Being a Post-Pandemic Consumer

Being quarantined has been hard damn work, though I’m sure I don’t need to tell you that.

Between the social isolation, attempting to get work done, many, many Zoom calls and “home schooling” your kid(s), have you, like me, found that you’ve become a more pronounced consumer? I don’t just mean of quarantine snacks, although, yes, all the snacks have been eaten, but of media in general.

Forbes reports that internet usage in the US is up as much as 70%. And no wonder, given that we’re working, learning and playing at a distance. Advertising has changed dramatically given that experiential marketing pretty much ceased to exist for the past two months - we’re not attending sporting, music or other cultural events. We haven’t been riding the subways, flying or taking the bus.

We have spent a LOT of time in front of our tv’s, computers, and phones consuming content. We’ve been hungry to assuage the tiny little voices of fear and uncertainty we’re all feeling. And brands are listening to that.

Rather than targeting us for a sale, brands have been “community building.” We’re all in this together, they tell us. I think one of the weirdest and most on-point advertising moments I’ve experienced in the last few weeks has been a toilet paper commercial where the manufacturer was assuring us, in soft gentle tones, that they were diligently making more so we could continue to panic buy all the t.p. we wanted. This is where we are.

We will, eventually, move out of quarantine, hopefully slowly and safely, but that’s another conversation. 

When we once more begin tilting our blinking eyes toward the sun and groups of people we don’t live with, keep in mind that advertisers will come roaring back at you as well. They’ll need you to buy. And in order to get you to buy, they’ll need you to feel less-than.

Actually, making us feel less-than or lacking, is the entire point of advertising. It’s showing you a product or service that theoretically moves you on the growth chart. It’s advertising’s goal to show you a problem (one you perhaps didn’t even know you had) and then provide you with a handy solution, for a certain cost.

So as we move toward a post-pandemic world, it’s important to be a savvy post-pandemic consumer. The world will be a very different place after Covid-19. Step back from the images and ideas that are being thrown at you. Critically think about what they want from you, and what you want from them. 

Most importantly, don’t allow them to make you feel small. Don’t be afraid not to buy-in.

LB Adams is the Founder of Practical Dramatics, headquartered in Charleston, SC.  Her company provides stellar training events that utilize theatre strategies to help humans grow more profitable conversations with other humans. Check out Practical Dramatics’ YouTube channel for a variety of Snack-Sized Skills for the Pandemic videos.