A webinar on ‘Branding and Marketing Strategies during Covid Times’ was conducted by Dr. Ritu Talwar - Professor - New Delhi Institute of Management, Delhi. She averred that the global pandemic has spared no one and there has been a fundamental shift in consumer buying behaviour and media buying patterns. Marketers are worried about the future and new launches have come to a halt. Dr. Talwar further stated that opportunities arise in these dark spots only. She also communicated that planned purchases have ben deferred. Sharing insights on what to expect from brands, the speaker averred that brands should be a trusted source of accurate information; attack the crisis and demonstrate that it can be fought and be practical & help consumers in their everyday life. Dr. Talwar added that advertising should not exploit coronavirus to promote a brand; show how they can be helpful in the new everyday life; inform about their efforts to face the situation and should offer a positive perspective.
Social distancing is a topic that many brands have taken up and Dr. Talwar shared a number of examples of brands like McDonalds, Audi who released advertisements related to the subject. She also stated that it was important to keep the human element as much as possible in the advertisements and the need to be compassionate during these tough times. “The first step would be to directly communicate with your customers and keep it crisp and emphatic. Stay topical, relevant and contextual in your advertising & avoid distasteful and opportunistic messages,” said Dr. Talwar.
A webinar on ‘How to be a Solar Professional: Renewable Energy Opportunities and Challenges’ was conducted by Mr. Muhammad Haris Khan, Techno Economic Expert IPP, PPA, EPC, Engie International. He averred that to be a solar professional it is important to know the opportunities in the GCC countries that have set individual targets of achieving solar efficiency targets. He shared the total capacity installed in GCC countries comprises of the majority being added by Solar PV and UAE was racing ahead to achieve its set target. Mr. Khan also shared the list of upcoming projects across UAE. He asked students to understand their skills and what they want to be; Get professional Certification according to the region; Get an understanding of the industry & the various roles involved to make an informed choice; Obtain market awareness, know about ongoing projects & the market compatibility and have a sound, professional knowledge of the designing tools and their usage. “Knowledge and ability to do 3D animation will be an added advantage to your career,” said Mr. Khan. He further averred that there were a number of jobs (220 thousand jobs) in the GCC countries in 2030 and students need to be professional and possess the right skills to make the best of these upcoming opportunities.
A lecture by Col. Krishan Kumar Singh, Director, D2DL Pvt. Ltd. and Arista Vault was delivered on ‘Applying management philosophies, Post Covid-19’. While addressing Col. Singh said that COVID has highly impacted world at higher rate and the world GDP growth will surely increase by 5.8% in 2021. “Even the impact of corona virus can be seen deeply in stock market, since the start of the outbreak. European Union, United States, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Singapore and many more economies have been affected in the trade sector due to corona virus. Covid-19 induced economic disruption will disproportionately impact some industries sectors more than others. Global shipping, passenger airlines, gaming, tourism, apparel have high exposure of Covid-19 whereas media, chemicals, manufacturing, metals and mining, agriculture, technology hardware and many more are impacted at moderate rate. On the other hand potential positive impact can be seen in internet service companies, retail (online) and gold mining,” stated Col. Singh.
He further averred that this pandemic has made Indian unemployment rate jump up and for the growth and market revival there are several new trade policies and market restrictions had been introduced. Vocal for local and make in India are the new trends and new labor laws with new wages and perks has been defined.