Category: The MediaShop

Moti Grauman, Digital Media Strategist at The MediaShop

Moti Grauman from The MediaShop says advertisers that have halted their spend on Facebook to ‘Stop Hate for Profit’ is ambiguous.

While the intent is clear, i.e. corporates need to stop supporting an organisation that is alleged to allow hateful content on their site for the sake of profit – it may also imply that stopping hate is in itself profitable.

Actually, it’s a bit of both, and savvy advertisers will know exactly where they stand.

The Stop Hate for Profit campaign has for all intents and purposes built up significant steam. There are according to the Movement’s website almost 400 companies participating in the initiative, who are pulling their ad spend during July or, and in some cases, beyond. This supposedly accounts for an estimated 98% of Facebook’s $70 Billion annual ad revenue.

The obvious question is will it make a difference and force Facebook to take more responsibility for the content that it allows to be published?

It would seem, according to a recent article on Gizmodo, that participation means different things to different companies and that the impact of the initiative is likely to fall short as a result. The article reports that a number of companies will pause their ad spend on Facebook while still advertising on Instagram (which is owned by Facebook). Other brands will exclude Instagram but continue to make use of Facebook’s Audience Network – you see the conundrum. For some global companies their stand may mean pausing US Facebook ad spend while continuing their advertising in other countries.

The result is that any impact will be severely mitigated as a result of ad revenue simply being redirected rather than stopped altogether. And this makes perfect sense. Why would any brand with responsibilities to their stakeholders stop advertising on a platform for an entire month or more if the results of that ad spend were significantly positive? Of course, positive results could be “undone” if the mere association with a platform made their brand look bad. To some, it’s not a question of believing inherently in the Stop Hate for Profit movement, but one of saving face. Effective advertising through the platform can continue while distancing itself from the Facebook brand.

No matter which side of the fence you sit, there is a question that needs answering: “Can (big) brands afford not to have Facebook in their media plans? And therefore: “What are the costs of taking a stand?”

Grace Kite writes on Marketing Week that: “for some companies social media is critical while for others it makes very little difference.” That’s obvious, but the key is knowing where “you” are.

The product type, and the target market are predictably the strongest determinants of the importance of social media.

For some brands, social media is really very effective at driving sales, but for others it isn’t effective at all. Econometric studies show that ROI is much more variable for social media than it is for almost all other channels.

That isn’t a bad thing in itself. It just means that advertisers need to ensure they can reach the right end of the ROI range or else reallocate spend to other channels where returns are more reliable.

Facebook’s own research doesn’t address when it’s best to use the channel versus not, so evidence from econometrics projects is helpful. This uniquely allows a comparison of effectiveness across media channels and untangles indirect effects like a TV ad driving people to click on a Facebook ad. With a more accurate view of ROI in hand, it’s clear there are some types of advertisers that should consider avoiding social media even in normal times.

It is low interest categories like insurance, politics, banking and toilet paper that see small effects of social advertising and therefore investment that sometimes doesn’t pay back. On the other hand, high interest categories like beer, TV, and video games see much bigger effects.

As Matthew Chappell from Gain Theory put it: “There does appear to be some statistically significant skew towards higher interest goods like cars and high interest FMCG plus, as you’d expect, companies who sell more online do better on social.”

The demographic of the target audience matters too. Younger people are more likely to be persuaded by advertising on Facebook versus other channels. In our experience, the converse is also true. Older people are much less likely to be convinced on this channel.

And then there are some social media campaigns that get an ROI boost because they have a long-lasting effect on sales. We’ve seen video rich social campaigns work like TV in some cases, with effects lingering for more than six months.

This is a feature of social video that we as an industry need to understand better. As linear TV audiences decline and ad-free subscription TV grows, the role of social video in brand building will become more important.

In the examples we’ve seen, YouTube has been a key platform in driving long term effects rather than Facebook. If this is a wider pattern, it could be driven by view-through rates being higher on YouTube and sound being switched on by default, but there is much still to learn.

In the meantime, it will be interesting to see whether any of the brands that boycott Facebook this month report declining sales as a result. This could well be the case for Coca-Cola, North Face and Adidas, which have relatively young audiences that play in relatively high interest categories.

Other brands might not notice the difference, especially with the effect of Covid-19 and associated lockdowns still reverberating through the economy.

Either way, all brands considering investment into Facebook need to experiment and evaluate, and not only using the platform’s own tools. Dispassionate analysis that can compare social against other media channels which will help marketers navigate these turbulent times.

Being recognised as the best media agency in your country is a fantastic achievement. Being recognised as a top contender on a global scale is even better. Being the only South African media agency on that global list is the best!

 Global research company RECMA, which evaluates the performance of media agencies around the world, has identified The MediaShop as number nine on its Top 16 Standalone agencies that are part of groups. This is a phenomenal achievement considering the calibre of independent media agencies in South Africa.

The study also confirmed The MediaShop’s market share at 14.6% of the South African market, a higher share than any other international agency listed in this Top 16.

The Debrief, released on the 16^th July is a specific analysis separate to its annual performance ranking of 900 media agencies around 50 countries. The MediaShop, while partly owned by the IPG Group, is a mostly locally owned and a standalone agency.

“As a majority locally owned media agency, The MediaShop is a proudly South African business that is well known for pioneering and innovating thinking,” says shareholder and board chairman Bonang Mohale. “In a market as unique as South Africa it’s imperative that any media agency is able to make autonomous, quick and decisive decisions for clients based on its local current climate at any given point. This is just one factor that sets The MediaShop apart. As a collective we’d like to congratulate The MediaShop team for once again placing the agency firmly on the world map of media agency excellence.”

The MediaShop:

The MediaShop is South Africa’s most established, most awarded, most transformed media agency, and member of the Nahana Communications Group of specialist agencies, each with their own independent structures, cultures and management teams, and a desire to work together where synergy exists.

Arisha Saroop, Managing Director of The MediaShop Durban

Kantar’s Covid Barometer research shows that South Africans want brands to be purpose-led and practical, using their resources to help and inform during the global pandemic we find ourselves in.

Arisha Saroop, Managing Director of The MediaShop Durban shares a few examples of global and South African brands that have reinvented to be more purpose led.

The Covid-19 crisis has left its mark on virtually every single industry around the world and on all levels from a social, health and economic perspective. As some economies ground to a halt and others are still recovering from imposed lockdowns, there is no doubt that this pandemic challenges our ordinary and brands, like individuals, are being forced to re-examine every aspect of their daily operations, find new ways to survive, adapt, offer purposeful existence and maintain relevance within our new reality.

The majority of clothing and accessories stores were initially considered non-essential, and employment in this already struggling sector fell by 58.9% from February to April this year as per Business Insider research – it’s no wonder then that this sector had to take the leap of adaptability during these unprecedented times.

With no social gatherings fighting for RSVP’s – couture wardrobe and designer accessories have taken space at the back of the cupboard. Given the increased need for personal protective items; international and local design houses have evolved their offerings to stay relevant, purposeful and to deliver a supportable service.

Internationally, Tommy Hilfiger has donated 10 000 T-shirts to Covid-19 front line healthcare workers – in an effort to provide a change of clothes for those between shifts or just to freshen up from their daily PPE wear. In addition to this, they’ve launched a special capsule collection with 100% of sale proceeds going towards pandemic relief efforts.

Renowned French luxury conglomerate LVMH, known for their handbags and champers – swopped their leather and bubbles by converting three of their perfume manufacturing facilities, usually reserved for Christian Dior, Givenchy and Guerlain fragrances, into hand sanitizer production factories. These were given at no charge to the largest hospital system in Europe and to French authorities. Keeping staff employed and responding to public interest is what has kept this luxury brand purposeful and relevant.

It didn’t just stop at production though as one might have assumed; British brand Burberry has vouched to use its global supply chain network to deliver over 100,000 surgical masks to the NHS, and additionally, Burberry is also funding research into a single-dose vaccine developed by the University of Oxford.

Closer to home, Polo South Africa’s shirt factory in Atlantis Cape Town, recently pledged to provide 250 000 reusable and washable cotton face masks to essential service providers and at-risk commuters. Even though the masks are not medical grade, these indispensable items provide safety in reducing the virus spread. L’Oréal SA recently introduced a new range of hand sanitizers under its natural brand Garnier that will be donated to the South African Covid-19 Solidarity Fund to assist frontline workers. Iconic couture designer Gavin Rajah under his NPO White Light Movement trains victims of gender-based violence to make fabric face masks – the profits from the sales of these items assist them economically and the families they support.

Kantar’s Covid Barometer research provides insight into consumer behaviour that South Africans want brands to be purpose-led and practical, using their resources to help and inform.

Each of these brands have shown purpose in their adaption; either by utilizing their resources for alternate production or supporting a just cause towards the fight against the invisible pandemic – this has no doubt been for the greater good of the consumers and the brand.

This proactive reaction has kept the lights on for businesses in many aspects – by keeping their staff employed, supporting the local economy, producing essential items, staying relevant and most importantly, adding to their existence and purpose!

For consumers, such adaptions and purpose driven production translates to brands that care. A renewed brand purpose is reassuring during times of crisis, as consumers may not be buying today – however when we do return to “business as usual” we will remember and reward brands that offered meaningful sustainable support.

In a recent campaign, The MediaShop and client Nedbank displayed just how great minds think differently, while delivering some next level media planning for a South African TV first.

DSTV viewers were quite surprised when they experienced a completely new form of advertising while pausing their favourite series on DStv’s Catch Up service. In a first for the South African television industry, DStv launched its ‘Pause Screens’ function where, in the Catch Up environment, viewers are served an advert when pause is pressed on the remote. The MediaShop together with client Nedbank were quick to take advantage of this new concept by purchasing the first Paused Screen campaign.

According to Gareth Grant, Business Unit Manager at The MediaShop, Nedbank has always been willing to test new and innovative platforms that others may not. Over lockdown The MediaShop progressed this idea with the DStv Media Sales team. “Being first to market for Nedbank and ourselves was important because together as we consider both companies thought leaders and pioneers within the media industry. To make it easier, the DStv Media Sales team have always been a real pleasure to work with, not only through this process but with everything that we throw at them.

We were exceptionally pleased with the results of the campaign. We know that viewers make use of the pause facility often, whether on live TV or within the Catch Up environment and this is a fantastic way to make use of that on-screen time! Suitable Catch Up series were selected based on the target market and each delivered their fair number of impacts*.

We practice what we preach when we say that we believe there is always a better way to connect our clients’ brands with their consumers. As respected specialists in the industry and as demonstrated in the Nedbank campaign, together with pioneering clients we’ve delivered revolutionary solutions.”

*Impacts – A measure of viewing to commercial spots. Impacts are added together to give the total number of impacts delivered by a particular advertising campaign.

 The MediaShop:

The MediaShop is South Africa’s most established, most awarded, most transformed media agency, and member of the Nahana Communications Group of specialist agencies, each with their own independent structures, cultures and management teams, and a desire to work together where synergy exists.

Gareth Grant, Business Unit Director, The MediaShop

Never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine that I would live to experience a global event of this scale that would be remembered for years to come. I recall studying about the likes of the Great Depression, the French Revolution and both First and Second World Wars, but to actually live through something so surreal, no chance. Enter COVID-19…

The 26^th of March 2020 will be a date that no South African will ever forget. It was the date when our country entered lockdown and life as we knew it was turned upside down. Our movements were limited, there was a curfew in place, and what we could and couldn’t purchase was drastically affected. No take-aways? What do you mean?

In the beginning, I kept positive by reminding myself that this was only for three weeks… But wait…, three weeks was quickly extended to five weeks. Hmmm, that made it a bit more challenging to remain optimistic, especially when focusing on all the restrictions put in place. I allowed one day to feel sorry for myself and then I switched gear and realised this is a great opportunity to “hit reset”, and reflect on my life and re-evaluate what is a priority and what isn’t.

It gave me time to reflect on what is a necessity and what is a nice-to-have and to focus on the important things and be grateful for all that I have. If I was to do this properly, I would need to be deliberate about my priorities and the things I value most. I was sent an article which spoke about “time chunking” and how to break up your day. I found this to be very beneficial and so went about making a list of things I enjoy and value and things that are a necessity. From there I was more deliberate in allocating my hours, carving out work time and keeping to a schedule.

Weekends were no longer a mix of work and play but dedicated to time with my wife and our two Beagles and things that I enjoy doing.

Even as we move to less stringent levels of lockdown, I keep to a routine and start my day with a relaxing activity. Some people like to meditate, do yoga, journal or have some other form of quiet time. I like being in the bush or nature so starting my day with game drive and a cup of coffee is the best. Sarai Live on YouTube is fantastic if you share my passion for wildlife! Also, no weekend goes by without me doing things I love, like braaiing, making a potjie or doing my “skottel” breakfast as we often do when in the Kruger National Park. After all, if I can’t be in the bush at least I can have some aspects of being on a bush trip.

I have revaluated the amount of time I spend on social platforms too, as well as what type of news I consume. Video consumption in my house has increased during lockdown and across various platforms but I am more selective about the content I consume. The #RELIVE content on SuperSport was excellent! With no live sport at the time, watching old sporting events was nostalgic. I mean who could ever get bored of watching the Boks beat England in both the 2007 and 2019 Rugby World Cup Finals? And it was fun to reminisce with people I watched these events with when they were live. It is evident that I wasn’t the only person consuming a lot more video content. We just have to look at the stats across the likes of YouTube, Mzansi Magic, DStv Now and Catch Up to see this in action. Some audiences have grown by more than 30% in some instances.

My consumption, however, was not aimless. After all, I was hitting the reset button. I watched a lot of “how-to” content. No, not how to make pineapple homebrew. I have a real passion for woodworking and enjoy that time I get to spend by myself working on creations, so the content was around how to set up my workshop efficiently and ensure that I was making the best use of the space I have for my hobby and who better to ask than YouTube or Pinterest? The ideas that are available are endless. I’m glad to say that my workshop is mostly set up, and I continue to spend time in this space which adds value to my life, making things for people I care about.

As we continue to wade through these uncertain times, I urge you to take stock, evaluate what is and isn’t important, and then hit reset. Spend time doing the things that you love, have a passion for and those that add value to your life. Be deliberate about what you do. Don’t just go through the motions, because as we have seen life as we know it can change in the blink of an eye. So have no regrets, but mostly importantly, have fun!

Stay safe!

Neo Mtshatsheni, Media Strategist at The MediaShop

Despite the pandemic holding many hostage in their homes, South Africans have continued to find innovative ways to have their voices heard and to show off their skills through, for example, gaming or content creation. From a channel perspective, digital was always going to reap more benefit from this audience and the lockdown period has certainly affirmed this especially in the eSports category and on social media.

Platforms like Instagram and Facebook Live have certainly proved their worth over the past few months. Moving away from posting images of themselves enjoying a meal at the coolest, trendiest restaurant or spotting their latest pair of jeans, sneakers or sunglasses, South Africa’s youth have used these platforms to engage on issues ranging from racism, GBV, etc.

IGTV (Instagram TV) saw its first Instavella created by Ayanda Mkayi which depicts the lives of individuals living in an apartment block in Johannesburg during the national lockdown, with all scenes shot individually from the actors’ homes. Shooting ads and general TV production during lockdown was prohibited and now despite the extensive safety measures that are put in place, production still falls victim to the invisible COVID-19 enemy halting production. But fresh, relatable content remains key and as there is a growing need for local content, IGTV soapies are something to look out for!

On the eSports front, South Africa may not compare to its global counterparts in terms of the sheer size of active gamers but the interest and gaming community numbers are increasing steadily and will continue to do so. For every mobile device in hand lies a gamer and current stats show that 71% of connected South Africans play games exclusively from their mobile device. And for a category that is usually perceived to be predominantly male, 63% of them are women aged 30 and 50% of them are older than 34yrs and are using the platform as a means to escape their everyday lives. There are also many that play competitively against their male counterparts.

Console owners also provide a sizable opportunity for marketers with 53.8% of households having children that go to school, 39% are 35-49yrs and 25% are 24-34yrs. This audience might have a male skew but paired with the mobile universe it most certainly delivers numbers and diversity.

Most importantly, right now in South Africa mobile gaming is probably also the easiest way to buy media and get your brand in front of eyes. The growth in this category has been exponential compared to general entertainment, the global e-sports industry has been growing at a rate of 30% YOY and the PC gaming market is set to be worth 45.5 billion USD (788.1 billion ZAR) in 2021! The global box office which generated revenue to the tune of 41.7 billion USD (722.2 billion ZAR) in 2008 and the gaming market generated 151.2 billion USD (2.6 trillion ZAR). With fewer eyeballs available for live sports and more time indoors this category is certainly one that cannot be ignored.

As marketers, the ever-changing landscape and demographic we are constantly challenged to not only look for meaningful insights but re-evaluating the norm as the bar continues to be set high and the only constant throughout being change.

Andile Qokweni Business Unit Manager at The MediaShop

Live sport in 2020 came to a crashing halt thanks to the Coronavirus pandemic taking it from our courts, stadiums and most importantly our screens. Globally, the absence of live sport amongst sport lovers feels like a pandemic all on its own. This is the first time that all sports programmes were cancelled since the onset of World War II.

Sports broadcasting began in the early 1900s with the first live sports broadcast in 1939 in the USA, a college baseball game broadcast by NBC. What’s important to note however is although a few events had been broadcast before 1939 all of these were to limited audiences and markets as globally, very few people had TV sets.

While television has had a huge impact on sports, it also played an important role in the development and growth of television. During the early days of commercial broadcasting in the 1940s, the networks relied upon broadcasts of sporting events to increase demand for TV sets.

In the 1960s, sports programming underwent a major change. Rather than simply providing viewers with film footage of the event itself, the networks started offering special features that turned sports into high-quality television entertainment. In typical American fashion, it was merging showbiz and bringing appeal and pizzazz to an industry, which previously only brought functionality. Sports broadcasting as we know it today, a billion dollar revenue industry, was born and with it all the accompanying marketing and advertising related opportunities.

The rise of dedicated subscription-based sports networks like ESPN, Skysports and Supersport provided TV viewers with more coverage of athletic contests than was ever available before. The broadcast and cable networks began competing for the television rights to major sports leagues and events. As demand for TV sports contracts increased, the prices the networks paid rose dramatically.

In 1970 for instance, networks paid $50 million for a contract to televise professional football, $18 million for Major League Baseball, and $2 million for professional basketball. By 1985, the prices had increased to $450 million for the NFL, $160 million for MLB, and $45 million for the NBA. Sport had become big media business and continued to grow astronomically to the multi-billion dollar industry it is today.

In the list of the top 10 most expensive 30 second commercial spots ever, the top three are made up of sporting events, namely: Thursday Night Football on NBC, NFL Thursday Night Football on CBS and the top dog – Sunday Night Football on NBC – Superbowl (the pinnacle of any creative is to see their work aired during the Superbowl).

The shutdown of the entire sports world has had a negative effect on multinationals as big as Walt Disney, the parent company of ESPN, which has long relied on huge profits generated by its suite of ESPN channels in the USA. The virus outbreak unfortunately comes at a time when the global trend is to move away from paid subscriptions to online streaming platforms. We’ve seen similar pictures in Europe where monopolies like Sky are sharing the market with smaller more flexible platforms like Eurosport and BT Sport.

Not only are the big multinationals having to adjust to the changing landscape of the broadcasting business but added to that we have the pandemic, which as mentioned upfront, has been cancelled for the first time since World War II. So what does the future hold? Sport will be forced to evolve and adapt as it did throughout the 1900s and early 00s.

ESPN has countered the trend with the launch of its streaming service ESPN+ — which is an eventual replacement for the traditional pay TV subscription — and the inclusion of its channels on internet-delivered TV services such as Sling and Hulu Plus.

For the first time since its inception in 1998, Sky Sports ran a headline from its parent company Skynews as the lack of news or relevant news came to the fore at the height of the Coronavirus epidemic. Subscription prices dropped to an all-time low and the lack of new content forced the broadcaster to make meaningful connections with consumers by providing exclusive content through live Zoom and Microsoft Teams video communication.

Supersport for the first time since its own inception was screening a cocktail of the finest sports-based movies with a sprinkling of its viewers’ best moments from the past two decades but in here lies the magic of sports and broadcasting.

Being in the sport industry means that you are in the entertainment business. Rather than selling a product you are selling the anticipation of what is going to happen and you need to give consumers memories to take away.

Importantly, it is the memories that keep sport fans coming back every season. For this reason, sport as a business will evolve and find new and more meaningful ways to connect with its consumers, the industry did it after World War II, it can do it again.

Refilwe Mangweta, Digital Campaign Manager at The MediaShop

In a time when the whole world has been rocked by the tumultuous impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the human condition shows how resilient it is in response to fighting this virus. Through these trying times I have learnt the importance of laughing at ourselves a bit. “A good laugh overcomes more difficulties and dissipates more dark clouds than any other one thing.”

Laura Ingalls Wilder. For this blog, I wanted to share my pandemic woes on a much lighter note.

Like most people, when the lockdown initially began and upon seeing how the virus was going to change the world as we currently know it, I thought to myself “Ok I’ve got this! I can do my part to flatten the curve!” Dare I say, I even circulated a couple of quotes like ‘our grandparents were called to fight wars, and all we were asked to do is to stay home’.

So needless to say I was ready to stay home and saw this as an opportunity to also accomplish some of the things on my to-do list – procrastination is a real thing! What I was not prepared for is how much of a boujee person I had become which, in turn, made the task at hand uhm ‘superficially challenging’ or at the very least, interesting. Particularly in terms of things I had deemed as “essential” which were honestly just first world problems for instance…

– Store-Bought Coffee – Yep, nothing completes an Instagram picture like a cup of coffee from your favourite coffee shop. So to not have this available was shattering as a coffee lover. The lack of caffeine came a close second to the no alcohol (let’s not even go there).

– Yeast and Ginger – Oh how these previously disregarded items have become the most desired. But the struggle to find these became like the Pokémon challenge version 2.0. Who would have thought that in 2020 we’d be panic buying yeast? Today, yeast has also been promoted from being “just another baking item” to now being critical ingredient to brewing your own alcoholic beverage.

– Make-up – Firstly eyelashes (whether they happen to be your own or not) were definitely essential. And the amount of friends who are having to tame and shape their own eyebrows has made us appreciate all the photo filters on Instagram even more. Any time I needed to go out I would apply my favourite lipstick only to realize no one and I mean NO ONE would see my M·A·C Retro Matte Lipstick.Then there are those beautiful experiences we all thought we would have now that our fast paced lives have slowed down.

– The Zen, that just never came – The number of meditation apps on my phone and the neatly folded unused yoga mat are the perfect examples. Maybe I’ll give it a go tomorrow. Or maybe not. We’ll see.

– The TBR (to be read) pile still sitting on my bookshelf – Listen! As an avid reader this is painful, this was supposed to be my moment to shine. I mean while the world was panic buying toilet paper (before they moved on to the yeast) I stocked up on my fave reads getting myself ready to stay at home, and lose myself into stories and live vicariously through people sitting having drinks at restaurants . Sigh.

– Skin Regiments: My skin regiment has been affected because I used to wear a day cream in the morning then a night cream after my evening shower. But now I shower once a day because I wake up and jump onto meetings *don’t think we haven’t noticed these super early meetings added onto our calendars nowadays*, do work and schooling. So I only shower late afternoon and I can’t put on my night cream in the afternoon. Now I’m stressed because this beauty company promised me the night cream would rejuvenate my skin at night. So when do I use my night cream??? But like I said first world problems.

Thank goodness we’ve moved into level three which will remedy some of my first world problems :). I hope we can continue to laugh at ourselves a little as this virus seems like it will be a part of our lives for some time to come until we find a vaccine.

We need to come to terms with this and take the required precautions. We need to continue to show ourselves and those around us some love because this is difficult for everyone. But most importantly, find moments in each day of this new normal to have a good laugh. And where possible, share that laugh with someone else.

Claire Herman, Media Operations Lead at The MediaShop talks about the possibility of sanitisation pods, clothing bubbles and life after Covid.

In a matter of months our world has been turned upside down after experiencing a global pandemic infecting over 5.1 million people around the world and resulting in almost 331,000 deaths so far (Worldometer, 21 May 2020). Besides Bill Gates and the screenplay writer of Contagion, who could have predicted this?

In our fast-paced society with instant gratification being the order of the day, asking millions of people to go into self-isolation seems like torture – never before has the freedom to see your friends and family, to exercise or walk your dogs, been raised as such a bone of contention and “irritation” – first world problems. But to many, the harsh reality of their living conditions has made lockdown almost unbearable – restricted access to clean water and sanitation, over-crowded living arrangements, an ever-increasing level of unemployment and a massive shortage of food in many communities, is making it very difficult to keep people in confinement. President Ramaphosa’s announcement on Thursday the 13 ^th of May that we could possibly move from Level 4 to Level 3 at the end of May (for some regions at least), does give some hope, but at some stage we will need to be set free.

And when that happens, we most certainly won’t be able to “return to normal” – or at least until we have a vaccine or a cure. Some are estimating that a vaccine is still 18 months away. There will also be “degrees of normality” depending on your age and state of health, with older generations and the immunocompromised needing to be extra cautious.

In the meantime, we need to adapt our lifestyles in the long-term as we navigate towards a “new normal”. But the burning question of what exactly this “new normal” will be is on everyone’s lips. For a sobering view on how some countries are entering this new world go to CNN.com’s article “our new normal, in pictures” at https://edition.cnn.com/2020/05/20/world/gallery/new-normal-coronavirus/index.html .

Could our new normal be body sanitisation pods, face mask fashion outlets, clothing bubbles that enforce a two meter distance between people, a ban on all work meetings unless virtual? It could all very well happen, but let’s take a realistic look at what will need to happen when we are ‘set free’.

According to a recent Kantar webinar on Navigating Growth in a COVID-19 World, there are a few key shifts that we will experience, including:

1. Contactless love and affection: virtual dinner parties for adults and virtual playdates and birthday parties for kids, with grandparents needing to keep a safe distance from their grandchildren.
2. Super-hygiene society: masks may very well be compulsory over the next 18 months, our hands will never be the same again after all the hand-sanitizers and constant washing with soap and water, and we will not be able to shake hands in business meetings or hug our friends hello.
3. Insular lives: shopping online and shopping local will become the norm, a rise in the use of in-home media channels (TV and digital) and a renewed focus on the home as a safe sanctuary.
4. Technology super highway: technology as an enabler in society to just get things done from working, shopping and socialising to exercising and meditating.
5. Renewed respect for essentials: the demand for luxury goods will decline, with a major slowing down of the travel and hospitality industries.
6. An era of shared humanity: a renewed focus on giving back to the community and random acts of kindness, together with an increase in support for authentic brands that are helping to uplift society.

The reality is that there will be many restrictions imposed on us that we will need to adapt to quite quickly. Public transport will need to be heavily monitored to avoid over-crowding. Our retail spaces will need to be reimagined with employee and shopper safety at the forefront. Work environments will look to creating more personal space as opposed to having large areas where groups of people can get together for meetings and have breaks, and there will be a rise in shift-based work schedules and flexible working arrangements.

Schools and universities will continue to integrate distance learning platforms in certain instances, which may even resolve funding issues to cut costs and give more people access to education. Sport and music events will need to limit audience numbers, with an increase in virtual broadcasts and online performances, as well as a rise in eSport. Restaurants will have staggered seating with a drop in patron capacity and an increase in online ordering and home deliveries.

And families may just end up spending much more quality time together at home… Our new normal may not be too bad in the end, but what this crisis has done is put a spotlight on the shortfalls of our society and in our country. It is now time to actively change the way we have been living for a better future. We truly are #StrongerTogether