Now and Next: Living at Speed

On Wednesday 21st May 2014, OMD UK welcomed a selection of clients, media partners and media industry figures to join us for an afternoon of insight and inspiration at the Old Truman Brewery on Brick Lane. Throughout the course of the event, we uncovered an overview of our Future of Britain research project to date, conducted a live focus group session on stage and hosted a guest panel of pioneering industry names to discuss what the future holds for brands, media and audiences.

We have been updating this blog with teasers of our key event themes, to give a flavour of the subjects that were touched upon by OMD UK speakers and our industry panel. The third of our themes was entitled Living at Speed and examines the accelerated culture of modern Britain but, crucially, also explores the reaction to this faster way of life and suggests a more nuanced view of media that brands must embrace if they want to connect with their audiences.

Toby Gunton, our Head of Innovation, began by discussing the increasing rate at which we live, work and consume media. Direct results of this new mode of living include the tl;dr ethos: “too long; didn’t read”. We have come to expect information to come in bitesize chunks and to disregard those messages that do not fit the quick and easy ‘snacker’ mentality. We also find a reaction to this fast pace, whereby people begin to search out deeper and more meaningful experiences as an antidote to the quick and the disposable.

Ann Wixley, OMD UK’s Creative Director, then joins the conversation to explore ways that brands can appeal to consumers who run at two very different speeds. She points out that brands must embrace a media strategy that doubles deeper connections with shorter forms of content that are flexible enough to fit around the dynamic and unpredictable modes of living in Britain today. Brands can benefit by going back to their roots, drawing on the core brand vision that their audience know and love, such as Vans (with their #LivingOffTheWall documentary series) or by creating a platform designed to completely disrupt the mundane, such as Pepsi Max’s #Unbelievable OOH campaign. There are all kinds of approaches that a brand can take to this phenomenon – for Ann, the creative possibilities that are available to marketers and brands are like a toy box of opportunity within media.

Download a summary of the OMD UK view of Connect Britain, and what that means for brands, from here.

For a snapshot of OMD UK’s view of Living at Speed, Ann sums up her discussion below:

 

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