As I predicted when the COVID pandemic began, we've seen very few if any new trends, just acceleration of existing ones.

Here is the truth about the longer term impact of the COVID pandemic. I have been forecasting global trends for over 25 years, with a strong track record of proven results, advising over 400 of the world's largest multinationals, in every industry, across every region, often sharing platforms with their CEOs at their most important events.  And I also warned many times of new global pandemics like COVID-19.

It's easy to get carried away by sensationalist headlines, and to imagine that life on earth will never be the same again, that COVID-19 will permanently reshape our whole world, causing revolutions in every industry and nation. But the reality is going to be rather different...  (Article posted July 2020 with minor edits in October 2021 - Judge for yourself how accurate it was.)

The same has happened to the church in lockdown in many nations.  For example in the UK, 12.5 million people participated in online church services, many regularly, most of whom had little or nothing to do with the church in the years before.  Churches forced to go online each week discovered that they were reaching a vast new audience as a direct result.

How should marketing and advertising executives respond in the coronavirus crisis?  How should marketing messages be adapted to be more appropriate?  What campaigns should be stopped?  How do we act as good corporate citizens and avoid risks of alienating customers, general public and damaging the brand? What will be the longer term impact of the coronavirus pandemic on marketing and product / services sales as well as customer expectations and behaviour?

As a physician by first training and a Futurist advisor / keynote speaker on marketing / advertising trends and strategy to over 400 of the world's largest 2000 companies, including many of the world's largest retail brands, with a proven track record of longer term forecasting over the last 25+ years, here are some guiding principles for marketing directors.

The global coronavirus crisis will accelerate pre-existing marketing and advertising trends and requires agility, sensitivity and boldness to make the right marketing decisions.

Banking and Financial Services strategies for a post-COVID world. As a physician by first training and a Futurist advisor / keynote speaker on industry trends and strategy to over 400 of the world's largest 2000 companies, I warned for years of the threat from new viral pandemics like COVID and of course multiple variants such as Delta and Omicron.  My clients include many of the world's largest banks, with a proven track record of longer term forecasting over the last 25+ years, here are some guiding principles to banking and financial services beyond COVID. Global Crisis will accelerate pre-existing banking and payments trends. Most banking trends described in my books, including The Future of Almost Everything, will continue to shape the world as before, but the Coronavirus pandemic will bring forward the timings of many key events in many industries. Examples:

Huge further acceleration of online sales, mobile payments, mobile banking and business to business online transactions. Many Shopping Malls will struggle to re-open in developed nations. Physical retail will lose out even more to online shoppers, with big jump in online sales which will only partially reverse after the pandemic has ended. Airlines will consolidate more rapidly in Europe because of COVID-19, following US picture over the last decade. Larger airlines will be most likely to be rescued by governments. Borderline-non-viable airlines will be allowed to fold.  Even faster growth of virtual working and virtual teams. Faster introduction of virtual learning into college education, MBAs, Business Schools and High Schools etc.

Here is more on COVID impact on banking strategies, national economies, government borrowing, interest rates, inflation rates, bank lending criteria, banking regulation and so on.