Understanding the next normal

With pubs across the country opening up again, it seems that after many weeks of hibernation, life in the UK may slowly be getting back to normal – or is it?

Although the impact has been felt in every part of our economy and society, underneath it all the impact is driven by very human responses – how we feel, how we interact with others, how we communicate, collaborate and learn.

Our understanding of human behaviour teaches us that it won’t be quite as simple as going back to normal, particularly as lockdown has affected us in asymmetric ways.

Here are three discoveries about the human side of this crisis we’ve made over the last few months:

1 / The impacts of Covid 19 on long term consumer behaviour will often be secondary and indirect.

In our Consumer Connections video series we’ve explored these changes – and the new behaviours that have emerged – with our closest friends and family.

2 / Intermediate measures might be needed to ease collective anxiety, according to behavioural scientist Dan Ariely.

Take a look at our three key takeouts from Ogilvy’s Nudgestock event or watch the talks in full here.

3 / Online collaboration might be here for a while yet.

We’ve collected our learnings from teachers working from home for keeping the attention of unruly participants in online settings – kids and colleagues alike.

If you want to understand how to translate human understanding into strategy, Incite’s Restart Planning toolkit provides a way to answer the big questions and to navigate uncertainty. To learn more, get in touch — or start using the toolkit yourself here.