The pandemic, protests and economic upheaval have forced many marketers to turn seemingly endless pivots into pirouettes.
In a recent panel discussion hosted by leadership consulting firm Spencer Stuart, top marketers in the U.S., Brazil and Singapore came together to discuss remote leadership, addressing present problems while maintaining a long-term perspective and the best strategies for navigating the current environment.
“The debate for marketing leaders feels more urgent than ever,” said host Richard Sanderson, a consultant at Spencer Stuart, who noted the company initially intended the summit to cover the new decade. Now, however, “it feels hard to look even beyond this year, let alone five years out,” Sanderson said.
Panelists included Janey Whiteside, chief customer officer at Walmart, Erica Kerner, head of marketing strategies and partnerships for the Asia sports media platform ONE Championship and Silvia Lagnado, sustainable growth officer at Natura &Co, which owns beauty brands Aesop, Avon and the Body Shop.
“For us, nothing has changed and everything has changed,” Whiteside said. The line will likely resonate with marketers who have seen shifts in consumer behavior both amplify and accelerate during quarantine.
This is especially applicable for people’s willingness to buy goods online. Last month, for instance, Walmart reported that U.S. ecommerce sales nearly doubled during Q2 of 2020, jumping 97%. The retailer’s total revenue increased 5.6% to $137.7 billion.
Watch the entire conversation below:
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