How 2020 Disrupted Our World, Redefined Brands and How We Connect.
From presidential elections to a global pandemic the world we were so familiar with has dramatically changed to a virtual and isolated world. But there is a silver lining. Although we’re not exactly connecting the way we did in the past our completely disrupted world is creating whole new possibilities. When normal ways of doing things come apart the world around will adapt, technologies will accelerate, and well, people will figure it out. This new playing field affects companies and consumer experience forcing changes in the way brands create connections and loyalty with customers. Think resilience and adaptation. That’s what brands that survive will do.
The Limits of Living in a Zoom Universe.
We all know that Zoom has become the standard for connecting, shifting all of us into a two-dimensional space like Hollywood Squares or the Brady Bunch where we connect at one level but don’t really have the same casual conversations we did after a business meeting or at Thanksgiving dinner. But this artificial world has its limitations. It’s a formal and programmed place where your “picture frame” is your base. You present, you listen, you pretend not to read your email or look at that item on Amazon. Distractions are enormous and become more and more a part of Zoom meetings. Why do you think educators are struggling with kids online in school? This two-dimensional world allows for communication but humans need much more than that. They need to connect, collaborate, and create.
The panacea of working from home really isn’t.
Those who can work from home have first experienced great relief from the daily grind of wasted time commuting to the office where folks are either jammed onto mass transit or stuck in traffic for an hour or more. On average 225 hours a year, or 28 days are spent commuting! Given this, the opportunity to work from home seems like a panacea. A world that gave way to pj’s with a business jacket dress shirt, self-inflicted haircuts, and bushy beards. But now, a lot of folks are feeling limited and trapped, especially if they have small kids or live in a place not conducive to working from home. Not to mention that lack of connection with real people, even randomly.
Prior to the pandemic, an American economist did a study on a large and expanding technology company in China. Office space costs were so high and they were growing so fast they gave a group of employees the option to work from home. This study group who worked at home actually become more productive but over time more depressed. In post-study interviews, 80% of the workers said they wanted to go to an office at least two to three days a week.
No matter what you think, people need to connect with real people.
I believe all the predictions that working from home will be the “new normal” are not quite true and that people need to be with people. Yes, some people will work from home part of the time. This is now being born out by the massive explosion in residential home sales near the big urban centers. Office space demand within big cities like San Francisco and Seattle not to mention New York is going to completely change. But how? People working part of the time in the office? Are businesses needing far less space? Will this open up the possibility of more business growth? This radical shift is born out of economic data. It is a disruption. Not just for individuals but for neighborhoods, cities, nations, and the globe.
This ain’t Kansas anymore. And yes, change will be the new normal.
With world travel down more than 50%, hotel occupancy numbers fallen off a cliff, and obviously bars and restaurants and shopping districts nearly dead and we don’t really even need to mention the collapse of retail which was already coming. What’s next? Will this be permanent or will people reinvent this in a new way?
Change will be permanent — but what change? The global impact has been enormous. Disruptions like this do two major things: they often throw the brand leaders off a cliff by shifting whole markets and systems of exchange and they also open opportunities for new players and technologies to advance. Small companies to large are adapting and shifting and now using digital platforms as a new way of connecting. We will see some of the highest levels of commercial property foreclosures in decades, and the continued collapse of retail chains but we’re also going to see new retailers and hotel chains arise with new business models.
The new normal is going to be more global, more virtual, and more interconnected – believe it or not.
The big shifts will happen when populations are vaccinated and business and the world starts to come back to normal. I predict that people who have been craving in-person connections and group experiences will actually go back to the workplace, travel, and connect at unprecedented rates. The stock market seems to agree and believe it or not shares in cruise ship companies closed at new highs in 2020.
Yes, we will go back to work, at least some of the time, meet new people, go to events and we will still have zoom meetings. This will shift our global connections, business relationships, and neighborhoods and communities in new ways.
2021: Opportunity & innovation. New ways of working, new businesses and new brands will thrive.
Disruption, collapse, and failure breed one thing: dramatic change. So at the end of a very unpredictable and disrupted world, think positive. New ways of living and working, radical new technologies, some of which made vaccines possible in unheard-of record time, amazing and innovative business ideas, and economic shifts. All of this will transform our universe. How will companies adapt? How will people shift their lives?
The world will recover, markets and consumers will bounce back and find new opportunities to connect and new companies and brands will find opportunities to grow in 2021. Have an amazing new year and embrace change.