Just over a year ago, at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, New York City was one of the first and hardest-hit places in the country. Hospitals were quickly overwhelmed and the toll on human life and the economy was devastating. All of that can now change. The U.S.’s most populous city is implementing an important step to get ahead of spreading illness: an effective early warning system for contagious illness.
Doctoral degrees hold the promise of increased earnings, interesting research opportunities, and part/full time teaching positions. Some fields of PhD study have a long and storied history, like Chemistry and Physics, whereas other fields are new and rapidly growing, such as Machine Learning and Computer Science. One question we set out to answer was how PhD fields have changed over time, and if there are general patterns we can identify to predict changes in PhD field growth?
Coronavirus cases in the U.S. were again on the rise last month, stalling the hope that we were nearing the end of the pandemic, despite wider availability of vaccines. While this spring’s bump — aided by fast-spreading variants — was much smaller than the spike in confirmed cases in January, it surpassed the peaks of previous surges last spring and summer.
Coronavirus cases in the U.S. were again on the rise last month, tempering the hope that we were nearing the end of the pandemic, despite wider availability of vaccines. While this spring’s bump — aided by fast-spreading variants — was much smaller than the spike in cases in January, it surpassed the peaks of previous surges in November and July.
After coming to a shrieking halt in 2020, the online event ticketing industry is making an awe-inspiring comeback. Demand is surging as lockdowns, and stay-at-home orders ease in many countries around the world. For a market dominated by a small number of large booking websites focusing on live music events, concerts, and festivals, the transition to virtual was virtually not an option for fans and event-goers.
With social distancing guidance easing, many couples are taking advantage and throwing wedding celebrations that they had deferred last year. In today’s Insight Flash, we examine how wedding industry dynamics have changed since 2019, including which brands are benefitting the most from resurging nuptials, how wedding sizes are changing, and how these changes are different by geography.
The oldest continuously held major sporting event in the United States, the Kentucky Derby had enjoyed steady growth from 2016 to 2019, but in 2020… well, we all know what happened last year. As the world opens up, it’s interesting – not just for Churchill Downs, but to understand the sentiment of all Americans – to see how the attendance at the Derby is shaping up this year.
Illness metrics across the country trended downwards, while a few states saw increases in COVID-19 cases. The worst-hit areas at the beginning of the month, like New Jersey and the Upper Midwest, seemed to be on the mend. The rate of vaccination declined, continuing a trend from last week as US health officials “unpaused” the J&J vaccine. New York City also announced plans to reopen this summer fully. Finally, the CDC issued new guidelines for vaccinated individuals.
Amid the recent warm weather, roadmap announcements and continuing restrictions, park usage has increased significantly during February. Building on our recent coverage of this trend, new data from Huq Industries reveals that the driving force behind park visits are those in their 30s, out-stripping those in their 40s by 15pts and those in their 20s by 20pts.
Admittedly, we have high hopes for the gym sector and for Planet Fitness specifically. But there are reasons for the excitement and January data shows both why we are particularly optimistic, and why that optimism may be difficult to see upon initial glance. Looking at Planet Fitness monthly visits year over year paints a very clear, if not expected, picture. The brand kicked off 2020 with huge amounts of visit growth before quickly and obviously succumbing to the damaging effects of COVID.
January was encouraging for the restaurant industry. With same-store sales growth of -4.9% and traffic growth of -12.2%, it was the best performance for restaurants since the beginning of the pandemic almost a year ago. This is good news for an industry that struggled the last two months of 2020, as sales and traffic growth worsened compared to the COVID-era peak achieved in October. Likely contributing to some of the consumer pent up demand for restaurant spending was a combination stimulus check distribution, a sense of optimism from turning the page on 2020 and the increased prospect of additional government aid soon.
It seems that not even a global pandemic can keep people off dating apps – as female-marketed Bumble lands an $8B valuation in its IPO. In the last four years Bumble has grown from low single digits to capture 13% of the dating market by sales, while eharmony, Zoosk, and other* smaller services saw their shares decline.
Mobile retail scales new heights in 2020 as COVID closes physical stores. Consumers also begin experimenting with next-gen smartphone shopping habits: social commerce and livestream shopping. It's become a cliche to talk about how 2020 accelerated consumers towards a new (digital) normal. But this was never more true than in retail. In our State of Mobile 2021 report, we showcase how 2020 came to be the biggest mobile shopping year to date. Global time spent in shopping apps (outside of China) grew 45% year over year.
January has historically been the Black Friday of the fitness industry, with New Year’s Resolutions spurring an increase in gym memberships and athletic equipment purchases. COVID-19 has changed the dynamics dramatically for these subindustries, but can January resolutions at least provide a temporary adrenaline boost for Athletic Clubs? In January 2021, the number of individuals paying for Athletic Clubs showed a dramatic decline of -45% y/y.
New streaming brands such as Peacock TV, Discovery Plus, Apple TV+, and Disney+ have hit the advertising circuit heavily since launching in 2020 — but none (including usual heavy hitters Netflix and Hulu) have spent more in 2021 than HBO Max. In fact, HBO invested 89% of its digital ad spend in January ($53M) in HBO Max ($47M). That’s nearly $20M more than the next highest ad spender of the month, LendingTree ($37M). It’s also more than what Amazon ($35M) spent on digital ads for its entire umbrella of subsidiaries, including Prime Video. And it’s even more than what Procter & Gamble spent last month ($32M) on its entire suite of CPG products.
The Big Game that almost never was - one of the final remnants of 2020 before we can truly look ahead to the new year...or, at least for football fans. A season filled with covid19 restrictions and protocols, multiple team outbreaks, and canceled games, many prognosticators thought we'd never get to the Super Bowl - but here we are! And although we won't see all the ads until the big game, several brands have already released their spots. And, in true 2020 fashion, some brands are doing things a little different this year.
2020 was to be the year of Climate Action around the world by a wide range of organizations; at least that was the vision until COVID-19 caused a global pandemic. However, “2020 will likely be one of three warmest years on record,… Ocean heat is at record levels. Extreme heat, wildfires and floods, as well as a record-breaking Atlantic hurricane season, have affected millions of people.
While COVID-19 has changed many consumer behaviors and limited entertainment, team sports have played on. Specifically, football on Sundays, and the foods that go with it, has remained in place as a national pastime. As the playoffs progress heading into the Super Bowl, we take advantage of CE Vision’s unique ability to easily isolate transactions by day of week to examine how food delivery on Sundays during Football Season differs from during the rest of the year.
Citi Bike is New York City’s bike share system, and the largest in the United States. Citi Bike launched in May 2013 and has over 1,000 docking stations across Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and Jersey City. It currently has over 17,000 bikes in service. With the help of a $100 million investment from Lyft over the next 4 years, the number of bikes and miles serviced is expected to double to 40,000 and 35, respectively. While there are many different patterns across locals, tourist, age groups and genders one trend is clear, New York City has embraced Citi Bike and ridership is rising.
Elf presence across Christmas workshops in Lapland has reached a new high today, with The Elf Index showing a significant rise in Elf productivity over the course of the last week.
