Get Ahead of the Trend as In-Person Events and Travel Return

This column was written aboard a very packed flight, during one of many upcoming business trips. It all feels kind of like 2019, which makes you wonder about the lessons and behaviors we’ve learned during the pandemic, some of which we quickly relinquished while others have stuck around. The sticky ones seem to tie back to three fundamentals of modern society: community, experiences and convenience. In the context of how brands and marketers can plan for the remainder of 2022, let’s take a closer look at these themes. Boom in leisure travel People crave experiences to enrich their lives. It can be argued that travel is a large part of individual identity, especially for millennials and Gen Z. Infographic: What Millennials and Gen Z Want From Company Logos For a while, we all wondered if tourism would ever get back to normal, but it appears this life-changing event has people ready to make good on their bucket lists. According to a recent Harris Poll survey conducted with the Out of Home Advertising Association of America, 85% of consumers are planning summer vacation travel, with destination getaways and beach vacations top of the list. Plus, this year travelers are going farther and staying longer, which are trends to watch. What’s next? This is the time for tourism boards, airlines, hotels, local experiences and everything vacation-related from attire to luggage to go big with messaging that makes consumers pick and plan. Delivery culture Consumers have turned to more convenient options, especially when it comes to food delivery. These services are continuing to achieve record growth even as consumers move closer to pre-pandemic levels of activity. According to Yelp’s most recent economic average report, there has been a 107% increase in the popularity of delivery services since 2019. In fact, Uber's delivery revenue from Uber Eats has outpaced revenue from ridesharing since 2020, completely transforming and augmenting its business model in just two years. There’s also an element of community here that shouldn’t be overlooked. One of the ways to support local restaurants during shutdowns was by ordering delivery, and some of that behavior has stuck. What’s next? With popularity comes innovation. There’s no doubt new players will keep coming in and disrupting the industry in search of market share. The time is now for the biggest players to retain both suppliers and customers, balancing things like fees and revenue-sharing while keeping their services affordable. It’s also a moment for all brands—not exclusively the delivery category—to think about ways to deliver more convenience to their customer base. Brands That Survived the Pandemic Met New Societal Needs Reutilization of QR codes It wasn’t that long ago that the QR code was declared dead. However, it turned out to be just the innovation we needed to receive information in a convenient and hygienic way. Once consumers started seeing them again, they stuck, becoming an ideal way to share information. Consumers now rely on it as a means to gather information, engage with brands, make payments and more. As a result of Covid-19, QR code usage has increased: 83% of survey participants reported using a QR code to make a payment for the first time, and 52% of U.S. restaurants swapped to QR code menus. If your brand hasn't done so yet, lean on the QR code to engage with consumers in a new way. This can invite them to visit your online storefront or experience your new augmented reality program. If you need help with the creative, leverage your partners—many companies and agencies offer in-house design capabilities. Virtual events and meetings Here’s a trend that’s waning, and for a really simple reason. We crave community and the collective experiences we build. There's an innate, evolutionary desire to gather together—it’s what drives relationships, innovation and the most effective collaboration. We all learned a lot about our ability to adapt and should be proud of how much we accomplished from behind our computer screens. That being said, we’re seeing the rapid return of in-person events, workspaces, conventions, festivals and more. What’s next? A continued return to in-person happenings and continued innovation in virtual ones. A number of startups, game makers, software giants and social media conglomerates are reportedly working on the next big thing in online events: the metaverse. Will we see each other there soon? The past two years have been anything but easy. But out of adversity and hardship come the resilience and adaptability of people. There are things we’ll leave behind and things that will drive us further forward than perhaps we could have imagined in February 2020. Hybrid Work Will Be an Adjustment—Here’s How to Keep Your Company Culture Alive