Enabling Marketing Excellence

SURVIVING THE CORONA,

PREPARING THE POST
"IT WILL NEVER BE THE SAME AGAIN"

HERMAWAN KARTAJAYA
Chairman and Founder of MarkPlus, Inc.

MarkPlus, Inc. on
Marketing and Business
Post-COVID-19

Based on webinar held on April 3, 2020

with 700+ online participants
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Executive Summary

COVID-19 outbreak is putting the world in the middle of a global that after this crisis ends, it also marks the end of the marketing
crisis – perhaps, the worst in the past two decades. For humankind, and business as usual.
the pandemic is a war against humanity. While for businesses, the Customers, which become more quality-conscious, more values-
crisis is a shifting factor to the market as an impact of changes in demanding, and desire more seamless offline-online interactions,
technological, socio-cultural, political-legal, and economic aspects will shape the post-normal.
that it brought. As a result, it drives the changing of customer The way of doing business will shift. Integrating paradoxes
behavior and competitor movement. The dynamic is putting the such as offline and online, local and global, as well as human and
business landscape in the middle of volatility, uncertainty, and machine for greater good, will become the post-normal for
complexity, which brings ambiguity for companies. business operations.
During this desperate time, business leaders must demonstrate Indeed we need to survive this crisis, but it is imperative to
their professionalism and entrepreneurial spirit to tackle prepare ourselves for the post-normal with the post-marketing
the dangers, as well as to capture the opportunities that the because “it will never be the same again.”
circumstances possess. MarkPlus, Inc. offers a strategic framework
to handle the current situation based on the SPA (Surviving /
Servicing – Preparing – Actualizing) model that we originally
developed.
In the short-term, a company must identify its position during
the crisis. Whether the condition has put the company in the
middle of the storm that brings a decline in the company’s
performance, or the situation has put the company in the middle
of windfall resulting in the company’s growth. For companies that
are declining, Surviving by planning Marketing Continuity
Brand (MCB) is the top priority to ensure its continuity. While
for companies that are growing, Servicing by planning Marketing
Sustainability Brand (MSB) becomes essential. It is to show
that business is not all about monetary value, but human values. The way of doing business will shift.
As we know that the pandemic will eventually come to an end,
companies must consider the Preparing step. The company needs
Integrating paradoxes such as offline
to revisit its business in terms of its QCDS (Quality, Cost, and online, local and global, as well as
Delivery, and Service) to prepare for the post-crisis. human and machine for greater good,
In the long run, after the crisis has finally ended, it is the will become the post-normal for
momentum when the market will eventually recover. Companies
should start the Actualizing step, where they begin to execute its business operations.
post-marketing strategies and tactics to deliver value and values
to customers.
It is not certain that the Coronavirus outbreak will be the last
hard hit to mankind and businesses in this century. But we are sure

SURVIVING THE CORONA, PREPARING THE POST

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Prologue
“Danger and Opportunity”
Coronavirus:
Pandemic that Cripples The World
The Coronavirus outbreak has now reported from more than
200 countries and territory around the world. As per April 4th,
2020, the virus has infected more than 1,200,000 people with more
than 60,000 death cases. The cause of coronavirus spread varied
across the world, in some nations with the highest number of cases
reported, has begun with early community transmission with no
strict policy, then accelerated into the widespread uncontrolled
transmission.
Its spread has proven a disruptive effect on the global economy
and left business around the world, counting cost. Disruption on
the worldwide supply chain is considered as one of the most explicit
impacts of coronavirus spread. As a preventive measure, many
factories were forced to close until an undetermined time.
The virus does not only affect supply, but some sectors of the
global economy may also experience declines in demand—and
significant reductions in revenue. There are two scenarios that
mainly affect the current situation. First, most governments
implement social distancing policy, making people buy less of
some goods and services because they are forced to stay at home,
preventing potential exposure to the virus. Second, when companies
are forced to close, workers likely will receive less money, even
SURVIVING THE CORONA, PREPARING THE POST
in some instances, a business having difficulties in attracting
customers, leaving workers to receive no pay at all. As a result,
these workers and all impacted parties will have less to spend, again
cutting overall demand. A fall in demand that follows a supply shock
constitutes a one-two punch that will further contract economic
activity, although the size of these effects is largely unknown.
World War-Z
COVID-19 outbreak has now been recognized as a global
crisis that threatens the lives of millions of people. As the novel
coronavirus spreads, governments, policymakers, businesses,
and individuals around the world have undertaken precedented
measures similar to what the world has done during the world war.
The entire human race is helpless, locked, in the battle against
something five million times smaller than us. The world suddenly
knocked into a whole different situation.
Unlike the spread of other pandemics such as Spanish flu that
happened nearly one century ago, the novel coronavirus exists in
the era where technology is advancing at a very rapid rate – the era
of generation Z, the first digital natives that truly believe in a world
of vast technological advances and innovations.
As the virus continues to spread, sophisticated technology is
being used to track the transmission, scientists around the world are

striving to develop plans against the threat, while virologist works
extremely hard to create a vaccine, or find the cure. Nevertheless,
none of this attempt has shown significant results. Today, this
remains a prolonged war that belongs to all of us, not only to a
particular population, nation, or generation. This could be worse
than the world war I and II, the impact of this pandemic has gone
dramatically, threatening humanity in general. Human interaction
has now changed significantly; people are avoiding each other, even
treating sick people like they are not human. In some instances, this
condition resembles the movie World War Z, where the infected are
treated just like zombies. These are frightening times. Humanity
faces a crisis not only due to the coronavirus but also due to the lack
of trust between humans.
Wei-Ji
The world might learn from China when it comes to overcoming
a crisis. When China faces a crisis, the Chinese don’t see it merely
as a worry, but also an opportunity or moment of action. It’s part of
the Chinese character for crisis or weiji 危机. The character has two
parts, and the first part means danger 危险, while the second part
means opportunity 机会, or point of change 转机. Weiji emphasizes
the fact that there are always two sides in every situation, even
during a crisis. It helps to open up horizons that even if there is
danger, but there are always opportunities that come alongside.
(Figure 1)
Figure 1:
Wei-Ji
WEI JI
On a serious note, the opportunities certainly cannot be seen in
plain sight. It takes mindfulness and accuracy to foresee and execute
these opportunities carefully; therefore, it also needs courage in
every decision-making to gain optimum results without ignoring
both sides.
In surviving the corona, the dangerous side is highly considered
as the center of attention where the company has to strengthen its
survival amidst the outbreak. In order to survive, it is essential for
companies to have a Marketing Continuity Brand (MCB) to
assure the company’s continuity in the middle of declining growth.
A servicing strategy should also be prepared by companies that
are growing during the crisis by paying attention to Marketing
Sustainability Brand (MSB). As long as we are careful, we will
be able to see many opportunities. The two steps of survival should
be well designed and implemented immediately. In a range of 3 to
6 months period is when every step taken will determine every next
step ahead and has to benefit the company in both the medium and
03
long-term.
By looking back at times, there was a SARS outbreak widely
happening all over the countries. It was a global crisis that led
China to have significant turmoil in every production activity and
significantly affected supply in the global market. Shortly after the
outbreak, China finally made it through the crisis and remained as
the center of various manufacturing companies in the world. Several
companies such as Huawei, Xiaomi, Alibaba, and many others even
came forward as giant business players. The crisis does not even
weaken China; instead, it strengthens the mentality of people in the
business sector.
Indonesia was hit by the crisis in 1998 and got affected the
most than any other countries where economic, socio-cultural,
and political-legal crisis struck the country long-term. The once-
powerful regime that was replaced by the new one had to face a
completely uncertain state inside the country. The effect of the crisis
also massively left trauma on society. Even so, the post-crisis time
has successfully driven Indonesia to be one of the biggest influences
in the world’s economic sector.
For what is worth, Indonesia was then later acclaimed to be a
member of the G-20. Indonesia’s powerful position in future years
has long been predicted by many international institutions. It is also
strengthened by the success of Indonesia in organizing the Asian
Games back in 2012, which was glorified by many countries in the
world.
Professionalism & Entrepreneurship in Harmony
In dealing with a crisis situation like this, a business would not
survive with a common, basic strategy. It requires at least two
aspects, a sense of professionalism to take careful consideration
in dealing with a variety of challenges as what we have been facing
these days, and a true entrepreneurial mindset and courage to take
actions at the right momentum to grab the opportunity.
As a professional, business leaders should ensure business
continuity and sustainability. It can be done by analyzing all related
aspects, from market and industry landscape to internal company’s
condition and resources. While as an entrepreneur, business leaders
should be able to think creatively in making business initiatives.
Most importantly, spotting the opportunity and dealing with the
high risk are the rare abilities that must be possessed.
When China faces a crisis, the Chinese
don’t see it merely as a worry, but also
an opportunity or moment of action.
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Why

“It Will Never Be The Same Again”

Volatility in Change Some governments of the countries prefer to impose lockdown
The COVID-19 outbreak, which is spreading relentlessly through to prevent further spreading, while countries such as Indonesia
the world, has shown the real VUCA (Volatility-Uncertainty- prefer to impose large-scale social limitations and restrictions.
Complexity-Ambiguity) in business landscape and has raised Some countries are even in the middle of a dilemma to impose the
urgency in re-analyzing it during this time of crisis, prior to taking countermeasure to the current situation because it seems like there
actions. Along with the father of modern marketing, Philip in the is no exact mechanism to minimize the impact of the outbreak. A
book Repositioning Asia: From Bubble to Sustainable Economy, we country that implements the same policy as the others during this
mentioned that analysis of business landscape could be done using crisis time may not come up with the same expected results. 
4C Diamond Analysis. The analysis consists of Change – Competitor These factors will have a direct impact on the Market condition,
– Customer - Company. whether it turns to be favorable or unfavorable according to the
We are facing a one-of-a-kind pandemic, which happens on a industry where a company competes. 
global scale and not only in Asia. It brings a significant Change in
macro aspects surrounding business environments all over the Uncertainty in Competitor
world, such as Technology, Socio-culture, Politic-legal, Economy, The changes in macro factors will definitely impact the business
and Market.  environment. Businesses may face uncertainty if the government
Adoption of Technology, especially, the online platform is of the country is uncertain of its policy. For example, the
‘forced’ to be faster to happen because physical interactions must government may impose straight lockdown and perform aggressive
be temporarily replaced by digital interactions, resulting in rapid testing as South Korea did, or adopting other countermeasures
digital migration for a certain cluster of people.  as implemented by countries as Taiwan and Singapore did.
Work from home and physical distancing become the new normal Competitors are starting to guess the course of the dynamics and
Socio-culture since people are limited and even restricted to work plan their movements. Therefore competitor movements become
at their respective offices, this could bring impact to the way people more unpredictable and uncertain. Some may choose to cut-prices
interact and toward others and toward companies during and after in the hope that it will attract more demand, or some may alter
the crisis.  their operational activities to streamline their internal process and
Countries may suffer from Economic slowdown and even decline; achieve efficiency. Not to mention in this period, there might be
on the other hand, a few are starting to recover.  emerging competitors as a result of a transfer of function of other
player’s particular business units or, on the other hand, the death of
existing competitors who could not survive the crisis. 

Complexity in Customer
The outbreak also affects customers who are forced to stay at
home, hence altering their routines and behaviors. This condition
would also speed up the adoption of technology; thus, the flow of
information received by customers is increasing.
There is a great possibility that customers would begin to
compare the condition inside their country with the circumstance
abroad, seeking information not only regarding how governments of
countries handle the situation but also how companies around the
world manage their customers.
They might see some companies do extra miles to serve their
customers by giving additional services or increasing the standard
quality of the products, especially emphasizing on its health and
The crisis marked that, after this, “it will safety factors as it becomes essential. 
never be the same again,” and we are This condition results in the increasing complexity of
facing the post-normal. understanding the Customer. Decreasing income during the crisis
may result in shifting purchasing power. The inability to transport
may put convenience as an essential purchase factor above all.
And there is a considerable possibility that Customer traits and
behaviors in post-crisis will not be the same as during crisis or post-
customer behavior. 

Ambiguity in Company
Companies may find themselves in the middle of confusion and
dilemma in determining the right action as the business landscape
is changing. This condition may cause ambiguity within the
company. Companies may start to consider whether they have to
come up with new products or services to serve the customers or
not, in order to win the competition among its competitors. Some
companies may focus on planning and executing short-term plans

SURVIVING THE CORONA, PREPARING THE POST

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for quick-wins. Some others may think that there is a need to take
time to think about the longer-term impact of the strategy that
would be implemented.
Companies may ask, is it the right time to launch a new product
in response to the outbreak condition? Would it damage our brand
equity? Should we prioritize our cash flow above all during this
crisis? And so on.  Leading the business during hard times requires strong
Among elements of VUCA, ambiguity endangers companies
the most since slow or wrong moves could threaten business
performance in the short and long run.  believe that physical health is the most essential, but ignoring the
In tackling these circumstances, companies must adopt the
Discover –Adventure – Momentum – Outlook (DAMO)
mindset, which was introduced by Jack Ma through Alibaba.
First, it suggests that companies must be able to discover
opportunities. This means, in times of crisis, companies must be
able to see an opportunity and discover what the company can do
to seize the opportunity. It could be by launching new products or
services.
A company must also adventure the new way of doing business,
by thinking more creatively to communicate and deliver its offerings
to the customers.
Then, the movements planned previously must be executed in the
right momentum to gain the expected result.
Finally, companies must keep their awareness on the outlook
since the landscape is changing dramatically fast, and the company
needs to adapt to every change. 
Within DAMO, momentum is the most crucial. The failure to
execute planned maneuver in the right momentum could result in
suboptimal results.
leadership. Especially during the crisis, leaders must possess
Physical Quotient (PQ) along with Emotional Quotient (EQ). Many
mental health of the team is not an option at any time. Besides,
leaders must pay attention to Intellectual Quotient (IQ) as well as
to Spiritual Quotient (SQ) to be able to make decisions that will
benefit all stakeholders rationally, but at the same time showing
their caring to the surroundings.
The pandemic has changed and will keep changing the business
landscape. As a result, macro factors and micro aspects of business
environments will keep shifting – But one thing that remains
constant is the change itself. The crisis marked that, after this, “it
will never be the same again,” and we are facing the post-
normal. Our marketing approaches need to shift along with the
change. Therefore, it requires a new approach to marketing –
the post-marketing. (Figure 2)

Figure 2:
VUCA-DAMO and Strong Leadership

VUCA DAMO
VOLATILE
CHANGE
ISCOVER
TECHNOLOGY

POL- ECONOMY SOS-

LEG CUL

MARKET DVENTURE
UNCERTAIN COMPLEX
COMPETITOR
VUCA CUSTOMER

OMENTUM

UTLOOK
AMBIGUOUS
COMPANY

STRONG LEADERSHIP
(PQ/EQ & IQ/SQ)
TECHNOLOGY FOR HUMANITY

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What

“The SPA 2020”

MCB and MSB
The inevitable COVID-19 outbreak has brought a sudden dynamic
to the national and global business landscape in the first quarter of
2020, which has a high possibility to impact the rest quarters of the
year. As there are two sides of a crisis: dangers and opportunities,
the dynamics could put a company in either storm or windfall. As
the value-decider, it is imperative for the companies to pivot their
businesses to adapt to the changing circumstances. Companies
should cope with the changing landscape with changes in the
strategic marketing plan. (Figure 3)
For the companies that are in the middle of the unfavorable
condition, which puts them in the middle of the storm, they need
to come up with Marketing Continuity Brand. MCB is a plan
that focuses on surviving the current condition by ensuring business
continuity in a time of crisis so that the company may live to fight
another day. The Marketing Continuity Brand is an industry-specific
plan. Meaning the plan to survive for companies may vary across
industries. In the middle of a crisis, declining companies may
come up with additional products or services or alter their price or
promotion method for the company’s quick win.

Figure 3:
MCB and MSB

For companies in the middle of windfall, where conditions turn

out to be unfavorable, they need to come up with Marketing Figure 4:
Sustainability Brand (MSB). It focuses on servicing plan for Customer-Product-Brand: New to OMNI
growing companies. MSB is crucial for companies, especially for
those who are growing during the crisis time in order to show 1 2
their caring to humanity by giving back to the community. The
CUSTOMER PRODUCT
Marketing Sustainability Brand is a general principle, which
means that companies across industries could implement a NEW NEW
similar servicing plan. Any growing companies may show that they
care about the situation by coming up with programs that respond OMNI OMNI
to the impact of the crisis on society.  4
Our observation towards companies while planning during the
crisis found that the main pitfall is that companies tend to focus CULTURE
their full attention and resources on short-term activities. Indeed it
is crucial to ensure business operations in the short-term, but there
NEW
is no room for excuses for not being ready for the post-crisis. 

Customer-Product-Brand: New to OMNI OMNI

Given the three aspects of marketing: Customer, Product, and
Brand, Marketing Continuity Brand should focus on customer and
product management, while Marketing Sustainability Brand should
focus on brand management. In the time of crisis, there are indeed BRAND
new approaches sprung up to the marketing aspects. (Figure 4)
3
Customers, for example, are easier to reach online. In response,

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 07

companies, not only those in the technology sector, are starting

to offer discounts, free services, and even incentives to encourage
customers to utilize the company’s online channels to gather
more customer database. After the outbreak has passed, offline
interactions will continue to happen as usual, but also accompanied After the outbreak has passed, offline
by increasingly online platforms usage. Therefore indeed, the interactions will continue to happen
OMNI approach is suitable. as usual, but also accompanied by
The second aspect, Product management, was once dominated
by offline. During this time of crisis, products can no longer be sold increasingly online platforms usage.
only by offline means but by combining both online and offline. Therefore indeed, the OMNI approach
Companies ranging from large enterprises until SMEs are beginning is suitable.
to sell their product online through e-commerce platforms or
using social media. After the market recovers, offline will continue
to squirm, but the practice of online product management must
continue to be carried out and improved for more optimal results.
During this season, Brand management relies heavily on
electronic and digital media. Even though offline brand activation
will back to be relevant after the corona outbreak ends, especially

Figure 5:
The 9 Core Elements of Marketing with Values

STRATEGIZED
VALUES TACTICAL
POSITIONED DIFFERENTIATED
CUSTOMER PRODUCT

VALUES-BASED
BUSINESS

VALUE
CREATING
BRAND

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in Indonesia, where people would miss to socialize with each other,

In the third and fourth quarters, the
company could initiate the Actualizing
step, which is the time for the
company to rebound from the fall.
online activation should be continued as well as a complementary.
In addition to the three aspects, companies need to consider
the Culture aspect. Companies may observe the maneuver of
other businesses around the globe in this time of crisis. Still, prior
to implementing one’s strategies and tactics, companies need to
contemplate its cultural fit to national and local consumers to
ensure acceptance and relevance.
We believe that one key to survive the crisis and prepare for the
post is by integrating not only offline and online means, but also any
other paradoxes that works (global and local, human and machine,
vertical and horizontal, etc.) while doing marketing. That is what we
call the OMNI way.
9 Core Elements of Marketing with Values
From the perspective of the fundamental yet everlasting 9 Core
Elements of Marketing representing marketing Strategy – Tactic
– Value, the whole elements must be based on values and not
solely pursuing value.
The marketing strategy should be based on values where
companies will redo their segmentation to target customers that it
could serve its best and position itself as a partner during these hard
times by giving special treatments for selected customers segment.
The company’s marketing tactics need to derive from values-
based differentiation. It needs to reformulate its offering, how
to deliver the offerings to customers, and ensure that there are
sufficient resources and infrastructure to enable the values delivery.

Figure 6:
Short-term and Long-term Plan

STORM

DECLINING

PREPARING ACTUALIZING

WINDFALL

GROWING

SHORT-TERM LONG-TERM

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Figure 7:
Surviving / Servicing – Preparing – Actualizing
SURVIVING / SERVICING
Q1 Q2
PREPARING
Finally, the brand needs to continue to create value to the
customers by maximizing total get for customers from the brand’s
functional and emotional benefit, and keep minimizing total give
that incurs to the customers from the cost and other expenses.
As asserted by Philip Kotler in his article The Consumer in the
Age of Coronavirus, that after the pandemic ends, along with the
emergence of anti-consumerism movements, customers will want
brands to spell out their greater purpose on how they could serve
the common good. Therefore, businesses could no longer rely on
triggering consumerism to compete and maximizing profits for their
own. Instead, businesses should focus on delivering values for the
greater good through the right marketing. Hence, values-based
business is crucial. (Figure 5)
SPA 2020: Surviving / Servicing – Preparing –
Actualizing
In creating a short-term and long-term plan for the business,
especially during the time of 2020 crisis as caused by the COVID-19
outbreak, we concluded that companies need to base their strategy
across the three steps: Surviving/Servicing, Preparing, and
Actualizing or ‘SPA 2020’.
As an initial step, a company needs to assess its current
condition, whether the external conditions and internal capabilities
have put the company in a growing (windfall) or declining (storm)
state of the business. For companies whose business is declining,
in the short-term, the first ‘S’ would refer to ‘Surviving’ since the
company needs to focus on ensuring its survival and preventing the
business from collapsing before it even able to prepare itself for the
future. (Figure 6)
While for the companies whose business is growing, the word ‘S’
refers to ‘Servicing.’ Since the company is in favorable condition,
it needs to show its capabilities not merely to fulfill market capacity,
but to serve the community for good. Hence the company can show
its values of caring for humanity.
In the second step, the ‘Preparing’ step, both companies who
are in declining or growing condition, need to prepare the next
movement after the crisis ends. Companies must be aware that the
09
ACTUALIZING
Q3 Q4
business landscape may shift again once the outbreak has passed.
Therefore, companies must prepare themselves to face the post-
normal.
The third step, for a long-term, is where a company needs to
actualize what it has planned, called the ‘Actualizing’ step.
Here is where the professionalism and entrepreneurship spirit
in a company are about to put into tests. Companies must have
the courage to implement its plans, probably with less time for
consideration than before as the circumstances keep changing over
time, and the right momentum may pass.
We hypothesized that there are right momentums for companies
to perform each step of SPA 2020.
The first step, Surviving / Servicing, could be done in the first
and second quarters of this year since it responses to the current
condition. This is the most critical phase since it will determine
the company’s survivability or ability to grab the opportunity. In
developing the right strategy, companies should be able to perform
a comprehensive analysis of both internal and external conditions.
Then, during the second quarter until the third quarter of the
year, where the crisis would begin to come to an end, the company
should start to prepare for the strategy that would be implemented
when the market condition starts to enter the post-normal. The
market situation would be different from the condition during or
before the crisis. This is an important phase since the company has
never faced a similar situation before. The market condition might
affect every aspect of the business process.
Next, in the third and fourth quarters, the company could
initiate the Actualizing step, which is the time for the company to
rebound from the fall. In this stage, companies should be wise in
implementing the strategy and using the resources in order to gain
traction back. Those who are willing to go above and beyond will
come out stronger for years to come. (Figure 7)
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How
“The Post-Marketing”
Surviving for Declining Companies
During the crisis, as the companies get struck, and business starts
to decline, the short-term actions that they can do to manage their
customer and product is by surviving. The act of surviving revolves
around understanding anxiety and desire of the customers
through the elements of service quality except for tangibles, which
is not relevant during this crisis era. In addition, companies can also
manage their product by providing offers and access through the
elements of the marketing mix.
As the crisis is still rolling in uncertainty, customer desired more
empathy from the company. Their anxiety emerges uncontrollably,
and the company should be responsive to tackle this. Online travel
agents, as one of the most impacted sectors, for example, should
be responsive in understanding customer’s anxiety to travel as
the Coronavirus spread. Or anxiety that the money they have
spent could not be refunded as traveling across cities or areas are
prohibited, due to temporary lockdown. The company could keep its
Figure 8:
Customer and Product Management for Surviving and Servicing
Surviving
Responsiveness
Customer
Management
Empathy
Price
Product
Management
Promotion
Servicing for Growing Companies
For the companies, which experienced windfall during the crisis,
meaning the situation is favorable for the business condition,
it is time to perform servicing. As well as surviving, the act of
servicing also revolves around customer management, focusing
on understanding anxiety and desire of customers and product
management, focusing on providing offers and access to the
customers.
As the frontline in tackling the outbreak, companies in the
pharmaceutical and healthcare industry, for example, must reflect
their reliability in providing service by showing professionalism in
order to answer the anxiety of its customers, which numbers are
rapidly growing.
SURVIVING THE CORONA, PREPARING THE POST
customers well managed by providing easiness in rescheduling their
travel plans through mobile apps.
Companies should also be able to capture customers’ desire to
show empathy to those who are in need of supports during times
of crisis. Companies could open an option for customers to donate
their money to support medical staff that is fighting to minimize the
outbreak impact.
In order to survive, companies could still deliver what it offers to
customers by adjusting their product’s price. By temporarily cut-
down the price or offer bundling packages, companies could push
its product sales.
Moreover, companies could provide access to customers
regarding their products. They are enabling customers to keep
aware of the company’s products and services. Through promotions
with educative and entertaining content related to the current
situation and by using electronic and digital media, companies are
able to promote themselves to customers. (Figure 8)
Servicing
ANXIETY Reliability
DESIRE Assurance
OFFER Product
ACCESS Place
Another example, in the food and beverage retail industry,
supermarket and minimarket brands should be able to understand
customer desire by providing assurance that their inventories
are being monitored. Therefore, it ensures the accessibility of the
inventories for their customers. Retailers could also inform that
they are open during these hard times. For retailers who provide
delivery options, they could assure the availability of delivery slots
during a particular time, and ensure its hygiene during the delivery
process. In terms of product management, companies could launch
new products or new features in response to the current condition.
Digital healthcare apps developers may come up with chat-bot to
help customers perform symptoms check-ups, whether they are
vulnerable to COVID-19 or not. They are hence providing more
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offers that benefit the customers.

During the period of physical distancing, the physical place
becomes inaccessible for the customers. They are therefore
disabling many activities such as learning or even working for
some people. Growing companies such as Telco providers could As the crisis is still rolling in uncertainty,
provide access by supporting work from home and learning from
home through establishing internet connections in remote areas or customer desired more empathy from
providing free internet quotas for the users. the company. Their anxiety emerges
uncontrollably, and the company
Preparing: The Reborn of QCDS
During the crisis, while surviving or servicing, companies should
should be responsive to tackle this.
prepare themselves for the post-normal condition. In preparing
for the post, companies could explore on four principles of QCDS
(Quality-Cost-Delivery-Service).
The first principle is More Quality, More Value. As the post-
normal comes, the customers will set a new higher quality standard
of the product and service that they demand. To achieve this,
a company should set an outside-in strategy by looking from
customers’perspectives on the development of products and services
to get the right focus. Hence, the company can provide higher value value to the customer. There are two approaches that a company
to the customer. (Figure 9) can do to deliver the value, in which both approaches appear in
The second principle is Less Cost, More Productivity. The the OMNI way. The third principle is Offline Delivery and Online
company should adopt an inside-out approach and learn how to Transaction. Since the COVID-19 outbreak force people to stay
keep productive while putting efforts into pursuing efficiency. at home, it limited the way of doing a transaction, moreover, in
Companies may start by examining all operational processes by developing countries. To solve this problem, the company can
eliminating the non-essential process that produces a little to none provide an online transaction method, so customers don’t have to go
added value to the customers. There are also options that companies outside to do the transaction. Customers just have to stay at home
could take in pursuit of efficiency, such as benchmarking, re- and wait for the goods to deliver in an offline way.
engineering, outsourcing, and merger and acquisition (M&A). But, as the future comes, and considering not all region has a
The third and fourth principle is the way a company can deliver good infrastructure, it still is a challenge to do online transaction.

Figure 9:
Four Principles of QCDS

More Quality,
1 Outside-In
Less Price
Less Cost,
2 Inside-Out
More Productivity
Offline Delivery,
3
Online Transaction
OMNI
Online Service,
4
Offline Transaction

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In Surviving/Servicing step, a
company needs to ensure its cash
flow condition is at its best to support
short-term goals.
So there comes the fourth principle, Online Service, Offline
Transaction. We can see that people nowadays can easily get a
smartphone on their hands, but the matter is not all of them have
access or not eligible to perform online banking transactions.
Customers may be easily purchasing products and services online
by mobile apps in their smartphone, but on the other hand, they
are still lack of knowledge or access that support them to perform
an online transaction. Hence, the presence of offline transactions is
mandatory and could take form in payment through convenience
stores or small retailers or agents. Not only to solve the lack of
infrastructure problem, but offline transaction also emphasized the
human-to-human interaction, which is essential for a certain group
of customers.
Actualizing the Plan
After the preparation, it is time for the company to actualize
the plan. Reflecting on Korean “pali-pali” sayings and culture,
which literally translated to “Hurry up!” has taught businesses
to make quick decisions to execute the plan. It is not a reckless
decision-making process that involves a little to none analysis and
consideration, but a mindset to seize the opportunity appears in
certain momentum by executing the plan at the right time. Late in
the execution of plans, whether it is short-term or long-term plans
Figure 10:
SPA 2020 Strategy
FINANCE MARKETING OPERATIONS
C/F Customer Cost
B/S Product Delivery
P/L
Brand Quality
SURVIVING THE CORONA, PREPARING THE POST
will result in suboptimal outcomes. During normal circumstances,
companies could create or ride the momentum. During the
momentum of the crisis, the option for companies only remains
to ride the momentum itself. Leaving the companies no choice but
to actualize the plan to grab the opportunities, ensuring business
continuity and sustainability, while recovering to the normal
condition.
Within each step of SPA 2020, some aspects need to be
considered and prioritized. Those aspects represent the main pillars
in a company, including finance, marketing, operations, technology,
and people. 
In Surviving/Servicing step, a company needs to ensure its
cash flow condition is at its best to support short-term goals. The
marketing must focus on rethinking which customer segment
should be prioritized to serve during the crisis. For the operations,
a company needs to minimize costs by eliminating inefficiencies.
Since customers become the focus of marketing, the company
should also prioritize the use of technology to build intimacy with its
targeted customers. Not only customers but the way the company’s
internal people should interact is through online rather than offline.
(Figure 10)  
During Preparing step, companies should start to look at their
balance sheet to reevaluate the performance of its assets and
liabilities. At this step, the company could also focus on developing
new products or services as offerings to meet customers’ preferences
in post-normal conditions. In support, technology can be adopted
for innovation purposes. The company should also focus on the
delivery of its operations process, ensuring on-time delivery of
offerings it has developed. After the crisis, offline interactions would
be restored, where people would prioritize face-to-face interactions
once again. At the Actualizing step, where the companies would
go all-out in their business and marketing activities, it is time to
take a look at the profit and loss and start to prioritize business
profitability, as it should. The marketing efforts could focus on
building the brand that will provide values to the community,
not only seeking value from society. As customers demand
higher quality, the company’s internal operations should focus
on producing high-quality products and delivering high-quality
services. The use of technology during this phase could be focused
on emphasizing the value of humanity, as both offline and online
interactions between people getting strengthened.
TECHNOLOGY PEOPLE
OFF Top
Intimacy Line
ON
ON Middle
Innovation Line
OFF
OMNI Bottom
Humanity ON OFF Line
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Epilogue Figure 11:

Marketing
Synergy in Organization
“The Post”

le

Finance
op
Human Future Nightmare

Pe
As the COVID-19 outbreak triggered the faster adoption of
technology, it is not impossible that the current condition will be

ns
tio
followed by more technological inventions and adoptions on wider

ra
sectors of business. Philip Kotler mentioned in his article, Seven

pe
Nightmares and Three Alternative Policies for Moderating Them;

gy
O
there are rising fears among mankind that someday and somehow,

lo
technology would replace humans. Physical tasks would be replaced

no
by automation, and mental tasks would be replaced by artificial

ch
intelligence, resulting in a rapid increase in global unemployment,

Te
online would replace offline, and so on. In the OMNI way,
we believe that humans and machines could go side-by-side,
complementing each other. Online would not replace offline, where
at post-crisis, offline interactions would be back as it should, with
increasing intensity of online interactions as customers are getting
accustomed to it.

Machine is Cool but Human is Warm

We must admit that technology develops so rapidly that no one
can imagine. People nowadays can interact with each other around
the world in real-time. Stated in one sentence, we say that “machine
is cool, but human is warm.” Though the machine could have a
higher IQ than humans, still, it does not possess EQ and LQ as a
human being. Here we can learn that synergy between humans
and technology could lead us to strengthen humanity as values – A
company should put this as basic values to run its operation.
The future seems to be better defined as technology develops
rapidly. But on the other side, it could be unclear if the human
doesn’t know how to utilize technology properly. During the crisis,
we see that more and more people use social media to share more
positivity, cheering up the others. Atop of prolonged spreading of
false news, people are beginning to use technology for goods. The
outbreak teaches and reminds us to put humanity first above all.
Hence technology for humanity is getting real after the crisis.
Synergy in Organization
During the outbreak that puts humanity in a test, we witness that
humans go hand in hand, helping each other to survive and prepare
their living. The same thing goes with businesses. The synergy
in the future, the leaner organization prepares us to maneuver more
flexibly and adapt more quickly. The second value emphasizes on
meaning. Companies should dive deep into thinking about what
values that they could deliver to the customers and the community.
Because in the end, customers will demand values more than
just a good product or service but values. Third, companies
should do business and marketing in a smart way by balancing
professionalism and entrepreneurship. Therefore companies could
seize the opportunities that appear in a certain momentum. And
the fourth, companies should look to share more than just gather.
The aim of a business is no longer to profit oneself and endorse
consumerism but to the greater good.
In the end, giving up is not an option. In these times, a company
should plan and execute the right acts of Surviving / Servicing,
Preparing, and Actualizing. This crisis also has marked the end of
marketing and business as usual. It is the beginning of the new,
the next, and the post-marketing and business, because it
will never be the same again.
Edited by: Edwin Hardi, Rifeldo Meiza, Dede Udayana Laksmana, Andi Magie Fitrahnurlia

between departments in a company is imperative to survive the

crisis and prepare for the post-normal. Each human resource or
employee in a company should begin by putting trust and empathy
with each other.
Then, it continued by revisiting the operation process and
enhance it by adopting technology. As an implication of balancing
human and technology within a company, business operation could
run as it should and continue to provide stability in company’s
financial, and later keep the marketing strategy work, as it should.
Surviving/servicing, preparing, and actualizing is not a work for
a department, but are the works of all departments in a company.
(Figure 11) Companies should look to share more than just
gather. The aim of a business is no longer to profit
The Post-Values:
Lean, Mean, Smart, Share oneself and endorse consumerism but to the
Before we begin to walk ahead, remember that we should prepare greater good.
ourselves with post-values to sail through the post-normal. There
are four post-values that the company should remember. First is
to be lean – Start to eliminate processes and elements that bring a
little to none value added for the company. If the crisis comes again

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References:
Kotler, Philip (2020).
Seven Nightmares and Three Alternative Policies for Moderating Them.

Kotler, Philip (2020).

The Consumer in the Age of Coronavirus.

Kotler, P., & Kartajaya, H. (2000).

Repositioning Asia: from bubble to sustainable economy. John Wiley & Sons.

Pitt, B., Gardner, D., &, Kleiner, J. (Producer), & Foster, M. (Director). (2013).
World War Z. [Motion Picture]. California: Paramount Pictures.

Franklin, S., Aronofsky, D., & Parent, M., (Producer), & Aronofsky, D. (Director). (2014).
Noah. [Motion Picture]. California: Paramount Pictures.

Eskimo Recordings. (2012, May 14).

Drop Out Orchestra – It Will Never Be The Same Again [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=4XyMmkOBeTY&feature=you

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THE CORONA,
PREPARING
THE POST

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