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LUXE TREND 55
A WORLD IN TRANSFORMATION PART 2
Two more weeks have passed, and our lockdown activities have stimulated our ability to create all kinds of conjecture and conspiracies. With so many artists working in confinement, will we see more great novels and artwork created when we emerge from our cocoons? Will we be better versions of ourselves, more enlightened, better humanitarians, or will we let our survival instincts enter the world in search of making a living again?
The virus has infected more than the human population as institutions and businesses that felt well buttressed against a crisis now find themselves reconsidering their business models and their relevance.
In New York, walking up Madison Avenue reveals boarded-up luxury boutiques, with most of their merchandise removed from the shelves. It is a post-apocalyptic scene in a city that has lost its energy. The mechanical “heartbeat” that powers NY appears to be currently silent.
Some of us are still trying to navigate the new rules of staying/working/living at home, in between posting our high school graduation photos on Facebook, and secretly agonizing over the future. How will our new world look? Will we finally dare to change the institutions that betrayed our principles time and time again? Will we be brave enough to implement some of our new ideas that are becoming our companions in confinement?
Until then, we are still dreaming in Rapid Eye Movement times 100 or 1000, causing us to have a sharp evaluation of how the next phase will unfold. It’s a cocktail of one part fear of a Monday morning algebra quiz, one part thrill of driving a convertible on the open road, and two parts of seeing a highway patrolman on your rearview mirror. Get ready; it is time to get smart.
Staying at Home Feels Great
The post-Covid office environment will have to be ultra-sanitized continuously to allow workers to get back to work with a modicum of safety.
Offices will remain empty until this pandemic resolves itself or until a viable cure and vaccine emerge. Since there are many viruses for which there is no vaccine, just yearly management, millions of square footage of office space might remain unused for the foreseeable future.
In the United States, those who can work from home and can stay productive are slowly discovering there are certain advantages to this quarantine. For example, commutes that took hours every week are now not even necessary. In specific jobs, and for now, productivity has possibly increased.
In wealthy suburbs, it is more comfortable and safer to continue having things delivered rather than venture out to shop or interact with people who are potential virus carriers. There are no apparent shortages in the food supply — yet — and the only inconvenience is the inability to change the scenery.
Yoga teachers and personal trainers are instructing over Zoom; shrinks are a phone call away; even the doctor can is available on an iPhone app. The kids can be homeschooled, and the housekeeper can continue freshening the pantry as long as he wears gloves and a mask. Cocooning with these amenities isn’t so bad, after all.
No-one knows if colleges and universities will offer regular classes in the fall. Until then, the feeling of “Safe at Home” can continue. Come Winter, if another lockdown is necessary, we might even be better prepared for it with better amenities.
Bots and Drones
Uber is currently busy building an army of autonomous drones. Your meal will be picked up from the area restaurant and promptly delivered right to your doorstep., along with a chilled bottle of Paul Michael Chardonnay. Your pharmacy will be dropping off the weekly supply of your meds, Sephora-Air will be including your makeup provisions, etc.
We’ve heard for a while that Bots are the new customer service agents. We envisioned opportunities where Bots are concierges of the future, arranging travel and booking appointments. Since travel is not looking likely, new possibilities can exist for Bots to be used as no-contact assistants, assembling digital itineraries that are not of the travel variety.
In the event Covid infections continue, Bots will serve as health aides, planning your recovery through a responsive symptom-specific regimen.
In the purchasing journey, Bots will integrate with new shopping services. Bot tech will offer multi-layered integrations with other lifestyle platforms, allowing consumers to feel productive, entertained, and well taken care of..
A New Economy
As Paul Krugman recently said the Economy is in a coma. The longer it remains in a coma, the more dangerous it becomes to restart it. With many million unemployed and the future of entire industries uncertain, the idea of returning to the pre-Covid economic reality remains an impossibility.
The methods of transacting the same way as before the crisis will not be feasible. It will be necessary to design a New Economy, one that incorporates the lessons we’ve learned while working at home.
Similar to the Economic restructuring of 2008–9, this new Economy will have to withstand future shockwaves and to address a transformed marketplace. The New Economy might require a more significant dependency on non-physical products to protect itself against another outbreak.
Online marketplaces will thrive to the extended decline of physical stores. New products will be invented and marketed. Can you foresee a future of no-overhead products? Digitally produced and delivered, these products will be knowledge-based, but their delivery will create less impact on the environment. Expect more 3D printing at home from products downloaded from the internet. Welcome to the world of No Contact. Smart brands will invest in the process of Inventing in the New Economy, and thereby partake in its inception.
This year has become the year of the Crusade. Brands that survive are already supporting healthcare, first responders, and all kinds of life preservation initiatives. New corporate identity programs will announce that participation from the get-go.
In a very short time, our vision of the future has changed radically. As we witness our aspirations die off in this pandemic reality, we can gaze back wistfully at the gentleness of a time where living in comfort was a life goal. We’ve long moved past the ideal as pictured by Slim Aarons that began the first part of this article. Reclaiming our lives will require conscious self-care, a dedication to the community, and a realignment of society not seen in several hundred years. Transformation is often a painful process.