Impact of Coronavirus on Brand Activation

As the coronavirus outbreak spreads, the world’s biggest companies and brands have begun painting a bleak picture of broken supply chains, disrupted manufacturing, empty stores and flagging demand for their wares.

The announcements by businesses like Mastercard, Microsoft, Apple and United Airlines offer a reading on how the virus is affecting consumer behavior and business sentiment. These corporate bulletins — and what executives do in response — could determine how much economic damage the outbreak inflicts and whether a recession looms.

Africa seems to be dynamic as the virus spread has a minimal impact on the African economies. Europe and Asia most affected by this epidemic which has in-turn restricted consumers to make huge spending by reducing time spent on shopping. Most consumers just “Pick and Go” important items while window shoppers view from a distance.

In Nigeria, brand activation still plays it’s a significant role in driving brands to consumers. A major challenge is that 70% of raw materials, equipment, packaging come from Asia, China to be precise. Promotional materials are mostly sourced from China. But with recent trends, this has impacted cost from production to promotional marketing. The popular phone market in Lagos will start experiencing an increase in the price of accessories as vessels coming from Asian countries will now start undergoing scrutiny.

Edible brands are watching carefully as the success of their brands is more personal. In-store promoters will have less engagement as consumers would want to distance themselves from being engaged.