The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the world in a way which has not been seen before and the world is changing at a very fast rate as a result of the pandemic.

This requires that businesses and individuals change their way of doing business and reposition themselves to fit into what is being described as the new normal.

It is for this reason that the Springboard, Your Virtual University, a radio talk show on Joy FM, used last Sunday’s edition to discuss how businesses could reposition their products and services to thrive in these uncertain moments and beyond.

Helping with the discussion was the Chief Marketing Officer of MTN Ghana, Mr Noel Kojo-Ganson.

He described repositioning as something that involved changing one’s business model, portfolio, product and services, or changing market perception based on what a company was selling.

He said it could also involve the repositioning of the entire business line to allow the business to compete more effectively.

“So repositioning is all about how you strategically move away from your current jurisdiction, product and services portfolio. It could probably be because you have a negative market perception you want to change and or because you want to shift your business as a whole”.

Why a business must reposition itself
Commenting on what would make it necessary for a business to reposition itself, Mr Kojo-Ganson said internal conditions such as changes in leadership could make a business to reposition itself.

“Changes in strategy can also make a business to reposition itself. Acquisitions, the development of new technology can compel a company to reposition. Introduction of innovations that offer new competitive advantage or differentiators can enable a company to reposition itself. So internally, there are a lot of factors that may push a business to reposition in that regard.

“A change in business model, a change in an organisational leadership, acquisition of another entity and the introduction of technology,” he explained.

External conditions
He said external conditions such as competition were also key factors that push businesses to reposition.

“The other factor has to do with market environment. Economic slowdown or recovery or economic boom can make a company to reposition itself. ‘Changes in consumer confidence or consumer trends and demands can make a business reposition itself. What we do not really talk about that much is the political climate.

“If you check around what is happening globally, it has actually necessitated businesses that find themselves in different sectors of the economy to actually reposition themselves as a business. The last point here is what I call social forces because it revolves around social responsibility and sustainability which can be ways for one’s business to reposition itself. The most important thing has to do with consumer trends and when we talk about consumer trends, it’s about the changing taste and preferences of customers’ attitudes and behaviours,” he noted.

COVID as a trigger point
Explaining how COVID had acted as a determinant or trigger point for repositioning, he said “COVID-19 would not live with us forever, what is going to live with us forever is the impact of C0VID-19 that would live with us till eternity.

“So the focus and the strategy is around repositioning. It should not be hitched around COVID-19 per se but it should be around the impact that it has had on our society, our economy, sectors of business and that is what we should be focusing to reposition around.

“It is a virus that is spreading and there is enough evidence that it has left a lot of havoc on businesses; supply chains, the business demand of things and consumer needs and demands. As we speak today, it is likely that something will change within the next few days and even that, we are not aware of it now.

“As we speak now, we are not too sure of what would come by the end of June and into July so as it is and the way things are changing quickly and rapidly before us, it requires that we actually look at our business, our business models and our strategies going forward,” he explained.

Creating Excitement for Clients
Mr Kojo-Ganson challenged businesses to redesign their service offerings to create excitement for their clients by first being empathetic to the challenges they are facing. According to him, empathetic businesses must adapt their customer experience based on their observations. Ultimately, successful repositioning will largely be driven by the use of technology, data and innovation.

“Technology is the heart and data is the blood,” he stated.