Business Unusual – Personal Insights into the Global Impact of Coronavirus Outbreak
Steve Bainnson is our Vice President of Sales in the U.S. He told us: “Of course the virus has been the subject of all media almost 24/7, so that is naturally going to start to make people concerned and worried. It is inevitable that the number of cases is going to increase along with fatalities linked to the virus. While difficult, it is important for people to try to understand that the fear factor is more consuming than the actual virus at this point.”
Steve added: “Allowing worry and concern to dominate your every waking thought can’t possibly be healthy either.”
In Germany, most federal states have now reported cases of infection. Christina Kahlert is Head of Central Europe for DMA and TheNewsMarket. She shared the following thoughts.
“Corona is not only a virus affecting people’s health, it is affecting the way people are thinking and it is also affecting our economy. Where does it end? Today we had our monthly conference call with the Board of DPRG (Germany’s PR association). All our friends and colleagues working at the big players are no longer allowed to travel and take part in meetings or events outside their offices. We are all communications people (journalists and PR people). So how should we communicate if this is only possible in a more or less virtual way?”
Meanwhile, it seems the British have a relatively relaxed attitude towards the virus. A poll for YouGov of ten countries found just 5% of those polled in the UK said they are ‘very scared’ of contracting the coronavirus. That compares to 26% in China and 47% in Indonesia. 26% in the UK also said they are ‘not at all scared’ of contracting the virus.
Keely Valentine, DMA’s Head of Production and Client Services, says: “Here in the UK, we’re all being told to clean our hands and say ‘happy birthday’ twice and regularly use anti-bacterial gel. However, having two schoolchildren, I keep heading to shops to stock up only to find the shelves empty. This has gone on for a couple of weeks now. Our local pharmacist has a morning delivery at 8am but it sells out within minutes.”
Like many crises, necessity is the mother of invention. Many of DMA’s global clients are finding new and imaginative ways to launch products or showcase new services to customers and journalists – without the need of using the major trade shows for their reveals. And our team members are supporting them 24/7 during this challenging time.
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