BUSINESS CONFIDENCE: UP, UP AND AWAY; 2021, IT’S STILL VIRTUAL

BUSINESS CONFIDENCE: UP, UP AND AWAY; 2021, IT’S STILL VIRTUAL

Welcome to this week’s business and media intelligence update, with insights collected by the Cannings team over the past seven days.

BUSINESS CONFIDENCE: UP, UP AND AWAY

  • Business confidence reached new heights during April, according to NAB’s latest monthly business survey. Business confidence rose by a record nine points, indicating conditions will remain strong in the near term. Meanwhile, NAB economists say Australian firms are approaching the limits of their productive capacity and will need to invest and hire to take advantage of a booming post-COVID economic recovery. Read the survey here and coverage in The Australian.

2021, IT’S STILL VIRTUAL

  • While some of us are preparing for a (tentative) return to small in-person events, the majority of investor events will likely continue to be held virtually this year, according to a study conducted by OpenExchange. The survey found three out of four investor conferences during the second half of 2021 will be entirely virtual, while one third plan to hold their first hybrid investor conference by October and two thirds by the end of the year. Read more here.

WHILE WE’RE ON THE TOPIC: AGMs IN THE AGE OF COVID

  • Virtual AGMs accounted for around three quarters of all annual meetings in 2020, and it looks like they’re here to stay for the time being, with ASIC announcing its ‘no-action’ position. So, what will best practice AGMs look like this year? Cannings Director Jennifer Parker shares her top five questions that every company should be asking before they plan their AGM this year. Read them here.

HELLO, COMIC SANS!

  • When the world changes, so does what we want to say. So, the pandemic is already influencing brand typography, according to The Economist. It seems functional fonts are giving way to rounder, softer and more expressive ones. Read more here.

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