Digital jack-pot

Every person chooses information sources they trust, as well as channels and ways of consuming such information. However, in the current situation, information comes down on us in larger quantities than before. This leads to well-balanced people becoming "jumpy neurotics."

Let's just divide information into signals and noises. The deeper you dive into the information flow, the more noise you get and, as a result, stop noticing the signals. There are many prophets appearing as well as the result of their noise – prophesies. And this means that someone will rely on these prophesies and, therefore, will risk and incur losses. If, on top of that, such prophesies are expressed in figures, this encourages people to risk even more.

One should take decisions with regard to one's business by comparing their own performance with the previous period or with their market of analogs and substitutes.

But it's important to know that:

- 6 out of 10 Ukrainians are concerned about the situation with COVID-19;

- 63% believe the spread of COVID-19 in Ukraine to be rapid;

- 8 out of 10 Ukrainians expect an adverse effect on their own finance.

68% of consumers say that they search for COVID-19 updates on the Internet, which makes it the most frequent online activity. Currently, the time spent by consumers on the content related to COVID-19 on the Internet dominates across all markets, income groups, genders and most generations except for Gen Z. Instead, Gen Z is more likely to listen to music (71%) than search for coronavirus updates (67%).

Men (73%) are more inclined to search for news about COVID-19 than women (62%).

Apart from COVID-19 related content, people, just as before, consume a wide range of entertainment content on the Internet, for instance:

- listen to music (85%);

- watch movies / shows (49%);

- watch funny videos (42%);

- play games on a mobile phone (40%);

- watch memes (32%).

What important things are happening to the TA? The consumption chain is disrupted now. The buyers' average check has increased by 35.4%, while the number of transactions has dropped by 12.2%, which is caused by new behavior, namely building up stock and making purchases for the household.

This has brought about changes in the volumes of retail sale. For example, sales of yeast powder have grown by 247%, salt – by 198%, pasta – by 162%, dry breakfast cereals – by 91%, and butter – by 85%. However, sales of vermouths have dropped by 60%, chocolate – by 46%, juices and chewing gums – by 29%.

As regards non-food goods, the leaders in terms of growth are rubber gloves (328%), disinfectants (312%), moist tissues (117%), and toilet paper (106%). There has been a decrease in the sales of the following product groups: body care products – 63%, deodorants – 50%, razors – 39%, shoe sponges – 37%, and even shampoo – 36%.

Marketing experts created their digital funnels taking into account the TA's behavior, distribution, marketing and brand indicators, but the consumer's customary path has started to change. Reliance on the sequence of actions and advertising is no longer linear, and this is true for "hot" goods in the first place.

There has been a quantum leap into digital. Why? It was all due to speed and accessibility as a way of fast relocation of the product and service range from a store to any point. And those are events from our new reality.

Indeed, this has never happened before; the world has given us a 3 in 1 promo offer = an economic crisis, COVID-19, a new juncture of generations and formation of the Alfa generation.

What should be done?

Formulate a key objective for your business and focus on it.

This will allow the brain function to be readjusted; now that the brain understands its main objective, it will actively search for information to reach it.

This is like a car that you like and want to buy; suddenly, you start to notice this model on the street and there are too many of them; it's like the whole city is driving this particular model.

Multiple options will keep coming from the most unexpected sources and in the most unexpected situations. As a result, you will understand how the current situation could be used to the best advantage for the brand. In the oversaturated information field, the signals received will become new opportunities for consuming or perceiving your brand.

Start working on your digital strategy at last. Create your improved self.

While, previously, everyone thought and planned to start their digital transformation or strategy, now this has all started at one stroke. Many have started to transform and are doing it with the help of accessible tools and partnerships. Yet, everything should be reconsidered – the target audience, product/ service, pricing, distribution, logistics, and service operations.

Importantly, this is not only about the shift of business from offline to online. The market is saturated with inputs, which will also make experienced players of the digital field rethink their strategy.

Make your forecast, not a prophecy – what the world and your business will be like, and then we will compare our notes.

Sources:

1. Nielsen Key Account Index, Urban Ukraine

2. Nielsen Total Business Read (TBR), 12 weeks by 16-22.03.2020

3. Results of online research conducted by Nielsen Ukraine. Geographic coverage: Urban population 50000+. Field date: 17/03/2020

4. GlobalWebIndex COVID-19 research, march 2020

5. Nassim Taleb, Antifragile.