Lost your job?

 This is not the end. This is just another beginning

The years 2020 and 2021 have taught us how a small virus can turn life upside down. People have lost their jobs; there have been salary cuts and business losses, and what not. People are feeling low and don’t know what to do, mostly contained in their homes. I will say, don’t give up.

No storm can last forever. Like every dark night is followed by a beautiful day, this too shall pass. Like every coin has two sides, this phase also has two sides. The most important thing is we are alive. Life is precious and there can be nothing important than that.

Work from home has become the norm. A lot of people are working from home. Yes, working from home has its own pressure.  But what is important is you are with your family. All these while you have been complaining that you don’t get time to spend with your family because of your hectic schedule. So the virus has given you that opportunity. Utilise it and spend quality time with your family.

If, unfortunately, you have lost your job, never think that this is the end. Maybe life is opening another door for you.

Spend your money rationally till you get your next job. Try to connect with your old network. Who knows something better is waiting for you.

There are lot of short-term online professional courses; look for one that will add another skill in your resume and will open more opportunities for you.

If you have ever dreamt of starting something of your own, and if you have enough savings, then this is the time to give it a try — your very own venture.  Sometimes taking a risk is worth it. If you are successful, you can be a source of employment to more people and get blessings in return. If not, you will definitely learn a lot from the experience. Most successful people in the world have taken risks, learnt from their failures, and today their failures have become stories behind their success for other people to learn from.

Look at your children, you will know how to be happy without any reason. Observe how when they are bored, how creatively they create a new game for themselves. Play with them, talk with them, try to look at the world from their perspective. Yes, you will know that not only children are fast learners, they are great teachers too.

Things will be like before again, till then, hold on with patience, be positive. Don’t forget to follow me on my blog --Mixed Bag-- for more such write-ups. You can also subscribe to my YouTube channel -- ThinkPositive Make a Difference in Life, or follow me on Facebook -- ThinkPositive Make a Difference in Life. You can write to me in the comment section.  

 

Commentary: Do consumers really care about brands when bare essential is top priority?

https://bestmediainfo.com/2020/04/commentary-do-consumers-really-care-about-brands-when-bare-essential-is-top-priority/

Commentary: Do consumers really care about brands when bare essential is top priority? 

As consumers scramble to get their supply of daily essentials, it remains to be seen if they look for their preferred brands or just manage with whatever they can lay their hands on

Kakoli Thakur | April 13, 2020

In this hour of a global health crisis, when the Covid-19 threat has spread to every corner of the world, it is interesting to observe how relevant brands are to a consumer whose primary concern is now getting hold of his supply of daily essentials.

As mandated by the government, though grocery shops and pharmacies are open during the 21-day lockdown—which many states have extended till April 30—essential items are vanishing off the shelves either due to the non-availability or panic buying. The result: scarcity of items of daily use, forget your favourite brand.

Sample this. Suppose a consumer prefers Dettol hand wash over any other brand. But what happens when he goes to a nearby shop to get one and the shopkeeper informs him that only Savlon and some other brand is available. What will the consumer do? He will obviously buy whatever is available instead of thinking about his preference, knowing the importance of hand wash to keep the coronavirus at bay.

Again, there has been a lot of debate regarding the use of hand sanitiser in the absence of soap and water. Awareness ads and videos in different mediums say only sanitiser with at least 60% alcohol content should be used. Knowing the urgency, people are even hoarding sanitisers at home as they are not sure how long the lockdown will last. As such, branded ones are flying off shelves and people are buying whatever they are getting their hands on — even local products offered by fly-by-night operators. Though it’s specified on the bottles that there is 60% alcohol, what is the guarantee about it?

Some people argue that washing hands with soap and water is enough and also doubt the efficacy of hand sanitisers. Lifebuoy even went to the extent of creating an ad, showing a doctor saying, “Not only Lifebuoy, whatever hand wash or soap or hand sanitiser is handy, wash and clean your hand to save yourself from coronavirus”.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlFhlJ2WHTc

Veterans and old-timers are saying the world has never faced such a crisis ever since World War-II. In fact, during World War II, only countries in war zones were affected but Covid-19 has spared no one and forced a global shutdown. So in this hour, food is the most essential thing anyone would need — branded or non-branded.

If a consumer visits a shop to buy Aashirvaad Atta, for example, and the shopkeeper says only some other brand or a local variant is available, that person will not return empty handed. Because the foremost thought in his mind would be choosing between staying hungry and getting something, at least.

For students staying away from home and bachelors who don’t know how to cook, the anytime favourite is Maggi instant noodles. So at the onset of this crisis, such people, and even families, hoarded Maggi packets — even in cartons. Three weeks into the lockdown, when home stocks have started drying out, people are buying whatever they are getting —it could be either Yippee or some other Maggi lookalike as it’s easy to make for whom cooking is an alien concept. The thought behind this is, obviously, getting an instant snack.

As positive cases increase every hour and people are scared to even step out of home, they are not even thinking of buying anything beyond essential — leave aside anything luxurious. Food takeaways are available but are people really getting what they want?

When a KFC fan called an outlet in a posh Delhi locality in the evening, he was told they were done for the day and nothing was left. So that person had to skip his evening snack that day. This is just an instance.

A lot of brands are delivering essentials at the doorstep — with a waiting time extending up to even days in some cases such as Bigbasket as one NCR resident pointed out — but even they can supply till stocks are available. But what about places where such deliveries are not available? In remote pockets? In unauthorised colonies in big cities? Or even in posh high-rises where delivery boys are not allowed in?

So manufacturing and distribution of essentials is more crucial at this hour at a time when staying safe, and alive, has become the top priority and people are not even thinking about brand preferences. 

Commentary: Do consumers really care about brands when bare essential is top priority?