March 2020 will be remembered as the month the United States was forced to confront the global Coronavirus epidemic and a span of weeks - at least - in which the American economy ground virtually to a halt. 

From concerts to conferences to sporting events and political rallies, everyday American life became everything but ordinary as federal, state and local lawmakers banded together with private sector officials to most rapidly try to corral the pandemic and limit its impact. People saw trips upended, they flocked to stores to load up food and cleaning products, and in alternative data, we are able to see in various forms of data how market leaders are contributing in the fight against Coronavirus. 

Conversation around Live Nation grows as Coronavirus threatens festival season

The global pandemic poses a threat to event promoters and venue operators, even the biggest among them. Since the end of February, Live Nation's Facebook mentions have gone up 50%, many of which concern concert cancelations. 

Netflix and quarantine: the streaming network added 50 more shows in the past month

The “Netflix & chill” meme dates back about ten years, but it’s been given a whole new meaning in the midst of Coronavirus. The pandemic hasn’t slowed the company’s content output. The platform continues to steadily grow its programming, currently at 1,280 shows, up 6% from January.

E3 is canceled and the gaming industry will rely on digital. Here's how big their platforms are.

Every single major publisher and developer in the video game industry now has to come up with a complete contingency plan for promoting their lineup for 2020. The marketing event of the year, the Electronic Entertainment Expo, is canceled due to the Coronavirus, and without the press conferences, PR push, interviews with press, and public game demos to show retailers what is in store for the holidays, the industry as a whole will need to rely on its social media presence to spread the word about upcoming releases.

Plans to go on a trip to a Sandals Resort are decreasing due to Coronavirus

With our Facebook 'Talking About' count, we can see that 54% fewer people are discussing Sandals on the platform, from late February to today. Resorts, cruise lines, live events, and airlines are seeing massive numbers of people being siphoned away, and restaurants will be next.

Carnival Cruise Line is finally cutting prices

After weeks of not seeing much movement on cruise pricing at Carnival Cruise Lines ($CCL), we're beginning to see a dip this week. Last week we saw the first indications that Carnival was experimenting with stateroom pricing in order to move inventory, but as we ran the data again this morning, we saw average price drops across the board per stateroom type — some more than others. 

Tesla Motors is hiring more than ever despite "dumb" coronavirus panic

The electric-vehicle and space entrepreneur doesn't seem to be bothered by the outbreak, and hiring at Tesla Motors is at its highest levels since we began tracking the company's job listings in 2016. In fact, Tesla founder Elon Musk called panic over the outbreak on Twitter "dumb".

United chops hiring plans as frequent flyers' fears mount

The travel industry was immediately hit by the Coronavirus pandemic, but it took the virus' arrival in the United States to truly hurt American airline operators. United was one of the first to respond, by slashing job postings more than 70% as state and local lawmakers scrambled to cobble together emergency plans, and as vacationers checked out of trips. 

 

Target social media shares soar as America cleans up

For Target ($TGT), it began to see shoppers heading out in droves, and talking about it on Facebook. The company's Facebook Talking About Count spiked three-fold overnight as consumers flocked to the big-box retailer to make a one-stop run at cooking and cleaning supplies as Americans began to panic-shop during the outbreak. 

About the Data:

Thinknum tracks companies using the information they post online - jobs, social and web traffic, product sales and app ratings - and creates data sets that measure factors like hiring, revenue and foot traffic. Data sets may not be fully comprehensive (they only account for what is available on the web), but they can be used to gauge performance factors like staffing and sales. 

Further Reading: 

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