How Italian Companies Changed Their Communication Strategies During the Covid-19 Pandemic

To analyze the response of companies to the global Coronavirus crisis from the point of view of strategies. To find out how this unintended but undergone revolution affects the way of doing business transforming it from physical to digital one. Even before the pandemic, there was a need for an innovative way for making businesses more agile and flexible by turning to digital technologies, which show progressive but slow growth. The emergency event leveraged social media as the only penetrative tool, promoting the online distribution channel and strengthening the online communication channel. Hence, due to the physical inability to reach the customer and the risks in customer relationships, companies promoted unconventional channels by developing social media advertising. Thus, communication is taking on a one-to-one form favored by the emergent context in which companies became closer to social media users turned into potential customers by strategically increasing the visibility of consumer products. Analysis of the statistics showed that between early 2020 and early 2021 more than 2 million new online consumers would emerge in Italy alone, of which 1.3 million turned to digital technologies during the Covid-19 health emergency. This emergency has taught people to combine different digital tools, not only as an opportunity for business renewal, but as a key to sustainability and a starting point for recovery. In conclusion, companies use digital technology as the only way to survive in times of pandemic. It is a brave and courageous choice and an evolutionary opportunity for communication due to the unexpected evolution.