May 13, 2020

Communication, Trust, & Authenticity in a Digital World

Communication, Trust, & Authenticity in a Digital World

The last few months have had a profound impact on our lives and businesses. Here are a few trends I’ve noticed, that I would like to share with you, that are dynamically shaping our present and likely our future. These insights will be key to how brands can be strengthened in our new order.

The High-Speed Move of Life Online

We were already undergoing a digital transformation in many aspects of our lives, but the last months of COVID have underscored and accelerated the importance of technology. The convenience of online technology has been made clear during this time, whether it is our kids completing their school year online, our virtual meetings with colleagues, or our exercise classes being instructed remotely. Many businesses were already using technology to some extent, but this experience has made it clear that online interaction is a fundamental part of our lives.

The digital transformation has forced many brands to be more agile, explore new technology platforms and find new ways of working together. As a business, what can you do to accelerate your transformation, and how should you go about it? What else can you do to change your team dynamics? Anstice has explored ideas with our own team, asked around, listened to Oxford Answers, read Mary Meeker’s coronavirus trends report and landed on what we think is some practical advice:

  • Empower your team with flexibility to be productive when and how it works for them.
  • Try some new tools and explore ways to collaborate using technology. Nureva’s Span Workspace is a digital tool built for remote collaboration.
  • Consider how you would change your hiring practices if physical proximity were not a factor in the decision of engaging talent for your business.
  • Start planning for the future. Which of your teams works better with physical proximity? How should your office space be rethought to have a combination of physical and virtual creativity and productivity?

The question is how permanent this new way of using technology will be in how we conduct our lives and businesses moving forward. At Anstice, we believe that this is an opportunity to capture the small or large innovations your team has made, and for your business to emerge an even more collaborative entity than before.

It’s All About Values

The actions that your brand takes now will have an impact on your business for the future. Our research at Anstice has shown that consumers expect brands to act responsibly towards their employees and their communities. This is the time to be building trust with your consumers, and to be thoughtful about how you are communicating. Consumers do not necessarily expect you to have the answers, but they do want to know that you are listening. They have to feel confident that the brands they do business with are adapting and innovating towards our new future. They want to do business with brands they can trust. This is the time for brands to rethink their place in their stakeholders’ businesses or consumers’ lives, not necessarily changing strategy, but changing the way they deliver on their strategy.

Our new collective business model may well be a hybrid of digital interactions and a redefined physical experience. We are on this discovery together, and brands that listen, innovate and communicate will position themselves to be successful and relevant for our future.

Andrea Goertz, Chief Operating Officer