Pandemic Habits - Consumer expectations of brands

Chris Pash
By Chris Pash | 5 March 2021
 
Angela Tangas

Dentsu has released the findings of its 2030 consumer vision report, The Age of Inclusive Intelligence, charting long-term consumer trends. 

The research shows how the pandemic has accelerated many of the long-term trends facing brands, drawing on in-depth interviews with futurists, academics, authors, and experts, together with multiple proprietary consumer surveys. 

Among the themes: 

  • Universal activism: People will shop based on values and causes. Identity, climate, and data will be the key battlegrounds for brands.
  • Synthetic Society: Artificial products will enhance what’s natural, but risk creating inequality of access.
  • Bigger Bolder Brands: Select services will be the lifestyle partners of choice, posing an existential threat to many brands.
  • The Human Dividend: Society will celebrate what it is to be human, recognising the limits of technology.

Health and well-being are a key theme, with many consumers reporting a desire to utilise technology to stay healthy in the future.

More than half of US consumers report they would insert a microchip in their brain to extend their life expectancy. 

One third of consumers say that by 2030 they would undergo non-essential surgery to improve their mental health. 

On climate change, 77% of UK consumers say that COVID-19 has made them more aware of the harm caused to the environment by global travel.

Two-thirds of UK consumers say that by 2030 they will not buy goods that they know have a negative impact on the environment.

With more people staying at home during lockdown, the growing popularity of eSports and online gaming has accelerated.

As global awareness of eSports is expected to reach two billion by 2021, the way we look at sport in general will continue to evolve with "real-world" sports and activities being forced to innovate to keep up.

As online retailers grow in size and scope, felled by the growth in eCommerce during the pandemic, many brands will find themselves struggling for visibility.

The research finds that nearly half (46%) of Chinese consumers would already be happy to use just one single company for all their lifestyle needs.

Each of the trends highlighted in the report carries specific implications for brands.

But across almost all of them sits the concept of inclusive intelligence, the ability to incorporate new views, values, and behaviours into their value proposition against a backdrop of widening inequality and ethical complexity.

Angela Tangas, dentsu ANZ CEO, says the global business community has been disrupted and transformed over the last year in new and different ways. 

“Fundamentally, the expectations consumers now have of brands has changed, and this study further reinforces the need for businesses to be ready, agile, and adaptive to the changing landscape," she says.

“Customer engagement and loyalty are increasingly linked to how brands respond to the macro environment – from driving meaningful impact in society, to how they responsibly use data.

"The brands that get these elements right will not only maintain connection and enhance their human-brand experiences but have the potential to create earlycompetitive advantage for tomorrow.

“As agency partners, it’s more important than ever to proactively support clients in shaping the best possible experiences and brand connection. Insights like these highlight the ways in which clients can stay a step ahead so they can strike the right balance between sustainable growth and meaningful impact." 

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