Silver-Linings post the Covid-19 Crisis

Marketers are expected to be optimists. After-all we don't just want people to buy our brands we expect them to fall in love in them. So here is a list of the possible positive outcomes one might expect in a post coronavirus world. I say so, because there is no way the world will remain the same.

1) Education : Delivery of High quality education can change if there is political will behind it. Imagine if an IIT, IIM or HBS class is being conducted remotely for hundreds of students then what stops it from being conducted for a thousands more. I understand that this might not go down well with the currently privileged, as Ivy-league education has become a bullion good. Large scale availability decreases its perceived value. However, the world in general needs more skilled resources, now than ever before and educational institution must stick to their core reason to exist instead of pandering to the fancies of a certain class.

2) Economy: I expect the overall economy to eventually grow but the growth is likely to happen in more important sectors.Sectors of more intrinsic value such as Health, Hygiene and Infrastructure. Its said that, its strange how consumers buying just the essentials has resulted in the GDP collapsing, however we've skipped the part where certain essentials such as healthcare and infrastructure have actually not been sufficiently invested in. 3) Culture and Behavior: General consciousness around air and water pollution will improve.There will be voices which would call for a world with less detrimental human activity.From a marketing perspective this means that brands championing this cause will gain more acceptance than before. If not genuine at least in display there would be more respect for resources. However from a human perspective this event is likely to be more divisive at a macro level than was initially expected. Yes, there have been genuine displays of solidarity however give that the vaccine development is at least an year away, its expected that there would be more such waves of the coronavirus. Such an extended period of a contagious pandemic is expected to result in further social-distancing at a micro-level. Nations and people being isolated over extended period of time,will result in rising sectarian, jingoistic and xenophobic behavior. 4) Technology solutions will see faster adoption resulting in better quality of life: We're already seeing even the most ancient of work places transform to adopt new way of working via technology based collaborative tools. Since social distancing is now going to be a consumer behavior in the near future one can expect more such tools to be developed to help humans do more and achieve more remotely. Why do I say it will result in better quality of life? Because, eventually there will be a time when there would be less cars on the road, less carbon footprint in general and more time for family once the threat is over. I have no doubt that these solutions were already being worked upon and many might have been launched ahead of their time. This event provides an opportunity for future-tech to participate in the present

5)Decentralization of job opportunities. My last and second favorite change to come out of this crisis is the decentralization of job opportunities. Lets take India as an example. Most of the opportunities exist between Delhi-NCR, Mumbai and Bangalore. People from the rest of country leave their local economies to come and join the workforce in these mega cities. While it causes emotional pain to the migrants, it also causes the resources in these cities to creek under the massive pressure of an over-sized population. The migrant crisis in India during the covid-19 crisis goes to show that we must make opportunities available to people closer to their place of birth. Of course it can't be done by industries alone. There also needs to be incentive by the government.