It was almost a year since Indonesia declared a crisis due to the covid-19 pandemic. A crisis that had a direct impact on the stagnation of the national economy, even the Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Airlangga Hartanto, said that Indonesia was entering a recession in the fourth quarter of 2020. For entrepreneurs, this situation certainly required preparedness and vigilance in managing their marketing communications strategy. This was because, if they managed to be resilient or survive the first wave, it did not mean they could survive the second wave of pandemic storms. Even several big cities in Indonesia had again implemented PSBB (Large-scale Social Restrictions) to break the chain of the spread of Covid-19. If in 2019 the concern for marketing communication strategies was impactful collaboration, then in 2020, the pandemic forced all entrepreneurs to prepare for the game-changers, so they could learn to immediately change the map of their business game in order to survive and grow in difficult situations.

The Covid-19 pandemic in the eyes of business and industry, of course, many changes which previously might not have been imagined. Multinational companies to small-scale start-ups one by one began to stagnate and even began to collapse. For those who were still surviving, innovation and marketing strategies in the midst of a pandemic were needed to maintain the pace of business. One of the business strategies to survive in the midst of a pandemic was to quickly and responsively innovate according to the company’s needs. Innovation could be done in various ways, such as introducing new products, improving product services with more sophisticated features, going digital. During the pandemic, especially during PSBB, entrepreneurs must be responsive and immediately implement their digital marketing strategies properly.

Digital Marketing was considered a Game Changer in the era of the pandemic, the Master of Communication Science Program presented Dr. Firman Kurniawan who was a digital communication practitioner, columnist, consultant, trainer and his book entitled Digital Dilemma: Contemporary Problems of Digital Media Adoption in Indonesia was published in 2020.

Firman Kurniawan answered the question Were the Changes that Happened Permanent? After the pandemic ended, would everything return to normal, or would a new normal emerge? It seemed that the pandemic would cause some permanent changes. He also provided strategic solutions where Digital Marketing Was Developed. COVID-19 forced the business performers to adapt their way of life, raise a family, or run a business. And caused by economic contraction around the world, it affected big and small companies. Therefore, it was necessary to renew our thinking, approach and practice in marketing the offerings and values, which was likely to last for the long term.