As the coronavirus pandemic puts India into a 21-day national lockdown, many industry experts are of the opinion that there will be job cuts and economic downturn soon after. The movement restrictions and uncertainty have already paralyzed the supply chain, logistics, aviation, travel and tourism industries. We don't know when the bad times are going to end. Luckily, we came across this interesting newsletter "Life in the times of Lockdown" by International Advertising Association - India Chapter.
Mr. Ramesh Narayan, Immediate Past President of IAA and Managing Director of Canco Advertising Pvt. Ltd. shares that the marketing-communications industry like most industries will have to pay a price and yet, they are doing interesting things. So, let's take a look at the interesting people in the marcom industry who inspire others to learn something by staying at home.
Punit Goenka – President IAA-India & MD & CEO, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. shares in the newsletter that "One of the biggest positive point is the opportunity for all of us to bond with our children, our parents, our brothers and sisters. An opportunity to give time to our life partners, who have always sacrificed these moments since we all had to be at work adhering to our responsibilities. I shared a personal example to all my colleagues at ZEE, to reinforce this fact. I have made it a point to teach my children how to play Carrom. Simple, yet precious moments like these, will really help us sail through such challenging times with immense positive energy. Learning to cook, to play a musical instrument, to play an indoor game with your family members are some of the things one should make time for, amidst this lock down."
Srinivasan Swamy- IAA Chairman & World President, Chairman & Managing Director, R K SWAMY BBDO Pvt. Ltd. shares about the importance of Work from Home or Work For Home? In the newsletter, he writes "I am penning this on middle of day-3 of the lockdown. Somehow time seems to fly and I haven’t really been ‘free’. Is this lockdown to ‘work from home’ or to ‘work for home’? I finally found time to do things at home which I had always postponed! Is my wife happy with what has been done? Not really, because there is more to be done!"
Prasoon Joshi, CEO and CCO of McCann Worldgroup India and Chairman McCann Asia Pacific describes a poem where the poet urges us to resolve to defeat the problem together as we Indians have the austerity and the attitude to do so, by staying at home for the nation.
Ashish Bhasin, APAC - CEO of Dentsu Aegis Network stresses the importance of more communication, "I have spent 32 years in this industry now and never ever have I been much of an advocate of work-from-home (WFH). This is, therefore, as much new to me as it is for many of us across the world. I am learning - just like the rest of us are. In fact, the one clear learning I have is that in times like these we need to communicate more. Not less. While we are practicing social distancing, we must practice virtual proximity. People are anxious at times like these and so, it is doubly important for leaders to connect more, and not less, with their teams."
Pradeep Dwivedi - IAA Hon Treasurer and CEO-India, EROS International Media Ltd. encourages everyone to imagine life in a post-COVID world. He writes, "Let this one be truly different. Let this one seed the resolve for transformative action at a very individual level. There are many ways we can do that. Committing to protect our environment and taking pollution head-on, being more caring and kind and gentle, valuing the privileges afforded to us by doing more for the under-privileged, recognizing that people completely unknown to you have taken enormous personal risks to keep you safe, and demonstrating gratitude for same by paying-it-forward are some of the ways."
Manish Bhatt- Founder Director, Scarecrow M&C Saatchi asks people to unlock endless possibilities. He ends the newsletter with a powerful note, "When you LOCK yourself DOWN for 21 days, chances are you may UNLOCK plenty of possibilities. You may UNLOCK the undisclosed power of your charm to catch hold of the key of your building terrace from your usually stubborn watchman, previous evening. You may UNLOCK the eyelids, before the sun does".
You can view the newsletter here.
