TESTING BRAND VALUE; AUSTRALIAN COMPANIES WORKING TOGETHER TO SUPPORT THE ECONOMY

23 Mar TESTING BRAND VALUE; AUSTRALIAN COMPANIES WORKING TOGETHER TO SUPPORT THE ECONOMY

It’s the start of the second week of our COVID-19 insights summary and we hope you are finding it useful.

International news

• The FT has compiled a set of measures of economic activity for different sectors to give an early indication of the impact of coronavirus on leisure activity, the retail sector, travel and energy sectors. See here for Financial Times analysis. (Subscriber access)
• The WSJ reports that investors and analysts believe the “most brutal stretch for global markets since the financial crisis likely isn’t over” given it hasn’t fallen as much as it did during the financial crisis or the aftermath of the bursting of the dot-com bubble. Read WSJ article here. (Subscriber access)
• Also in the WSJ, “Many CEOs, cut off from their staff for the first time, are ramping up their communication with employees to address the confusion, anxiety and isolation setting in among the rank-and-file. They are sending daily companywide updates, hosting virtual town halls and sharing personal photos and stories from home.”
• The Economist reveals its process for how it comes up with its infamous cover image.

Australian company news 

• As our government announced a series of stimulus packages, Australian companies are working together to support the economy

• • Businesses are getting creative to support the economy with CBA’s CEO holding talks with Qantas and Virgin to employ its stood down workers on CBA teams to rescue small business customers. Read more read AFR article here. (Subscriber access)

• Newspapers experiencing a spike in sales and subscriptions

• • According to New Corp, sales of newspaper in supermarkets were strong up 48% last week while digital subscriptions across the mastheads were up 21%.  News Corp vows News Corp masterheads “will not miss an edition”. Read its letter to readers in The Australian here. (Subscriber access)
  • The AFR writes to readers about its “committed to helping business get through this crisis” with ongoing coverage despite their journalists all working from home. (Subscriber access)
  • The AFR has an article on how newsrooms are meeting reader demand during COVID-19. (Subscriber access)

• Testing brand value

• • According to Nine Entertainment’s CEO, now is the time for brands and institutions to engage with their stakeholders “It is those institutions that are able to truly and clearly define what they mean now to stakeholders that will be best positioned to benefit from a recovery”. Read the oped in The AFR here. (Subscriber access)

Australian markets 

• Who is going to buy all the debt? A new form of quantitative easing – dubbed Modern Market Theory (MMT) explained
  • Today Alan Kohler describes how all of this new debt “will be newly manufactured on the RBA’s computers before being dispatched to banks at the click of a mouse, to be dispatched by the bank at the click of another mouse — for a small margin of course.” Inevitably, he says, the RBA will have to buy the government’s debt due to the low demand with yield at 1.1%. Read the full Australian article here.  (Subscriber access)

• Will the government decision on Australians being able to tap into their funds, create stress for smaller funds? 
  • Today’s Australian reports that the Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees said the not for profit super fund sector industry group “would be working with its member funds, the government and regulators to address a ‘number of administrative challenges and risks” for the new income support measures announced”. Read more in The Australian. (Subscriber access)

• Banks, government and corporations take to advertising to inform their audiences

Our daily briefing is not meant to be a summary of media coverage but rather, insights that may be helpful in understanding how organisations are communicating with stakeholders in a time of crisis – and what comes next. Sign up via email.