following the COVID-19 pandemic, the marketing profession needs a paradigm shift.
This was the unanimous agreement reached at a two days conference to flag off the Young Marketing Professional Network (YMPN) with the theme, Marketing Beyond COVID-19.
In his presentation, Grant Lee, the keynote speaker said the coronavirus will bring a lot of changes in the world of marketing. He said traditional advertising will be changing to a predominantly virtual world of sales and product delivery.
In his presentation, a former president/chairman governing council of the Nigeria institute of public relations, Rotimi Oladele cautioned that Coronavirus may not leave in a hurry and its negative impact on both PR and marketing would remain causative hence the need for PR strategies to fortify brands.
He said PR and marketing experts have to embrace technology more than ever before to promote brands.
According to him, more than ever, every social media platform has provided alternative approach to sustainable relationship and mutually beneficial exchange stressing that virtuality has overtaken the conventional spaces for business.
Other presenters agreed that changes occur much more often than before and require continuous analysis and evaluation.
They suggested that smart companies will adopt a proactive approach to understand what changes will occur and be ready to adjust their products, services and strategies quickly to meet current and future customer needs.
They also encouraged businesses to carry out more research to know what approach to adopt, explaining that businesses might not need the same information as before but there are still important decisions that need to be made, and they should be made on evidence not assumption.
Ayeni Ekundayo in his presentation said market research is more important than ever in the COVID-19 era and beyond.
He empathized that digital marketing is the best way to help traditional marketing efforts convert into sales.
Dr. Youssef Youssef, President, Chartered Institute of Marketing Management, Canada declared the summit opened, while the President and Chairman of Council, National Institute of Marketing of Nigeria, Mr. Tony Agenmonmen gave the opening remarks.
The conference was put together by Ayoade Adeyemi, a consultant with years of experience in Business Strategy, Human Resources Management, Sales /Marketing Management.
He was the former Marketing Director and Registrar/ CEO of National Institute of Marketing of Nigeria(NIMM), Head, Client Service, Tower Security Asset Management(Capital Market) and Customer Service Manager, UACN.
Source:Leadership.ng
