WHEN IN PANDEMIC, SELL HYGIENE

Hygiene will change after the COVID-19 pandemic the way security changed after the 9/11 terror attacks. 'Health is wealth' will no longer be an adage. It will be the new business mantra for all industries—food, retail, airlines, cabs, hotels, theatres, and even offices.

As customers, we all rely on ratings, those ubiquitous five stars. But until now they indicated quality—the movie is excellent, the food is lip-smacking. A hygiene rating will be next and it will surely assume more importance than quality. Afterall in a world with a highly contagious virus—one which has already infected over 2.5 million people globally—safety is a top priority.

Swiggy gives restaurants on its app a ‘Best Safety Restaurant’ tag if they adhered to required safety guidelines and Zomato ranks restaurants like ‘Excellent’, ‘Very Good,’ and so on. "Your marketing message in the post-COVID era will be less about your chicken and more about hygiene," says Anurag Katiyar, president of the NRAI. After restaurants, areas like co-working spaces, retail stores, cabs, theatres, and groceries (be it brick and mortar or e-commerce) will all be a natural extension. But such an intensive focus on safety and hygiene will mean huge marketing spends.