“In many cases companies have been able to turn the disruption into a
positive force by accelerating creation of new products.”
Survey
disruptor, with 65% of respondents
reporting negative financial impact to
their businesses, but in many cases
companies have been able to turn this
disruption into a positive force by
innovating and accelerating the creation of
new products as well as cultivating deeper
relationships with their customers.
The list of new products and services
that survey respondees shared with
Informa were quite diverse,: from one
company who developed a new Maté
drink “to give energy to people in stressful
situations” during the crisis, to a maritime
organisation that developed remote
auditing of vessels, to another
organisation that purchased their own
factory to meet the demands of their
clients.
In the life sciences, one organisation, a
telehealth provider, introduced mental
health and wellness services, a second
explained that they were in the process of
“certifying the first 3D printing mask in
the world”, a third “designed and
developed Study Protocols for the
Covid-19 response in Africa” and a fourth
was developing peptides related to a
Covid-19 treatment.
Financial services innovated on such
initiatives as: a business loan for borrowers
whose income is not based on salary
check-off, a Customer Portal Bank on
wheels and new low-cost lending products
for businesses impacted by coronavirus
with a dedicated phone line for vulnerable
customers.
The majority of companies that shared
their initiatives directly had stories that
involved either pivoting their
manufacturing to produce PPE or
sanitiser, or new internal and external
digital initiatives. One particularly
productive organisation announced that
“all technology advancements that were
planned for 2020/21 have been moved
forward and completed during this
period”.
There were many new consumer
products that came out of the crisis, too.
Individuals described software platforms
they had developed - from one that allows
employees to access and engage with their
peers while doing virtual workouts, yoga
and healthy eating sessions at home, to
another platform “that helps users safely
declare if they are fit to fly, fit to shop”;
one company even developed “live online
theatre performances”. There was one
response that simply, and powerfully,
summed up the situation: “We went
digital”.
To download the report:
www.informa.turtl.co/story/
the-future-of-business-post-covid-
19-a-report-from-informa-connect/
“In 12-18 months, looking back,
these are the three biggest missed
opportunities for the industry if we
don’t take advantage of these
learnings now: efficiency innovation
or not improving current ways to
serve the customers better and faster
knowing what we know today;
sustaining innovation or delivering
the products and services various
market segments are demanding;
and lastly transformative innovation
or building those new ventures that
can augment existing business and
revenue lines."
Sabine Vanderlinden, co-founder,
CEO & Partner, The Alchemy Crew
Informa virtual in July
Informa’s own Bioprocess Europe
event held this July was 100% virtual
and attracted 1,100 attendees, 115
speakers and 50 suppliers. They also
participated in Informa’s first 100%
virtually-delivered BPI Europe
Conference & Exhibition.
BPI Europe is planned to return
in-person 27-29 April 2021 in Vienna,
although the virtual action continues
for the Stateside market, for the 100%
virtual BPI USA Conference &
Exhibition, 21-25 September 2020
(www.BPIevent.com).
Informa also ran its Marketing
Analytics and Data Science (MADS)
event virtually, 28-30 July, making
sure lots of research and reports did
not go to waste and the community
stayed in close contact.
Informa Connect’s parent company, Informa
plc, is a global business active in markets across
30 countries, and is a member of the FTSE
100. A major conference and exhibition
organiser, the group is at its core a digital
content creator. From videos to white papers,
its content taps into a network of millions of
professional and commercial customers.
ISSUE 108 / CONFERENCE & MEETINGS WORLD / 45