Digital Disruption in Times of Covid

“COVID-19 to my mind is a burning platform for digital disruption,” Sir Martin Sorrell, Founder and Executive Chairman of S4Capital, said in June earlier this year.

And he is right. Funny though, the pandemic has transformed the meaning of digital transformation itself. Previously, digital transformation was characterized by slow, multi-

year processes that drive impact at individual touchpoints, but overall fail to enact

broader, lasting change. While now, we see brands seeking lasting impact experiences, either by redefining their role in consumers’ lives or by exploring entirely new ways to engage with consumers.

Most of these can be seen in the kind of projects that we were asked to create during the early days of strict lockdown ---  from live streaming fitness sessions with Nike to internal employee engagement communities complete with content and digital engagement activities and purpose-driven influencer marketing solutions --- brands chose to rethink, repurpose and reinvent their digital landscape from the customers point of view.

In a post-COVID world where hypergrowth will go from the unicorn story to a key business imperative, the industry will need to redefine digital transformation to a lean, iterative

approach that connects the customer decision journey. To succeed in this future, brands must not only pivot their efforts now, but act fast to envision how they will meet the needs of

audiences into the future. Keeping the following three things in mind can help businesses that want to move fast and yet make a lasting impact on the digital consumers.

TRANSFORM AT SPEED

Brand ecosystems, access to first-party data, and truly owning the brand experience are some of the key things to focus on while building online presence. Armed with the knowledge of where they lack, can help brands quickly understand the specific actions they must take at speed —compressing the transformation process.

CONNECT RANDOM ACTS OF DIGITAL TO BUILD BRAND COHERENCE

Taking stock of your existing digital strategy is an important step in finding new opportunities to connect with consumers within an uncertain landscape. Smaller digital campaigns must tie in together to drive a larger purpose instead of getting lost in the sea of content.

OWN THE CDJ (Consumer Decision Journey) TO CONTINUALLY SUPPORT AUDIENCES

One of the biggest challenges fuelling digital transformation is that brands may miss out on the value of engaging with consumers if they rely solely on channels they don’t own, with insights on those interactions lost within walled gardens. The key to connecting a coherent digital journey is eradicating data silos and building insights driven by first-party data.

While digital transformation has long conjured up the notion of years spent with consultancies that are all talk and no action — and resulting in plans that are obsolete before coming into fruition — it’s easy to see how many brands have viewed the process as a daunting slog. But today, advanced digital maturity is table stakes; and with a need to adapt at speed, brands can act now to embark on that journey with an equally adventurous digital consumer.

(Robert Godinho is the Managing Director of MediaMonks India --- a global creative production company that partners with clients across industries and markets to craft amazing work for leading businesses and brands)

DISCLAIMER: The views expressed are solely of the author and Adgully.com does not necessarily subscribe to it.