In a recent Wall Street Journal article, corporate leaders shared their predictions for the future based on how business has evolved during the coronavirus pandemic. Here are some highlights:
“As markets around the world work tirelessly to vaccinate billions of people, we are prepared for what can only be described as the great human reconnection.”
-Starbucks Corp. CEO Kevin Johnson
“We’re encouraged by the speed of vaccine development and efficacy rates. These trends bolster our medium-term outlook and support our belief in the long-term trend… We expect it will take around three years for travel to return to the 2019 levels and a few years beyond that to return to our long-term growth trends.”
-Boeing CEO David Calhoun
“We see a tremendous opportunity to innovate in e-commerce, which to-date has been largely driven by utilitarian benefits such as price, selection and convenience. As we have learned from our progress in providing new ways for people to try on and interact with products using augmented reality, improvements in the shopping experience to make it more entertaining and immersive can lead to powerful downstream results in terms of conversion.”
-Snap Inc. CEO Evan Spiegel
“What we are witnessing is the dawn of a second wave of digital transformation sweeping every company and every industry. Digital capability is key to both resilience and growth. It’s no longer enough to just adopt technology. Businesses need to build their own technology to compete and grow.”
-Microsoft Corp. CEO Satya Nadella
At Strategic Media, Inc., we have seen audio weather the pandemic storm. Podcasts have been deemed “pandemic-proof,” and people have turned to radio as the most trusted medium. Smart speaker use is on the rise and streaming radio listenership surged. Despite the pandemic, audio is having its moment.
People have continued to listen to audio while working from home and despite disruptions to their normal routines. But what will happen to the audio landscape when employees return to their offices and children are back in school?
According to The Wall Street Journal, business leaders and recent worker surveys anticipate “a more widespread return” of U.S. workers to offices in late spring or early summer. When this happens, Strategic Media Inc.’s CEO Jeff Small expects things will be looking even better for audio. “Audio is doing great,” he said, “and when things open up, I would expect that there’s going to be a lot of opportunity. I think audio advertising will present tremendous growth for marketers to promote their products and services with an offline channel.”
Want to make the most of the opportunities available with audio? Contact SMI today to hear your brand on radio, podcast, or streaming audio.