Luke Reaper outlines themes from B&A’s ‘Sign of the Times’ research and relates them to the world in which we now find ourselves, tackling the ‘new normal’ – whatever that may be.
In an edition of Marketing.ie magazine in 2014, John Fanning stated that “we can never really understand the present, let alone make any judgement about the future, without a thorough understanding of the past”. He was referring to the marketing communications business. However, this statement can be applied to life, in the broadest sense.
The Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic has been a once in a lifetime social experiment and to understand its ramifications, we need to understand the world both past and present to help inform future strategic decisions. The time for insightful planning is now. Those that have quality market research intelligence, will be ahead of the curve.
B&A conducted its annual ‘Sign Of The Times’ (SOTT) study in January/February of this year. At that stage, Ireland was heading into a general election that we knew would be won or lost on policies relating to health, housing and issues to do with the type of society Ireland had become in recent years. Climate change had also moved centre stage.
Within weeks of finalising our report, the world was dominated by Covid-19 and everyone became familiar with ‘bell-shaped curves’. It is within this context that we consider this year’s SOTT. We have also drawn in some key insights from B&A’s ‘Life on Lockdown’ series, a continuous monitor of public attitudes, behaviour and state of mind.
The first theme is understanding the economic and social reality from the public perspective.
A DIFFERENT REALITY
Prior to Covid-19, despite positive macro-economic figures, personal experiences on the ground suggested a different reality. Three-quarters indicated that they had been noticing increases in the costs of goods and services, half claimed they were merely ‘getting by’ financially and one in eight were actually struggling to make ends meet.
Also, just 40 per cent had benefited from the economic revival. The bottom line is that many felt they had yet to benefit from the economic recovery, with constant pressure on household finances through a mix of the ever-increasing cost of living and high taxes. All of this before we even begin to consider the economic effects of a post-Covid 19 recession.
Many were posing the same question; if the economy had technically been in recovery for seven years, where has all the money gone? The state of the healthcare system, housing and other social factors were in the spotlight. These perceived failings have had a profound impact not only on people’s finances, but also on their psychological outlook for the future.
The middle classes spoke of not being able to fulfil their potential; saving for deposits, living with parents, no childcare and later retirement. For those in lower income brackets, a sense of despair is evident that their voices do not matter and they are trapped in a rut. The economic situation is worse and the social issues have not gone away, they will reappear.
Hence why the new Government will need to pay more than lip service to the aching need for fundamental economic and social change in post crisis Ireland. Brands need to recognise and monitor the changing social dynamics, through both tactical shorter and longer term lens.
The second theme of the SOTT study was the mainstreaming of the climate agenda. A key driver of this was the widespread reporting of visual imagery of the damage that climate change is wreaking on the environment. Images of clean Venetian canals during this crisis are keeping the issue of environment concern firmly on the global radar.
However, people are struggling to understand the precise actions that should be taken to address the crisis in a meaningful way, how they can be motivated to actually take the steps required of them and how to overcome sub-conscious barriers. In fact, people are not even that sure if the efforts they are making are being executed correctly.
Thus far it is felt that the discourse has been all about what the individual can do to make a difference, rather than a combined 360-degree strategy involving the individual, business and government. It is ironic that one of the outcomes of the Covid-19 shutdown has been a marked improvement in air and water quality as industry grinds to a halt.
RADICAL CHANGE
From a behavioural perspective this crisis has been incredible. As a nation, and indeed across the world, we have radically changed our behavioural patterns when the benefits for doing so, in this case life or death, become clear. This may well provide many with the confidence required to do the same to help save the planet. However, clear, consistent and business-like environmental leadership, which people feel is absent, is required.
The third theme is the tech gearing of Ireland and its impact.
Every year B&A’s TechScape report tracks the use of and attitudes towards technology in Ireland. The pace of adoption of new tech solutions has been staggering as each year goes by. One of the topical aspects of technology we look at from this year’s report is the degree we had the ‘kit’ to work remotely before the coronavirus crisis struck.
The evidence from this year’s SOTT survey is that Ireland was in fact reasonably well enabled with the technology required to do so. For example, seven in 10 of adults already had access to a laptop at home by January 2020. Smartphone ownership had risen to over three million, with practically all of the 25-49 year old working age cohort owning such a device.
However, the ergonomics of home working on such a continuous scale are now only being considered and the reports from our recent Covid-19 research are not good– poor seating, lack of space and broadband being among the concerns. It is certainly something to be reviewed in the future. The latter provides opportunities for various sectors.
Even before the crisis we appreciated the importance of broadband and this perception is likely to have increased. The importance of broadband is clear when we see:
- the rise in digital banking – now over half a million people use a digital bank such as Revolut (driven by middle classes and Dubliners);
- the proliferation of online entertainment and communications
Mental health is a trending topic.
Before the crisis, people were grappling with an ‘always-on’ work ethic. Over a third of the population checked their work emails on holidays in the belief that it was expected of them. More than half checked emails late at night or first thing in the morning, with a quarter of us admitting that we find it hard to switch off from work in the evening or at weekends. Covid-19 is likely to have exasperated this sense of always-on, especially when everything has become virtual. It is before we even consider juggling ‘the kids’ while working remotely.
SOTT has consistently pointed to concerns about the growing rift between people and communities, as they drift away from human interaction towards an immersion in virtual realities. Two-thirds tell us that they believe the art of conversation is being lost and one in three defer to their phone when in an awkward situation, rather than engage face-to-face.
TECHNOLOGY’S HOLD
People know the negative effects of our consumerist/tech-centred world. Yet, they find it immensely difficult to wean themselves off these personal habits. Hence, it was interesting to observe some of our research participants using terminology more commonly associated with addiction, in discussing technology and its hold over them.
Even before the crisis we identified a desire to return to a simpler way of living which is lower tech and anti-consumerism, realising what we have been sacrificing as we become a slave to consumerism and tech. One outcome of the crisis is possibly more clarity of the pluses and negatives of both the virtual and the physical worlds and how we interact across both.
We also need to spare a thought for the older generations. At the time of the crisis, 44 per cent of those aged 65 and over never accessed the internet (equates to over a quarter of a million people) – looking at the total population over 400,000 people in Ireland never access.
At the other end of the spectrum, the most profound theme emerging from our research is the extent to which tech has permeated through to all aspects of our everyday lives. To illustrate this point, we only have to look at the use of personal digital devices, which has grown from just seven per cent of adults in 2018, to 29 per cent this year. At this rate, most of us will be wearing a personal tracking device of some sort within two to three years.
Currently, these accessories are being utilised as a relatively simple means of providing us with feedback on our physical exercise. However, with the introduction of the Covid-19 app, it is likely that medicine is one of the new tech frontiers. Perhaps in five years’ time our SOTT survey will be reporting on a shift from tech as lifestyle enabler, to life saver.
As we emerge from this crisis and rebuild our lives, the questions will centre around what behaviours we maintain and to what extent will the primal human need for social contact flower again. Will Ireland be as physically social again? We think so, but with a tech twist. We will have more virtual work meetings, more online shopping but less virtual drinking!
Luke Reaper is managing director at research agency B&A
- For more Covid-19 marketing and media related stories, just click on https://marketing.ie/2020
