You can't touch this...

Monumental events have a habit of throwing up new phrases and cultural idioms that slowly become era-defining. 2020 is no different...

The latest phrase that’s been popping up in our news feeds is ‘screen fatigue’. I think by now we’ve all experienced it, whether it be through video meetings, presentations and conversations or just through the lockdown habit we’ve developed of interminable scrolling through our phones (if we didn’t have it before).

According to an article in Forbes last week, screen fatigue is very real. It has a name ‘Asthenopia’ and it can be harmful. According to the article, research by Microsoft has found screen use increases brainwave patterns associated with stress.

Essentially humans are not designed to operate through a screen and our brains just can’t cope with the extended exposure. According to Microsoft it’s an ‘unnatural environment’. Clearly there are implications from a work perspective but we think there are important implications for marketers too.

"The perfect opportunity to take advantage of a more 'natural environment'"

If we’re all suffering from screen fatigue surely we’re going to be engaging less with the messages that are popping up and cluttering our phones, TVs and tablets. So perhaps this is the perfect opportunity to take advantage of a more ‘natural environment'.

We’re extremely lucky in WA to be one of the regions least affected by Covid 19, which means we’re able to take advantage of more natural non-screen based experiences. We’re far less restricted and therefore far more likely to be out and about in public going about something approaching our ‘normal’ lives.

However, we’ve found clients are understandably a little nervous about committing to experiential spend when budgets are tight and there’s uncertainty around the restrictions. So while our screen space is cluttered and confused, there is a bit of a vacuum in the experiential space at the moment. The popular, high reach locations are consistently unbranded – for example shopping centres are heaving, but no one is activating - which is a huge opportunity to gain easy excess share of voice for those clients brave enough to commit. As marketing gurus Peter Field and Rob Brittain point out, excess share of voice in the current climate will generally lead to increased market share.

Of course, the challenges of Covid and the associated restrictions that come with it remain and will need to be overcome. So, with that in mind we have developed a short “Post Pandemic Playbook” containing a series Covid-friendly touch-less experiential tactics, that will allow clients to take advantage of this massive opportunity. So, if you’d like to grab a copy click here and then maybe we could have a chat about some that might work for you?

Are You Experienced? is an ongoing series of thought pieces that we think are important and interesting. We hope you do too. 

Now, more than ever... Please feel free to spread the love...