Digital Life Asia
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to disrupt our way of life, businesses have been slashing their marketing budgets. In the face of uncertainty, what will happen to influencer marketing?
We have seen celebrity culture crash and burn, and the same thing is happening to social media influencers.
For years, people have asked this question: how influential are influencers, really? The coronavirus may be showing us the answer.
With the coronavirus pandemic disrupting the global economy, small business owners are under even more pressure. Now, more than ever, they are struggling to keep their companies afloat. To help its small business customers, Zoho Corporation is introducing its Small Business Emergency Subscription Assistance Program (ESAP).
Zoho, which has more than 50 million users in over 180 countries, offers a comprehensive suite of business software applications. How will ESAP work? This will be available for up to 20,000 qualified paying customers with 25 employees or less. Zoho will waive the cost of every single application they currently use, for up to three months.
“SMBs (small and medium-sized businesses) form a core part of the nation’s economy. Given their limited resources, SMBs are said to be the first ones to be affected by the current global crisis. This will be a test of resilience for most of the SMBs, particularly in Asia. The extent of the impact will largely depend on their flexibility and capacity to adapt to technological alternatives,” Zoho VP and GM for Asia Pacific Gibu Mathew told Digital Life Asia via email.
Time is precious in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. To avoid long queues for frontliners passing through checkpoints, the Philippines will launch a rapid pass system on April 6.
The new RapidPassPH system will enable contact-free verification of frontliners via QR codes. The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) worked with a global community of Filipino tech experts to launch this system. This was in response to a request from the Inter-agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF).
“We at the IATF looked for a solution to solve the queuing problems at the checkpoints,” Cabinet Secretary and IATF spokesperson Karlo Nograles said in a virtual press conference held this afternoon.
The COVID-19 pandemic has shattered many illusions and exposed the weaknesses of human society. It has also destroyed all our excuses for not embracing digital.
Our world has changed. And in the weeks since governments implemented physical distancing and lockdowns, millions have learned to adapt to a new digital lifestyle.
Some of us have been working from home for years. Well, from anywhere, actually, in my case. So we may not realize just how disruptive this has been for many people. I’ve been advocating and trying to live a digital lifestyle since the late 90s. Nicholas Negroponte’s “Being Digital“, which was published in 1995, made a big impact on me when I read it. And yet even I’m amazed by how quickly society ended up embracing digital when it was forced to do so.
Do you prefer buying essential goods online instead of going to the grocery store during the enhanced community quarantine? Now you can enjoy interest-free financing on essential goods on Lazada via BillEase.
From April 1-15, essential goods purchased on the Lazada platform and paid through BillEase will have 0% APR. Consumers will also enjoy a pay-later option of up to three months. Fintech company First Digital Finance Corporation (FDFC), which operates the digital credit app BillEase, said this interest-free financing will make it easier for consumers to buy the essential products they need amid the COVID-19 crisis. Particularly since Lazada has temporarily suspended its Cash on Delivery option to encourage cashless transactions and protect personnel and customers. Customers can avail of the limited offer here.
“We are taking extraordinary steps to alleviate consumer pain points at this difficult time,” FDFC CEO Georg Steiger said in a press statement.
Time for gamers to become real-life heroes. Game companies have joined forces with the World Health Organization to launch the #PlayApartTogether campaign. By disseminating WHO’s health guidelines to their vast network of players, they hope to slow down the spread of COVID-19.
“We’re at a crucial moment in defining outcomes of this pandemic. Games industry companies have a global audience - we encourage all to #PlayApartTogether. More physical distancing + other measures will help to flatten the curve + save lives,” WHO Ambassador for Global Strategy Ray Chambers tweeted.
Through games, the #PlayApartTogether campaign will promote preventive measures such as physical distancing, hand hygiene, and respiratory etiquette.
Many of us are still in denial about the coronavirus pandemic. And this coronavirus denial is the deadlier disease.
The world has changed. This is the new normal. This isn’t something that will blow over in a few weeks or months. This is actually the World War III that nations never planned for, because we were so complacent despite previous outbreaks.
Yes, we should remain hopeful, live one day at a time, and encourage and help each other so that we can overcome this crisis. But we can only fix a problem if we stop denying that it exists. It’s better to face the bitter truth than to tell ourselves comforting lies.
In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have to take better care of our mental health. Now, more than ever, we need to learn how to practice mindfulness.
Thankfully, online community Mindful Manila is helping people deal with the stress of living in this urban jungle. Coping with anxiety has become even important in the age of social distancing and the enhanced community quarantine.
“I love the idea of being able to gather like-minded people and kindred spirits in a single space, even if it’s online. And now we’re proving that we can converge, converse, and connect even if we’re physically miles apart,” Niña Terol, the creator of Mindful Manila, shared via email.
(Editor’s note: A different version of this article on online giving was originally published on TessDrive.com. Reposted with permission.)
Online giving allows us to make a difference—sometimes, with the simplest of acts.
That’s how powerful technology is. And that’s how connected we all are.
Here are five simple ways you can take advantage of online giving to help people even while staying home because of the enhanced community quarantine.
With the enhanced community quarantine in Luzon forcing us to stay home, these eight tech startups can be a godsend.
More and more Filipinos have been embracing ecommerce over the years. Expect online services to become even more popular in the age of social distancing and quarantines due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Need to buy groceries? Have food delivered? Or have someone run errands, or make repairs? Find out how foodpanda, Gawin.ph, GrabFood/GrabExpress, LalaFood/Lalamove, Lazada (LazMart), MEDIFI, MetroMart, and MyKuya can make life a bit easier for you in these unusual times.