“The coronavirus has broadsided all of us. With no warning, it has radically changed our habits and our lives. For my team and me it all began on March the 9th, when the lockdown was officially declared in Italy. We haven't been in the office since the beginning of March," says 27-year-old Laila Boselli.
Laila Boselli is Junior Product Manager at Humana. The young Italian lives in Crema, about 40 km east of Milan. Usually she commutes between the two cities every day. But now she no longer has to make that journey, which takes about an hour each way. That means more time for herself, she says, and is something good to come out of the crisis.
Laila Boselli does not feel restricted in her daily work. Thanks to digital technology, she can carry on working as before. The only thing she misses are her colleagues in her department. But there are solutions for that too. "In the marketing team we keep in very close contact over the telephone. This makes us feel close to each other, even though we're all at home."
Boselli has learned some things that she can share with all marketers. “We’ve changed our communication from more product-related information to an emotional dialogue with our customers. We want to give the mothers and fathers a sense of closeness and confidence and express our solidarity with them," she explains. The Humana team also achieves this by developing new edutainment content for social media. This content is designed to entertain children and give their parents time to rest and refresh. For Laila Boselli’s marketing team, the crisis is also a chance to try out new things and develop brand communication.
The young Italian also sees positive aspects for normal life in the lockdown. "I am sure that we will all emerge stronger from this really difficult time. The cutbacks will have made us more aware of the small joys in life."
