The Use of WhatsApp Business as an Online Marketing Communication Media for Beauty Brands During the Covid19 Pandemic in Indonesia

Abstract

The pandemic of Covid-19 has an impact on all aspects of human life and changed human lifestyles around the world, including Indonesia. The economy is of course one of the sectors affected by this pandemic. Companies must be creative and use various strategies in order to survive. Especially for companies that do not produce non primary products such as beauty products. Large companies that have survived for decades with beauty products that are well known and also have offline stores in various cities was not an exception. One of the effort taken is to reduce the cost of marketing communication which maximizes the online platform. This research was conducted to determine the use of online marketing communication (OMC) media by beauty brands during the Covid-19 pandemic, the OMC media referred in this research are WhatsApp Business. Conducted using descriptive method, through observations and interview to customer of beauty brands that have been operating for decades and also have an established brand. Results of this research showed that the advantages of using OMC is to maintain the existence of their brands and increase revenue, these large and well-established companies choose WhatsApp Business as the OMC media which are usually used by companies that are relatively new or not really popular. Based on customers’ experience, the existence of WhatsApp Business is very helpful in order to obtain what they need, including beauty products, especially during pandemic, so customers don't have to leave their home, they only need to use their smartphone, shopping is now as easy as sending message. Research’s conclusion, the selection of WhatsApp Business as one of the OMC media by various beauty brands is not stupid at all and also reasonable. This research is expected to provide input and evaluation for non-primary products or brands that are closely related to lifestyle in order to increase revenue and maintain engagement with customers during the pandemic, online and low cost.