All posts by : Myles Doran

2020 was a year of immense change globally, social justice issues rose to greater prominence, with protests in the wake of George Floyd’s killing in the US sparking demonstrations about racial inequality worldwide. The pandemic too revealed a disease that had higher risks for certain groups, with older people, those from Black and minority ethnic backgrounds and people with learning disabilities disproportionately affected

On racial equality, many firms pledged to take action – brewer and retailer Greene King & Lloyds of London prepared to make reparations for their historical links with slavery, for example, promising to invest in diversity and inclusion work. Greene King is moving to rename 4 pubs in its estate where the existing names have racist connotations.Yet progress on ethnic diversity among the UK’s biggest firms stalled, according to the Spencer Stewart board index.

In 2021, businesses will see increased public pressure to take action. Globally, nine out of ten companies believe they should engage in diversity and inclusion initiatives. Among millennials and Gen Z, the majority said they will buy more products and services from firms that have taken care of their workforces and had a positive impact on society during the pandemic.

Our teams hold such rich and relevant knowledge of the sentiment within their community and are completely aligned with the mood music of the moment so regular engagement can be invaluable, however, it comes with a cautionary note, you must act on their feedback in a meaningful way that is aligned to your purpose and not treat the insight as a ‘tick-box’ exercise as you will be held to account by them and do more damage by inaction than you would have done by not asking in the first place.

It’s been a devastating 12 months for cinemas, as many were forced to shut their doors amid the pandemic. But things have been particularly sunny for the streaming business, which became just about the only game in town for Hollywood — and viewers — In 2020. Studios released highly anticipated movies like Disney’s Mulan straight to streaming. Warner Bros shook the industry in December 2020 when it announced it would release all of its 2021 films on streaming service HBO Max and in cinemas simultaneously.

When the COVID-19 crisis subsides, can movie houses find their way back to consumers’ hearts and wallets? Yes, but it’s going to require a few adjustments. 

Better food and less sticky floors likely won’t cut it. “What can a cinema offer that you can’t get in your living room? Other people,” says NYU marketing professor Scott Galloway. “Comedies are funnier, thrillers are more suspenseful, and horror movies are scarier in a crowd. Cinemas need to reimagine themselves as gathering places, as social spaces. A new Marvel movie is an event that can support costume contests and marathon viewings of earlier movies.”

Expect the streaming players to muscle in. “Someone will need to provide the capital for cinemas to make it through the pandemic and invest in the future of the industry,” Galloway says. “Amazon’s rumoured interest in AMC is interesting. They could roll cinema attendance into Prime, for example, and give customers the chance to see new releases first in cinemas.”

Like many others within the leisure market, cinemas will need to become more experiential to emerge from this pandemic in a way that reminds consumers just what they have been missing as streaming has made it all too easy to access the latest release without any effort.

There are obvious players such as Everyman cinemas who are well placed to capitalise given their smaller size and more personable delivery which makes it a treat for the effort and it will be interesting to see how the larger operators move the needle on service levels and food & beverage provision to compete for market share not just with each other but with a far more formidable competitor, the consumers smart device.

There is no question, the cinema holds a special place in our memory muscle of where we saw “that” movie and who we experienced it with, first date, best friend, partner etc but we will need a momentous effort from the cinema sector to remind us why we should return and why we missed it so much during the lockdown.

Wall Street was built for your parents and grandparents: back-and-forth phone conversations; reams of paper statements and records; and a world view that shareholder returns trump all other considerations.

Millennials are about to change all of that — and remake the finance sector along the way. Four major trends, recently highlighted by The Economist, are accelerating to drive this changing of the guard:

• Millennials — born between 1981 and 1996 — are about to enter the peak earning years of their careers. As they climb the corporate ladder and replace retiring baby boomers, their earning power will jump by almost 75% this decade, according to Bank of America research.
• Boomers are not only retiring; they’re dying as well. The flow of inheritance money to younger generations is poised to double in pace by next decade, according to research firm Cerulli Associates.
• Technology is ever more front and centre in millennials’ daily lives. When it comes to investing, “a generation reared on smartphones is as likely to trust an app as a well-heeled broker,” according to The Economist.
• Younger generations want more than just a financial return when they invest. Morgan Stanley research finds that those under 35 are twice as likely to sell a stock if they consider a company to be environmentally or socially unsustainable. “I strongly believe that a focus on environmental, social and governance factors is here to stay,” says Kristina Hooper, chief global market strategist at the $1.2 trillion asset manager Invesco.

The investment industry will be forced to adapt in order to follow the money. That means mergers and acquisitions, fintech partnerships, an influx of tech-minded talent and, according to Hooper, “faster, more responsive product innovation.”

After a year of working from home, power dynamics have shifted. Companies will need to give employees a reason to return to the office. On offer? Spaces designed for what we’ve been missing all along: Human connection, and maybe a bit of rest and relaxation, too.

“People miss people the most. There’s a credible value to real life in-person contact,” says Liz Burow, the former WeWork vice president of workplace strategy. Burow says offices will function in two key ways: As spaces where people gather for leadership, personal development and culture; and as clubhouses where they come together to collaborate and congregate. Either way, we won’t be gathering in them five days each week anymore.

This transformation won’t simply be philosophical; it’ll be physical, too.

Assigned seating is gone, says Brittney Van Matre, Nike’s director of workplace strategy and operations. Surveys from Nike show employees want to work in an office, but only twice a week. And when they do come in, they want it to be collaborative. Office design needs to accommodate this “activity-based working,” she says — the term for flexible spaces that suit a variety of needs.

But collaborative spaces alone may not be enough to draw people back, warns Van Matre. She believes companies would be wise to entice people with either “a kickass headquarters with a lot of amenities and a super slick experience” or “a really unique experience that you can’t get anywhere else.” Van Matre suggests companies may want to consider setting up outposts in unconventional locales, like rural, scenic areas more associated with leisure, creating “a reprieve” employees can gravitate towards.

I don’t think anyone misses the commute, the costs and lost time travelling for meetings and the imbalance of work & play.

The ‘genie’ is well and truly out of the bottle now though and a return to what was pre pandemic norm will be resigned to the history books in so many ways.

Teams will be given in the majority of cases the option to work from home or make the pilgrimage to the office, so it has to be worth it and it needs to not be a mandated reason but a need to engage and immerse culturally so ask yourself this…

Is your office fighting to win you back?

EMOTION IN MUSIC

Music is something special. Some call it a universal language, while others call it the window to the soul. Back in the day, we would give mix-tapes (cassettes) to the ones we secretly liked or had a crush on, since words could not express our feelings. We used the emotion in music. And not much has changed. Tinder has a feature where you can share your favourite song (allegedly I might add), and Spotify has shareable playlists. Facebook introduced the “I’m listening to” option as a status update, and Instagram lets you share your favourite music in your stories. Nowadays, sharing music has become easier, and it’s quite evident that music has taken up an extremely important role. And for many people, and even brands, the music they relate to is an extension of themselves.

Music is a form of expression. It’s a way of telling a story, and research shows that music binds us in a way that language rarely does, making it almost a social glue. Most of us can relate that meeting someone with the same music taste is one of the best things, creating a deeper connection and in most cases, an emotional bond. But what makes music move us and stir up our deepest emotions? Which elements of music play a role in this interaction?

MUSIC AND MEMORIES

The relationship between music and memory is compelling. Songs from the past can stir powerful emotions and memories. It’s an experience almost everybody can relate to, hear a piece of music from decades ago, and you are transported back to a particular moment in time, like stepping into a time machine.

MUSIC GIVES YOU CHILLS

So what about music pleasure, which occurs when you, or actually your brain, knows what’s coming next while listening to a song. And when your playlist strikes all the right chords, the rise of dopamine can take your body on a physiological joyride by increasing your heart rate, body temperature rising, redirecting blood to your legs and activate the mission control centre for body movement. However, the ultimate climax happens when the brain flushed with dopamine triggers a tingly sensation down your back — the so-called ‘chills’.

What makes this extra interesting, is that those dopamine levels that causes the chills can peak several seconds before the song’s special moment. It’s is because of the predicting features of the brain, which evolutionarily speaking, it’s a handy habit to have since making good predictions is essential for survival.

These sensations also stimulate our motivation system; making us enjoying a piece of music, deriving pleasure from it, wanting to listen to it again and being willing to spend money for it. It almost sounds like a drug. Research shows that music, it seems, may affect our brains the same way that sex, gambling, and chocolate do. But we guess you already knew that.

TIME TO ADJUST YOUR FEET

The lockdown & Tier saga that has played out throughout 2020 has prevented the UK population above the age of 18 from enjoying that moment of escapism in a licensed premises be that a Bar, Pub, Nightclub, Pop up destination, Event, concert & Festival etc plus it has also deprived brands the opportunity to connect with their consumers on another more meaningful level in the way only music & entertainment can do.

The music that plays in the background or is the main event of the evening is the most powerful content you can deploy and the management of that content is crucial to your business or brand as it says everything about who you are or what you stand for and that you completely understand your consumer needs and wants when they visit you for a treat.

So much of the product that consumers acquire can no doubt be achieved digitally however music, atmosphere and the sizzle of an amazing consumer experience can never be replicated at home and that is why the businesses that really dial into their music and entertainment in 2021 will relate more to their target demographic and ultimately drive a larger fanbase.

There will inevitably be a rush for experiential activities due to the pent up demand and restrictions during the pandemic so now’s the time to review your playlists and content to ensure you over deliver on expectations when your consumers return as they won’t forgive you if you don’t raise your game.

Subscriptions to Spotify & Apple music have been exponential during lockdown and as we have been under some form of restriction for the best part of a year your consumers tastes and preferences may have changed, reach out to ask them through your channels what they are listening to now and adapt your content accordingly, share playlists with them and ask for feedback, don’t presume you know, presume you don’t and be pleasantly surprised.