The ‘New Normal’: What Social Distancing Could Mean for Brands Long Term

Whilst COVID-19 is having a very immediate impact on us all, we are most likely at the beginning of a journey of change…a journey that will be determined in the long term by how this experience actually changes our behaviors, our attitudes, and our needs. 

There is no crystal ball that can predict the future for us, and asking people questions directly is unlikely to give us the answers we need. We can’t expect people in the middle of such intense times to tell how current events will change their lives in the long term.

But analyzing online conversations can give us the clues that help us to answer the question, what might the long-term impact of social distancing be? 

First of all, let’s clarify. We’re not talking about simple social listening, which all too often involves searching giant data sets of social noise that buries the deeper insights. Our approach is about discovery; sampling sources that will stretch our thinking and a machine learning platform that lets us immerse ourselves deeply into these sources and find the nuggets of insight to answer our questions.  

For this project, we started with conversations about people’s current experiences of social distancing amid the COVID-19 outbreak. But we needed more to stretch our understanding of the long-term impacts. We asked ourselves, how can we learn from the isolation, separation, and loneliness that people experience in other areas of their lives over longer periods of time? These exceptional experiences that people share online in difficult times might offer us insights; guide and help us as we try and make sense of what a ‘new normal’ might look like, once this acute phase has hopefully passed.

Through our Discover.ai platform, we carefully and sensitively analyzed a diverse set of stories and experiences, from hundreds of blogs, forums, and websites. Our methodology allowed us to collate millions of words of content, across any market and any language, and to use the power of machine learning to assist a strategist on our team to quickly and make connections and draw inferences and implications.

The experiences we chose to explore in this research included divorce, imprisonment, losing your life partner, suffering from severe illness, mental health issues, working in isolating jobs, self-isolating through adventure, retirement, and aging and loneliness. These are not easy experiences for anyone, and from the shared online conversations and resources we saw, there were very human stories of trauma, uncertainty, loss… but also of coping, resilience, and renewal.

From this analysis we found four major human insight themes that we think will define the new normal: 

Being Stronger in Yourself

We learned that once people have been through more extreme & challenging experiences in their lives, survived and come out stronger on the other side, they have the knowledge and experience to shape their lives. 

This experience includes learning to navigate big changes, coping with more personal pressure, avoiding health & wellbeing traps, and drawing strength from memories.

Post COVID-19 people may be more self-reliant, creative, and resourceful, with less need for governments, companies, and brands to point the way on what ‘right’ looks like and how to live their lives.

Re-Defining Who You Are

We learned that confronting difficult times forces you to confront yourself, get to know who you really are, and use this knowledge to take you forward positively into the future. 

This self-knowledge and experience includes finding the freedom in time alone, revisiting the past to shape the future, finding out who you really are, seeing hard times as a way to positively evolve, and seeking a simpler way to live life

Post COVID-19 people may have a stronger sense of self-identity, and be less defined by what they consume, impacting how brands should build relationships with them

Forging Powerful Social Bonds

We learned that in difficult times we rely on other people more than ever, giving us support and enriching our lives in all kinds of ways… the social connection becomes key to our lives. 

These increased and enhanced social bonds come from challenging the stigma of loneliness, sharing time and stories together, and finding meaning in life through love.

Post COVID-19 people may be evaluating everyone around them (including brands) in the context of their social connections and ability to provide support and love to others

Finding More Meaning in Experiences

We learned that life is lived in the day to day, and extreme circumstances can lend even more significance to how these experiences play out and so how we feel about our lives. 

Examples that are driving this change include overcoming silence and inactivity, cherishing small precious moments, filling life with fun and experiences, and finding activities that give release.

Post COVID-19 people may not just value experiences above objects, they may value the experiences brands can give them based on the meaning they bring to their lives

Of course, no one can know exactly what the future will bring, but hopefully, this analysis of social distancing in the context of both COVID-19 and in its broader cultural context can start to bring some clues that will help guide brands as they seek to connect with people and play a positive role in their lives going forward