We’ve all been affected by the lockdown. There is no escape from its reach into how we go about our daily lives and how we work. Thousands of us are working from home, the streets are empty, and the schools are shut. In this series we revisit the original Marketing Minds interviewees to see the impact of Coronavirus on businesses, big and small – as well as the people involved.

Joanne Pearson is Global Customer Insight Director at Jaguar Land Rover and via Zoom call she told the impact of Coronavirus on her world.

1. Where are you spending lockdown and how do you manage your day?
At home with my husband and 2 children, working a pretty normal homeworking day with quite a lot of online meetings and some supervision of my youngest child and his schoolwork.

2. What are the biggest adjustments you’ve had to make in terms of you work, managing your teams/ clients?
Doing everything remotely, managing much reduced budgets, furloughing team members and working with a reduced team size. Thinking even more about wellbeing and how colleagues are feeling and coping.

3. How has your business been affected by and reacted to the crisis?
Dramatically. We are a global car manufacturer so we are significantly affected in all regions around the world. We have had to close plants, offices and retailers, continue to provide a service to key workers, re-purpose our cars, engineering and production capabilities to support medical and care teams around the world with suppliers such as masks and transport, whilst supporting customers and colleagues. 

4. Do you expect that your company will return to BAU post lock down or do you think there will be some changes? If so what?
It really depends on how customers and consumers emerge from this crisis and whether there is still as much demand for our cars. We are monitoring whether consumer needs may change for example will customers have an increased demand for their own vehicles to avoid public transport, will they require fewer vehicles in the household if they might work from home more, are their attitudes to sustainable changed such that more customers will want to mKe the switch to electric vehicles or hybrids. The most important thing is that we keep in touch with customers and how their expectations and needs may change as a result of Covid-19.

5. How do you manage to keep yourself motivated?
I keep motivated in the knowledge that people need me, be that customers, to be their voice into the company, or in supporting my team or my family to keep home life as normal and relaxed as possible. 

6. Have you been impressed or put off by any particular brands in how they have responded to the crisis?
I’ve been impressed by the supermarkets in how they have adapted their customer experience, supported those at most risk, the banks and building societies who have given mortgage holidays, free business banking and moved their call centres to home working and the companies who have redeployed their engineers and designers to create vital equipment for the NHS. 

7. What has been the hardest part and the best parts about lockdown?
The hardest part of lockdown has not being able to swim or play tennis on a proper court or netball. The best things have been not having to commute, spending more time with my family, seeing my children’s schoolwork and having time to read a book. 

8. There has been talk of massive changes to how we live our lives and how we work due to the lessons learnt from the Coronavirus – do you think this is true? 
I think people have learnt a lot about themselves and what they value and don’t value through this crisis and what the impact of it is on the world that is positive and negative. I think that there are some positive intentions for change but that more consumers will default to the world as we knew it and that although there will be changes such as more homeworking, more virtual socialising, less business travel etc the change will be small.

9. What one thing do you hope will continue post lock down?
More homeworking so that I can use the reduced commuting time to spend more time with my family.

10. Have you learnt anything about yourself during lock down that you didn’t know before?
Yes, I really enjoy spending time at home and don’t need to fill my diary with so much to be fulfilled!