In business you may have heard of the classic 5 Ps of Marketing – Product, Price, Promotion, Place and People – but these are very different times, so we’re changing it up.
We hope you are all staying safe, staying home if you need to, and playing by the rules. We are!
If you are an essential business or worker, we say a BIG Thank You. These are extremely difficult times for everyone – no one knows what to expect which is pretty darn stressful.
At InHouse Marketing we three have asked ourselves what we can do to offer you some support – “on the house” as they say – and genuinely without touting for any business. We’re all in the same boat here.
In business you may have heard of the classic 5 Ps of Marketing – Product, Price, Promotion, Place and People – but these are very different times, so we’re changing it up.
We’ve spent some time developing our 6 Ps of COVID-19 with the aim of sharing our expertise, to help you navigate through these uncertain times on both a personal and business level.
We hope you find these useful.
Introducing our 6 Ps of COVID-19
PEOPLE • PROCESS • PROTECT • PIVOT • PLAN • PUSH PLAY
This process we have developed is applicable for ourselves, our families and our business so we are working to it ourselves – we hope it gives you some food for thought too. This process is cyclical, and we expect to be rotating through it many times over the coming weeks and months. As we learn more about the impact of COVID-19 on our personal and business lives we will consider carefully the 6 P’s: PEOPLE, PROCESS, PROTECT, PIVOT, PLAN AND PUSH PLAY.
PEOPLE – First and foremost we need to think about our PEOPLE. Those in our family, our friends, our staff, our workmates and colleagues, our customers and also our wider network. We need to stay connected and communicate with them regularly. Don’t leave them guessing how we are feeling or if they are important to us, or if we or they need any help. Adapting to new ways of social interaction, like video chats, or going old school and talking on the phone can help us all both physically and mentally. There’s nothing quite like seeing someone smile or laugh to lift your spirits. Remember Covid-19 is affecting PEOPLE first and everything else after that.
PROCESS – The impact of COVID-19 on lives, business and our economy will be huge, it is something that none of us could have planned for. The next step is to ‘process’ – take a breath, take stock and assimilate what is happening. Please don’t panic, but do start to understand the impact on you, your family and your business. Read up on what experts are saying, find out what government support is there, talk to your accountant, landlord and banks about options. And try and stay positive, be thankful that we live in Aotearoa and have a government who are taking action to save lives.
PROTECT – Once you have had a chance to ‘process’, take action to protect what you can. Personally, and professionally, we all need to protect our health, get some exercise and stay positive. In your business, you can support your staff, look at your cash flow, cut costs and make new financial arrangements to get you through. Reach out to your current customers and let them know what you are doing and how it will affect them. These loyal customers are the ones you want to be ready and waiting to connect with you again when things return to some form of normal.
PIVOT – In times of flux people and businesses who can adapt continuously will come out the other end better off. Both your life and your business may not look exactly the same as it did before, but if you can pivot to overcome barriers, and seize opportunities you give yourself the best chance to survive. The first step in pivoting in business is to do a SWOT (we covered this recently) and unlock potential new business and marketing strategies.
PLAN – With your new strategies identified start to plan how you will implement them. What changes do you need to make to your routines at home and work? What products or services can you change, can you adapt your channels to market, or your pricing? How will you promote your brand? What can you do yourself? Who do you need to engage with to help? Look at your financials, set a budget, set objectives and timelines.
PUSH PLAY – A plan only works if you ‘push play’ and act on it. For yourself think getting fit, learning something new, or carving out important ‘me’ time. For businesses, this could be pretty scary when it comes down to the wire, because you may need to spend some money at this time to get results. However, we think if you have followed our 6 Ps process your chance of achieving your objectives will be higher. Remember to constantly monitor your results and be ready to cycle back through the 6 Ps of COVID-19. We certainly will be.
We are here, and willing to give whatever we can.
If anyone out there wants to chat, or just hear a friendly voice, please don’t hesitate to touch base. We are all on deck to listen or talk.
Kia kaha,
In urdu, kia kaha means ‘what I/We said’? 🙂 You can write a research paper on this topic As Marketing student, I’ll write more on this topic
Thanks Nauman that’s very interesting. In NZ Maori it means “be strong”, so this is what we’re meaning in this context. 🙂