Consumer Behavior on the One Year Anniversary of the Pandemic

It's hard to believe that March 11th is the one-year anniversary of when Covid-19 was officially declared a pandemic by the WHO. It seems like both the longest and the shortest year ever. (Toronto has just hit its 100th day of lockdown yesterday.) During this past year, we saw disruption in the fabric of how we find and maintain a connection to one another. Schools shut down, stadiums sat empty and places of worship fell silent. Because of this, 68% of people say they have become more reliant on their mobile devices, according to Vox Media, and many of us are using our devices to fill the connection void we've all been experiencing.

During times of lockdown and isolation, it's been inspiring to see social media evolve from being something that was more self-aggrandizing – the ultimate tool for humblebragging to showcase what you’re doing and who you’re doing it with – to actually being our social life as many of us couldn't connect in-person with family and friends during various states of lockdown.

On the flipside, many of us have had the opportunity to spend more time with the loved ones we live with more than ever before, redefining what family time means both in our face-to-face interactions and digital lives. Even before the pandemic, families were spending twice as much time together than in the past, and this year studies have reported that families are playing outside more, playing games more, reading together more and gardening together more. We saw searches for "watching together" up by 4x since January 2020 as family-friendly forms of entertainment surged, further indicating people were increasing their amount of time spent together. This has resulted in

90% of parents stating they’ve formed a stronger bond with their kids over lockdown

according to Mumpoll. (I’m sure 90% of parents also consumed a few more adult beverages than usual as well... These have been trying times).

LEGO is a company that has been wildly successful during the pandemic and has invested heavily in not only its physical presence but its e-commerce and educational presence online over the past few years. LEGO Education provides physical and digital educational resources that encourage students to think creatively, reason systematically and release their potential to shape their own future. They emphasize STEM for those in grade 8 or younger with curriculum-relevant material and digital resources as well as hands-on learning.

The CEO of LEGO has said that

Many of the major trends shaping our industry such as digitalization and e-commerce are accelerating as a result of the pandemic [...seeing] strong growth in digital and traditional play, a rapid shift to ecommerce and the importance of having a truly global operating model.

LEGO's preparedness for these digital trends that were accelerated set them up for 14% growth this year.

But one could ask: are these digitally based ways of collaborating, learning and communicating just a fad? The truth is, face-to-face connection isn’t going anywhere. In fact, we’ll see demand increase for IRL connection in the next 2 years.

This has been part of LEGO’s strategy as well, and it's what’s helped their digital presence to succeed. They plan on opening 120+ stores and open a Legoland Resort this year in NY.

Consumers are currently getting an unprecedented amount of exposure to the way life could be -- whether it's through how they connect with others, how they work, etc. -- and they're are forming habits around that.

A great example of this shift is how our work interactions and expectations have evolved. Personally, it’s weird to think of just setting up a phone dial-in with my clients instead of having a video call with them as the default. This new reliance on turning on our webcams has given us all an intimate look into our co-worker’s lives as well (for better or for worse) and that has also helped forge some deeper relationships and a better understanding of each other.

We’ve seen this new reliance on video engagement utilized in sports as well. It’s easy to imagine members of a virtual audience being a part of games in the future even after the world has recovered. This option allows for a more affordable and immersive experience for global audiences.

There are also some new ideas out of the newly formed “Hinge Labs” (a division within the the popular dating app Hinge) that have found that how we find new connections will be changed due to the ripple effect of the constraints of this past year.

A few key stats from the platform:

• There were more conversations and sent messages than ever before
• Most people had never been on video chat in Hinge before the past year, but now, 1 in 3 have been on a video date in the last week alone
• 67% of users thought the video date was less awkward than expected
• 1 in 3 users are open to dating someone exclusively that they haven't met in IRL.

These stats shouldn't be surprising as younger generations rely more heavily on video platforms to communicate. For example, 65% of Gen Z prefers to FaceTime to keep in touch with friends.

The dominance of video content for connection is increasingly important for brands that wish to stay relevant. Many trendy DTC brands have all started to look the same, message the same and adopt a similar muted aesthetic, which is why we’re seeing brands rebel against this and be propelled by video-heavy platforms like Tik Tok and uses of bold, in-your-face imagery.

Starface is a skincare brand that has amassed half a million followers on Tik Tok in the year since its launch. The brand has hosted its own TikTok houses, inviting creators on the platform to come, hang out, and post videos featuring their products and the brand really embodies the new-age aesthetic of online culture – highly vibrant, colorful, glittery, and sometimes downright bizarre reposts of user-generated content.

A few questions to ask yourself when it comes to your brand, product or service:

1. Does it do a great job of promoting a sense of community and connectedness?

2. Does it provide some form of escape?

3. Does it have a digital element that can enhance closeness?

If you made it this far, head over to FutureFestival.com. We have 4 upcoming events this month and that touch on the theme of how consumer behavior is changing and what trends are likely to stick over the course of the next 5 years. Hope to see you there and I promise this conference won't give you Zoom fatigue!