HOW FINNISH MARKETING AGENCIES DEAL WITH COVID-19 : An integrated view on management and marketing in times of crisis

Abstract: The outbreak and global spread of the coronavirus took the world by storm and beyond the evident threat it is to the human well-being, it is also impacting the health of businesses. In Finland it was only a matter of weeks after the government the 16th of March started to implement efforts to limit the spread, that a large marketing agency, among other firms, was forced to file for bankruptcy. The seemingly sudden crisis gave rise to a curiosity and interest in how Finnish marketing agencies are handling the situation and what implications it has for the way they do business and subsequently also marketing. Reviewing the academic literature on crisis management, the lack of integration fields between became evident; crisis management has gained most attention within management studies, meanwhile studies with an integrated marketing perspective is lacking. The realisation that the breakdown of relationships is a major threat in a crisis, meanwhile marketing agencies’ business model essentially is built upon agency-client relationships, their particular view on and approach to maintaining and strengthening client relationships during the crisis became a key interest for this thesis. The purpose of this thesis is therefore to gain insight into how Finnish marketing agencies approach crisis management and nurture client relationships in the current covid-19 crisis. A qualitative research approach was taken as the interest and purpose of the study lies in gaining rich insight into the situation and its context, rather than statistically proving a point. Eight semi-structured interviews with professionals from different marketing agencies in Finland was consequently conducted, after which the data was organised and interpreted through a thematic analysis. The results from the study implicates that marketing agencies are relatively unprepared for crises of any type and have adopted a reactive approach when dealing with the covid-19 crisis. Further, the situation is characterised by feelings of support and solidarity both within and among the marketing agencies, their clients, consumers and society at large, which has been expressed to be one of the upsides to the otherwise very dark and serious situation. From marketing agencies’ side, it has also given rise to a more attentive and sensitive tone in communication towards both clients and consumers.