In episode four of The Boardoom, Think CEO Bjorn Azzopardi and MPS Marketing Communications CEO Chris Mifsud agree that a glut in media, marketing and advertising, as a result of people being advised to stay home, efforts will have to get smarter and more targeted. 

Hosted by business-writer Jo Caruana, Bjorn and Chris discussed how their lives have changed as business leaders in the marketing industry as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Bjorn and Chris were asked about the current media landscape, and whether despite smaller budgets for marketing and advertising, campaigns are better placed to gain more engagement as a result of people consuming more content as they stay inside. 

Both agreed with the premise that the current situation has caused a media and content glut, resulting in a need to have more targeted marketing, moving away from a tradition of local companies trying to be all things to all people. 

He thinks that the pandemic will accelerate ‘smartness,’ in a sense that it will force innovation and creativity. 

“I think this will be more of a measure at looking at more strategic marketing – possibly more on digital. But it will be a question of smarter, better and more genuine”.

He said this will be an opportunity for companies to cut the fat from their message and tell their true story. 

Bjorn spoke of a digital transformation, and that while many companies feel as though they are not ready to go digital, he drew upon the experience on the insurance industry where many companies did not believe it would be possible for quotes to be calculated online. 

Bjorn founded Think, a digital product company, in 2007, and is a software engineer by profession.

Chris has been the founder and executive director of MPS Marketing Communications, a full-service marketing communications agency, since 2005.

The Boardroom invites leaders in the business community to share strategy, discuss ideas and explore the most pressing issues facing local industry.

Watch the interview here: