Context
Corona – Think, Talk, Share
Covid-19 is the all-encompassing discussion material and opens up sharing thoughts and stories, it also can bring people closer together; it can make people reflect and see society agendas and even alter the way they chose to live.
Exchange of Views – Bonding and Orientation to counter Social Distancing
People are talking more! With each other and especially about Corona, and they are trying to make sense of it. This is a new quality: Corona provides an existential topic that affects everyone, one that can be a “drama” for them in some form, indirectly or directly, even if it factually affects others you know or are close to. One hears a lot, stories and fates are told. And “the danger” itself and its consequences are far from being averted. The condition does not “settle,” it circles and remains volatile.
People who were otherwise rather “at a distance” suddenly “can” a bit with each other. The Corona experience “unites” them. It binds them more strongly than the otherwise effective distances (lifestyle, social status, age, etc.) separate them.
A new collective phenomenon: People start thinking and talking to each other – they are their own “social media” for self-reassurance and relief.
This “bonding” unites and creates collective stability – and is used in this way. People move closer together.
Corona times – “a sorrow shared is a sorrow halved”
In thinking about the “corona time”, the ” upside-down world”, one’s own life partly gets reviewd. Partly due to the lockdown as a trigger to start developing other daily routines, partly because there was already a “crisis” before. This is also talked about openly with “strangers”. It’s as if Corona is creating a kind of collective “catharsis” – “a sorrow shared is a sorrow halved”. A productive variant of “making a virtue out of necessity.” In this way, Corona brings people into different proportions in their evaluations.
Talking and connecting against distance and desent
Psychologically, a temporary “hygiene regime” to strengthen (social) bonds out of isolation and insecurity. Bonding and support are on the change side defending against isolation and fear of falling through the social net. At the same time, it practices “tolerance” in opposition to “free-floating” fears, nervousness, stroppiness or demonstrative individual claims.
Perspectives
Framework parameter for new communication and brand strategies
This transitional state creates new framework for how people want to be addressed as “consumers” and “customers”. The informal “you” instead of the “you” has become commonplace in everyday dealings. Posters and advertisements address “everyone” in an inclusive way if they encourage “please keep your distance”. This kind of communicative casualness and “relaxation exercise” relaxes, it “de-stresses” and strengthens the feeling of belonging and of being “taken care of”. It is a communication of togetherness – which at best can also become one of the shared values and social responsibility.