How Three Years Has Been Condensed into Three Months

As I empty another over full dishwasher created by having four people at home eating three meals a day, it’s not difficult to think about how our lives have changed in recent weeks. From our own family’s daily routines to the it ‘couldn’t be any bigger’ situation that the world finds itself in right now.

Arguably, prior to the pandemic things were changing faster than any time in history anyway. Many behavioural changes were taking place…but it was closer to scope creep, rather than a rebrief. 

We were adapting to the habit of having things delivered at home from groceries to clothing to packet of screws.

And working from that same home or not working at all, mainly on Fridays.

At the centre of these changes was the enabler; technology, which was at last, starting to function effectively… most of the time.

At the same time, away from the practical changes, folk were changing on the emotional and caring side of the coin too. 

Becoming more environmentally aware, thinking about flying and travel more generally, talking about types of packaging and thinking about electric cars verses petrol or diesel and how these decisions affect the planet.

In the brand space, we now have real examples of companies and products launching and selling only in the digital space. 

Brands like All Birds, a digital only brand, environmentally friendly and if you use them properly… helping to keep you in shape.

The effect of Covid-19 has accelerated so much change in just three months’ verses what might have taken three years.

And if we look forward, there are so many positives.

Why would companies go back to the office (with all the costs involved) in the same way, prior to the pandemic? 

Why would we go back to pushing a wire trolley round a super market once a week? 

Why wouldn’t you sign up to a contact tracing app if it helped science progress. 

The media space was also creeping, albeit faster than many sectors.

And the facts are now clear, streaming has matured in the last 12 weeks faster than at any time since the world went digital. 

Content consumption is all around us, more so than the physical presence of human beings in many instances at the moment.

In terms of producing content, life has changed too. 

Watching cookery programmes shot on iPhones, seeing robot type cameras standing like statues with only the presenter on set, on what would have previously been a crew packed production.

And looking forward, it’s going to be very hard for brands to justify putting crews on planes again when talent exists on the ground and technology is the form of transport.

So yes, you could argue the world has finally gone digital… in three months. And while sadly for some this change has been and will be terminal, human beings are resilient and many embrace change… here’s hoping.

Having said all that…

Personally, I can’t wait for some of the more traditional things to be part of my life again, from visiting The Warrington Pub to seeing those smiling faces at Glastonbury on a sunny day again.

Till then… 

Mark Cramphorn is chairman of Travlrr