Imesh Wijayathilaka

TV is the biggest medium to reach the mass audience in Sri Lanka and brands will continue to invest on that medium more often. Therefore, there is no doubt about that. However, the radio and print mediums are dying and those who are still remaining, struggle big time in order to survive. When it comes to digital marketing, majority of the marketers have a misconception that it is a cheap option which can do wonders with the minimum budget allocations. However, that is not the case and this is a scary trend that all the digital marketers might have to tackle in this year. It is that if you truly need to reap the benefits of digital medium, you need too increase the spending appropriately on the digital platform.

COVID-19 – an ongoing menace to the world, has infected over 2.5 million of the planet’s population with a mortality rate of 6.8%, leading to the loss of 171,300 lives as of 21st April 2020. The efforts of global leaders and medical experts to minimise the spread of the virus can be seen with the implementation of movement control, increased expenditure on healthcare and travel bans. With the origin of the disease being from the city of Wuhan in China, the now labelled “pandemic” has seen a shift of its epicentre to countries like Italy and the United State of America. Even though a country’s main priority is the wellbeing of its population amidst this crisis, it is essential to address the economic impact of COVID-19 as well. Experts have labelled this the worst economic shock in recent history, ironically unprecedented, and not brought about by any existing shortcomings in their country’s economic performance.

“Know your customer” has always been solid advice, but in today’s digital world, it’s more critical than ever. Data-driven insights from artificial intelligence and machine learning provide extraordinary possibilities for customization as the connected customer seeks a personalized experience with relevant, empathetic, and real-time interactions. Leading organizations understand their customers’ needs to the point where they know their customers intimately, understand their motivations and desires and, as a consequence, meet their customer needs more quickly and efficiently than competitors. With business value now being defined by the customer experience, companies need to leverage innovative tools and technologies to fully understand their customers and respond to their needs. This requires delivering frictionless interactions with seamless movement between all channels for an enhanced and consistent customer experience.