The much awaited return of pubs and restaurants tomorrow for ‘Super Saturday’ feels like a landmark moment in the pandemic.
Whilst some will be frequenting their local for the first time since March, or finally visiting their favourite restaurant again, I am sure that many will be avoiding the crowds and enjoying in the (relative) calm of another relaxing weekend at home.
There is no doubt that the reopening of these businesses will provide a much needed boost to the economy. We’ve had two fantastic reports added to our Knowledge Centre this week examining the current and future economic impact of the crisis, from Opinium-Cebr and Global Futures and Foresight’s Graeme Leach (former Chief Economist and Director of Policy at the Institute of Directors) respectively.
I highly recommend finding ten minutes to have a look at these reports. Global Future and Foresight’s ‘Coronanomics’ provides some excellent economic scenario modelling, taking into consideration the impact of a second and third wave over Autumn-Winter 2020-21.
Five Things We’ve Learnt This Week
1. Global Futures and Foresight have expanded upon their popular ‘Post-Pandemic: The New Normal’ report, produced in the midst of the crisis to provide an updated review into post-pandemic economic scenario modelling, aptly named ‘Coronanomics’.
The report provides a comprehensive set of epidemiological and economic scenarios, helping us to understand the economic consequences of the Covid-19 threat to lives and livelihoods’.
The report provides 5 economic scenarios, stating ‘amazingly, all these scenarios are a possibility – from the roaring twenties to a 1930s style depression’.
2. This week, MESH’s weekly consumer insight research found that there is concern about low interest rates and being able to save less in the current climate.
With other priorities during the pandemic, savers feel as if they haven’t been spoken to. There is a role for banks to help everybody, savers and other groups, by providing smart ways to save money and help customers to help their money go further.
3. Whilst many may be wary of email marketing at the moment, after the deluge of well-meaning campaigns sent by brands at the start of the pandemic, Opinium Research found that 36% of consumers still wanted to hear from companies by email on lockdown week 8.
Preference on tone is also changing, with the research finding in the instance of supermarkets, whom consumers initially wanted to receive ‘authoritative, professional, and serious communications’ from.
By week 8, people wanted to receive content from supermarkets ‘that is more friendly than professional, and which can be increasingly playful’.
4. Opinium-Cebr’s latest fortnightly Business Distress Tracker found that despite re-opening of shops, the overall business picture remains uncertain, and a third (35%) of UK companies still report a risk of insolvency due to the crisis.
However, for the UK economy generally, there was a small improvement in the business environment. The impact of Covid-19 on profits fell to it’s lowest point since the inception of the Business Tracker in mid-April. Download the full report here.
5. Research carried out by Savanta found that reduced opportunities for spending during lockdown has helped some Millennial consumers feel more in control of their finances and as if they are in a better position to consider traditional ‘milestones’ such as home ownership and marriage.
We were joined by Kate Turner and Kathy Ellison of Savanta, alongside Charlotte May of Legal and General for our webinar on Wednesday, to discuss these findings.
Coming up Next Week
We’ve got two webinars coming up next week, for the Asset Management and Private Banking and Wealth Management communities.
On Tuesday at 0900, join us for ‘Why Marketing Can Make or Break Digital Wealth Management’ with Crealogix’s David Joyce, CEO, alongside Sally Allan, CMO, Wealthify; Paul Das, Founder & Managing Director, ProFundCom and Tom Fry, Managing Director, Resonance Crowd.
On Thursday at 1500, we’ll be speaking to customer journey and personlization experts Episerver, for a deep-dive into how Asset Managers can harness data insight to engage and connect with their clients using 1:1 personalization.
As ever, please don’t hesitate to drop me a line if there is anything you’d like to discuss, or if you have any ideas for a Forum discussion or webinar. I’d love to hear from you.
Have a great weekend – and enjoy the re-opening of the pubs and restaurants.
David
