In a week when Prime Minister Boris Johnson gave an emphatic nationwide address, where his use of war-time rhetoric was prevalent and united the nation, the COVID-19 crisis continues to grip our world. It has also shone a light on our value system as citizens of this nation and the world, calling into question how much we really value the people powering the frontline and keeping our country going. The revaluation of people and their societal contributions has been enormous and will penetrate the fabric of society in far deeper ways than we might realise.
In an article in The Economist this week, we heard from the former governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, about the way in which the economy must now yield to “human values” saying:“value will change in the post-COVID world. On one level, that’s obvious: valuations in global financial markets have imploded, with many suffering their sharpest declines in decades. More fundamentally, the traditional drivers of value have been shaken, new ones will gain prominence, and there’s a possibility that the gulf between what markets value and what people value will close.”
This is powerful on so many levels. Economic and financial gains will need to be assessed against psychological and societal vectors. Coming out of this, brands will need to reassess things like their influencer marketing plans, to avoiding looking crass in the current crisis (and foreseeable future). Might we see the rise of ‘expert’ influencers to combat the ‘infodemic’ happening and people’s quest for the truth? Has COVID-19 made data experts the new-age social media influencers? Lots in flux but with everything still to play for.
