Countering uncertainty and adapting to the new normal

As the Covid-19 pandemic continues to disrupt the world around us, adland has begun to figure out its new normal, or so it seems.

And with so much uncertainty in these unprecedented times, Arabad polled the views of owners of independent agencies in Lebanon but also talked to executives in big network agencies to learn about their overall feeling.

As this global crisis has challenged managers and marketers to rethink the way they do business, we asked them what are the shifts that they foresee taking place? And what are their immediate and long-term impacts on their business and the future of their organization? How are they working with clients during this time? And finally if they think the ad industry can emerge easily from this crisis?

What appears from the answers is that by drawing on its advantages, the ad industry has developed a surprisingly robust – and empathetic – response to the crisis.

The pandemic changed many things, but one of the things it changed was disabuse companies of the notion that working from home was an impossibility. It has proven that it is possible for business to get done using only virtual tools. It may not be as efficient, and it may not be as friendly or as warm, but work got done. There are obvious implications of this change - companies can suddenly consider employees not geographically located for those jobs, save money on commercial real estate, relocate out of large, expensive cities, etc. because they have proof now that work can be done anywhere for many office jobs.

But above all, this pandemic change also created new opportunities for companies to think about.