In what seemed like a moment, the entire world changed. Everything we took for granted about the economy, consumers’ attitudes and values, and ways we collectively went about living our lives have been suddenly turned on its head. 

The implications of how this will influence consumer choices are seismic in scope. Complicating this is the fact that now, more than ever, what the “new normal” will look like for all of us – as human beings and as consumers – is largely unknown. Like a pebble dropping into a still pond, we’re experiencing the first ripples of this change…and the aftereffects will be felt for many years to come. 

This means that all our underlying assumptions about what makes consumers “tick” need to be pressure-tested. 

This new reality creates an urgent challenge for brands and marketers: how to remain nimble while understanding how consumers’ lives will continue to change, how to connect with consumers in authentic ways, and how to create meaningful value in peoples’ lives.

As researchers, we will need to re-envision how we “go” into people’s homes as ethnographers, how we help our clients immerse in insights and collaborate together in ideation sessions; and urge clients to make online experiences just as fulfilling as in-person or in-store interactions.

It’s a daunting challenge that can only be successfully navigated by fixing our sights on the consumers who are the lifeblood of any business, deeply understanding them as humans, and making them the focal point of our strategies to better serve them as the new normal takes hold.

– Greg Heist is the chief innovation officer at Gongos, Inc.

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What to tweet this month. Twitter is out with a new content guide to help businesses on the platform strategically plan for the month to come. The calendar lists the key dates and celebratory holidays for the month of May, which comes at a crucial time as social distancing and virtual experiences continue to evolve. Beyond May, Twitter’s content calendar has a downloadable component that details the months to come – from Best Friends Day in June to International Dog Day in August. 

Facebook API updates for hashtags, special ads, and permissions. The social platform yesterday released a slate of new API updates, including new fields for Instagram hashtag search and special ad categories, along with new permissions for apps to read and write page data. The new hashtag timestamp field will give developers access to the creation time for any post accessible via Instagram’s Hashtag Search API. On the permissions side, Facebook has added “six new permissions” that aim to give developers better access to and control over page data. It’s important to note that some APIs will be deprecated this year, but Facebook has “significantly reduced” the amount of APIs it will remove access to in light of COVID-19. 

For most marketers, attending in-person events is a key component to their professional development. But COVID-19 has significantly impacted the ability to travel, at least for now. How are you thinking about and planning your fourth quarter event schedule?

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Developing CDP Use Cases: A Guide for Marketers – CMS Wire

3 Brands Excelling With Zoom To Build Community – Forbes

Are CMOs failing brands or are brands failing CMOs? – Marketing Dive

Apple’s online WWDC kicks off June 22 – TechCrunch

90% of people buy from brands they follow on social media – Retail Dive

Publicist, A Freelance Platform For Marketing Talent, Launches Despite COVID Headwinds – AdExchanger