4 changes in advertising that communicators should know

The ever-evolving healthcare, political and social landscape are changing the way people are living their lives across the world. It has also changed the way we advise our clients.

The reality of these seemingly endless changes extends even to some of our largest advertising accounts. Because we are straying away from large blanket strategies, and digging deeper into the psyche of our clients’ stakeholder audiences, it’s important that we understand the fundamental and nuanced shifts that impact the way customers do business and consume media.

Here are four major trends that are changing advertising as the world deals with change and new norms:

1. The commute to work. COVID-19 has flipped the United States—and the world—upside down, and as it relates to advertising, has potentially changed commuting tendencies for good. With commute times being such a key touchpoint in the way people consume media, we’ve reacted quickly to reallocate investments to account for nonexistent “drive times” and the decrease in consumption across print and out-of-home placements, especially across public transport and office elevators for example. And with more time spent at home, we are seeing unsurprising spikes across TV, digital, podcasting and over-the-top (OTT) consumption as the cord cutting trend continues to grow.