The fragmentation of the Covid experience
Category: Covid-19, eCommerce, consumer
Category: Covid-19, eCommerce, consumer
Since The Cocktail Analysis began to monitor the Covid experience, we have been identifying a progressive fragmentation of the experience: if in the confinement there was a certain homogenisation of the experience (same rules for everyone, shared moment of shock), the de-escalation began a process of differentiation, since we 'went out into the world' in very different ways depending on various factors (having or not passed the illness, having suffered economic losses, being or living with someone at risk...). At present, these fractures, both material and emotional, seem to be deepening. But let's start with some cross-cutting features...
The month of October has been characterised by an accelerated worsening of the health situation, emotional exhaustion and disorientation about the rules to be followed. Thus, compared to the sadness of March, the resignation of April and May and the confusion of the summer and September, the most frequently mentioned feeling now is frustration.
And this is noticeable in the perception of advertising campaigns: in April, highly 'emotional' campaigns with messages appealing to the unity of society received an excellent rating and brands managed to convey values of commitment and feelings of optimism and hope.
However, these same codes are now sterile: epic appeals to the shared drama of the pandemic and the possibility of overcoming it together do not resonate: the lack of political consensus, the dynamics of mutual accountability and, above all, the feeling that not everyone is going to 'pay the price' for the crisis to the same extent cause scepticism towards brand messages that refer to "collaboration" but in a vague way, without offering concrete benefits, and claiming an importance that does not correspond to them.
October looks even weaker than September in terms of social habits (bearing in mind that the survey was conducted before the partial hospitality closures and curfews came into effect, so presumably the trend is even more acute now): leisure in shared spaces was much reduced, with figures for visits to bars, terraces, restaurants and shopping centres down compared to September and compared to the outlook in July.
In terms of spending, we have been speculating for months that the consumer will adopt an attitude of spending control and that time seems to be approaching. Although there are differences by category, compared to September, the gap between those who say they will spend less than the same month last year and those who will spend more widens to double.
We began by saying that the experience of the pandemic was fragmenting, and these fractures become clear when we look beyond the overall figures. The classic socio-demographic variables show statistically significant differences:
In order to deepen this analysis of the fracture lines of the Covid experience, we have carried out a clustering exercise, and these are the 5 groups identified with respect to their way of 'transiting' the Covid experience:
Given the economic and emotional fragmentation, brands' strategies on what and how to communicate should be equally fragmented.
Opt for a smaller us: communicate for my benefit and the benefit of my people.
Monitor the potential for spending retrenchment.
In communication, references to the social context should take a back seat to messages that highlight the direct benefit to the consumer. Need for consistency in what you say/do.
You can consult the full report here.