Webinar: The World in 2021 and Beyond | The Post Pandemic Society
Trends Briefing: 28th January 2021 | 9am-10am | Register here
In 2021, we’ll move from the health phase of this crisis to the next phase. Restrictions will recede, the world will reopen, and the trends that will shape the next decade will accelerate.
This year, more than ever, it is important to consider not just the year ahead, but the years ahead.
We’ve been collecting data and monitoring trends throughout 2020, publishing regular reports on how Covid is changing behaviour. In 2021 and beyond it is essential to focus on the changes that will be permanent – and where consumers will revert to their pre-pandemic habits.These lasting shifts include the Deregulation of Place as we exercise more choice in where and how we spend our time, a New Collectivism as social and business resilience comes to the fore, the impacts of Positive Tech as the nation harnesses a year of digital upskilling and the return of the Play Society as consumers get back to what they’ve been missing. Understanding consumers will get harder as employers and businesses grapple with new demands from employees and customers.
But Covid is not the only show in town – in 2020 or 2021. Unemployment is already rising as town and city centres experience the greatest disruption in a generation. As the transition period ends, the UK will finally experience Brexit. And pandemic-independent trends in demographics and tech development – underrated in recent months – will continue to slowly but powerfully shape our lives.
Combined, these shifts will create the Post Pandemic Society – with new norms, new consumer attitudes and behaviours, and new rules for brands and businesses.