Clear Seas Research (a BNP Media Company) is uniquely positioned to engage with industry professionals in niche market sectors, which are all impacted in different ways by the coronavirus pandemic. The unrivaled industry access available to Clear Seas Research through myCLEARopinionPanel and BNP Media subscriber databases provides extensive reach to business thought leaders, decision makers, decision influencers, skilled trade professionals, and general employees of companies of all sizes.

Our research expertise and audience access enables us to collect, analyze, and report this information for the industries we serve. We are taking this opportunity to give back to those that have helped us be successful for more than 14 years. We hope you findthe information contained within this report to be thought provoking, relevant, and insightful. We hope it brings you comfort and helps strengthen your resolve as you continue to face ongoing challenges in the days to come. We hope it provides you with insights that will help you continue to succeed in business.

Industry areas of concern - April 30 - May 4, 2020

  • 75% concerned about the current economy
  • 65% concerned about achieving business goals over the next 3 months
  • 56% concerned about achieving business goals over the next 6 months
  • 55% concerned about business stability over the next 12 months
  • 36% concerned about supply chain interruptions
  • 53% concerned about friends/family becoming infected by COVID-19

Preferred format used for business decision making, April 30-May 4:

  • Both online and offline format (63%)
  • Online format only (36%)
  • Offline format only (1%)

Some takeaways:

  • 41% of Industry Professionals rely on ONLY online formats to information today’s business decisions; an additional 57% rely on BOTH online and offline formats. From the end of March the trend appears to be toward reliance on online formats. 
  • We are consistently seeing steady involvement in marketing/advertising 90% are currently marketing or advertising; for 40% the message hasn’t changed - business as usual, there is a slight downward trend in messaging focused on availability during this time (34%), and how customers and employees are being protected (32%) relative to prior waves
  • Great time for webinar sponsorships:  33% report attending more webinars now compared to 6 months ago (slide 15)
  • Industry professionals are estimating it will take an average of 7 months for their business to get back on track, similar to what we saw in the last wave
  • Participation in continuing education courses continues to increase—currently 24% are participating in CEUs more now than 6 months ago

 

Click here to read the full report on the Clear Seas Research website.

Related: Clear Seas Research releases report on the effect of coronavirus in the food and beverage manufacturing industry (Part One), Clear Seas Research releases report on industry perspective on the challenges of today, in the age of coronavirus (Part Two), Clear Seas Research releases report on today's challenges and industry perspective, during COVID-19 crisis (Part Three)