When you say it out loud, it sounds incredibly jarring. Why? Because up until now, we’ve wanted to experience things that are unchartered, new, ‘unprecedented’ even. These events have been distractions to the stresses and strains of everyday life, or at the very least, a smokescreen to make us forget just how fraught it is out there.
However, as I read that line two days ago on a packed train into London, it struck differently. I felt myself agreeing vehemently that, wouldn’t it be nice to have a ‘normal’ day with standard politics, standard economics, and just a little less shock factor?
After all, aren’t we supposed to be in silly season? What happened to light-hearted snippets of news in July and August when we could giggle about a dog who saved a woman from a grizzly bear attack?! The news is bleak right now which makes it utterly impossible to find chinks in the darkness.
The Emergence of Numbness in Society
This got me thinking…
The word ‘unprecedented’ used to have far more positive associations than it does now. Moments that made history, events that defined our future path, or fundamental shifts in culture that brought about deep and lasting changes to the human psyche.
For better or worse, these moments were markers, catalysts perhaps, to help find a better way forward or to rewire how we might think about things. They required people to do something or think in a different way.
Not any more.
In 2024, my view is that ‘unprecedented’ has become a precursor for volatility – news that has the ability to turn the world violently on its axis. And yet even though we’re seeing more and more unprecedented news in the world, we’re less and less shocked by what we see, hear and read.
Is that necessarily a problem ?
Well, it’s not when you think about living life day to day. Shock, if harnessed correctly, can be a jolt towards progress, if we allow ourselves to be challenged. From a medical standpoint, shocks can revive life. That’s the extraordinarily life-altering impact that a shock can have.
The opposite to this is numbness. A state of paralysis where people are so desensitised to seismic events that they become indifferent to the impact these massive events will have on their everyday lives.
This is troubling on many fronts.
It gives a free pass to bad actors who already wield too much power. It legitimises extremes in politics, economics and societies. And it breeds communities that become more inward looking (which, by its very nature, can be divisive). This is so close to home right now in the UK, where communities are reeling and rebuilding from the recent horrific riots.
Further away from home, whether it’s the former president of the United States surviving an assassination attempt, a Labour leader engaging in a King’s Speech for the first time in 50 years, or catastrophic weather-related events like we have never seen before, unprecedented events now define our everyday.
They have become the norm. But consequentially, we have become numb.
Strategies for Brands in the Numbness Epidemic
This situation creates an interesting paradigm for communicators. With the rise of compassion fatigue, information overload, and psychological distance, brands must execute a delicate dance.
Studies have shown that media exposure to disasters can reduce viewers’ emotional responses, making them less likely to feel moved or compelled to act. Which should prompt communicators to ask, ‘how do we make people feel something again?’ The old rules may not apply here. Purpose is perhaps not enough as an emotional wrapper around corporate or world events.
So, here are some things for marketers and communicators to think about to inoculate themselves, and their audiences, against the numbness epidemic:
- Lean into normalcy – When things feel abnormal, brands can use language and image cues better to resonate and reflect their audiences’ values and emptions. This can help avoid sensationalism or overly graphic content that might lead to desensitisation.
- Engage in more micro moments – It can be tempting for brands to want to invest lots of money in big ticket, ‘won and done’ type campaigns but during times like these, quick, relatable responses or comms that align with the mood of the nation can mean more. Data can be your best friend here.
- Bring the sunshine – Creating content that evokes light-relief or joy during times of absurdity can be highly effective if levered tastefully – especially video content. This can stand out in a media landscape where people are fatigued by shocking news.
- Fill the humanity chasm – at a time when bad actors around us are only ever working to cause harm, brands can be the counterweight to that by dialling up their social impact comms to restore people’s belief in the greater good. That’s not the same as being worthy for worthy’s sake; rather, it’s about showing up authentically to top up the humanity tank.
So, the next time you feel numb to the news, ask yourself this: how can I shock myself back into feeling something again?
There are many things out of our control in the world today, but this is one action that is firmly in our control. And who doesn’t want to exercise a bit of personal control right now?
