Expert Outlook 2021 - Make Believe

In 2020, COVID-19 brought a momentary sense of unity as the world tried to get to grips with the pandemic. But a year of lockdowns, job losses, global protests, and divisive politics means that a lot of people are going into 2021 with uncertainty and anxieties hanging over them. As social inequality, misinformation, and climate disasters continue to dominate the cultural conversation, people will look to brands to offer more than helpful gestures and entertaining distractions.

In the first half of 2020, as countries confronted COVID-19 outbreaks, economies were almost universally uprooted. In 2021, as the promise of viable vaccines looks set to stabilise both the literal and economic health of the globe, there is the hope of positive recovery. As a hesitant confidence returns and people begin to shape their lives in a post-pandemic environment, some will be looking to let off financial steam, while instability will continue for others.

Protests, political misinformation, and the pandemic – 2020 has been defined by urgency, precarity, and anxiety. It saw people stand up for social issues – allyship was recognised as vital to racial equality, brands’ performative gestures became transparent, and in light of the infodemic, people began scrutinising what they read and heard. With people increasingly expecting brands to speak out against injustices, inaction could lead to brand disloyalty in 2021.

The Australian wildfires may have dominated public attention at the start of 2020, but COVID-19 pushed climate change out of the disaster spotlight for most of the year. Yet having seen just how much progress is possible in a moment of crisis, campaigners and citizens will push for more drastic measures from institutions and businesses going forward, and they will have even less patience for green-washing.