What's Next, Now: August 2024
This month, our crystal ball predicts the RedZone-ing of TV, another Great Resignation, new tourist hotspots, and more.
While hundreds of Olympians received gold medals this Summer Games, we’re crowning another winner of the event: Peacock. NBC’s streaming service served as a hub for Olympics coverage, broadcasting 10+ hours of content every day and giving viewers at home access to not just primetime match-ups but qualifiers and contests from all across the Paris Games. Its Gold Zone product was a particular hit, providing live, multi-view coverage of every medal event throughout the two weeks.
Olympics viewers spent 23.5 billion minutes on Peacock, more time than all other Olympics combined across NBC’s streaming platforms. While previously Peacock was the subject of internet ridicule during the Games due to a poorly performing product, this year fans flocked to social media to share their love for the transformed streaming experience.
Streaming services have been feeling the pressure to innovate to retain viewership. Streaming is losing ground to YouTube, which is now the most-watched streaming platform on U.S. televisions and is loved by many for its broad, easy-to-access content archive. Peacock got a couple of things right for the modern Olympics audience, which has come to expect content that caters to short attention spans and provides instant gratification. First, the streaming service had a massive library of available content and housed it all in one place (and under one subscription), making it much easier to access. And with Gold Zone, viewers weren’t limited to only watching one event at once, appealing to today’s "sludge"-obsessed audiences.
We predict we’ll see the RedZone-ing of TV start to pick up steam, even outside of sports (RedZone-ing as in NFL RedZone, the original multi-view sports-watching experience and the inspiration for Peacock’s Gold Zone). For example, election news coverage could take advantage of a multi-view format and showcase live analysis alongside to-the-minute updates. Reality TV could also get a RedZone makeover, with multiple cameras streaming can’t-miss cast interactions. Even the corporate world could get a RedZone-like experience, such as a project management app allowing you to access multiple projects at once and highlighting important tasks and updates.
This month kicked off with a stock-market freakout after a less-than-favorable jobs report: wage growth is slowing, unemployment is up, and job openings are slumping. These stats were a stark deviation from the month’s projections, but anyone who has looked for a job recently probably isn’t too surprised. Strong employment numbers are bolstered by disproportionate industry growth, but factors like ghost jobs and “spray and pray” applicants also make the job market look more bustling than it is.
This steep uphill battle for securing new positions is creating a sense of unease among workers. New data shows 4.4% of workers anticipate becoming unemployed, the highest proportion since 2014. Many can feel the power shift back to the employer, as wages, hirings, and promotions slow. (It’s worth noting that some younger job seekers are doing what they can to turn the tables on that dynamic.) The job-switching fervor that peaked in 2022 seems like a distant memory, but that doesn’t mean employees are happy to be where they are. A recent study revealed more employees say they’re aiming to change jobs this year than those who were looking to job-hop during the Great Resignation.
Economists have been fretting about an impending recession, but things are starting to look up. We’re in an election year, so there’s a lot still to happen before the dust settles. Workers will be watching to see whether an economic upswing might be an excuse to put in their two-weeks notice. Combined with the impending dissolution of non-competes (barring legal delays), conditions for an unprecedented game of professional musical chairs seem to be converging. If you’re hoping to hold onto your talent, now might be the time to check in and see what needs or wants you can help fulfill to keep them around. (Might we suggest child care or fertility benefits?)
For a generation known for their frivolous spending, Gen Z has ironically been spearheading a new trend that flips this narrative on its head. The trend, dubbed "underconsumption core," embraces the idea of only purchasing and using what you truly need. Gen Z is revitalizing this classic budgeting principle by turning it into a cultural movement.
This shift in consumer behavior reflects the growing concerns about a recession that have been looming in recent months — remember the vibecession? And while things may not feel great at the moment, the hope is that better times are ahead.
Fast forward to today, and the economic outlook remains uncertain, especially considering high unemployment and interest rates continuing to complicate the housing market. In response, Gen Z's underconsumption trend reflects consumers finally adjusting their spending habits to align with the realities of the current economic landscape.
The silver lining? Gen Z says we have "recession pop" to help us navigate these tough times. If the 2008 recession taught us anything, it’s that music can serve as a soundtrack to resilience, with iconic hits from Lady Gaga, Kesha, and the Black Eyed Peas. Many are drawing parallels to this summer's chart-toppers, with hits from Charli XCX, Sabrina Carpenter, and Taylor Swift providing us with a similar sense of positive energy.
Gen Z has a knack for turning anything into a trend, and now they’re proving that in addition to making you laugh, these movements can also help revive older techniques and reintroduce healthy habits to the younger generation. With consumer spending on the decline, Gen Z likely will find a new target that inspires a trend to cope with harsh realities. Whether it's the housing crisis or the job market, if anybody can change the norm of buying a home or working a 9-5 job, it would be Gen Z.
If persistent airline delays weren’t enough to discourage travelers this summer, tourists now have another problem — countries that don’t want them. An anti-tourism movement is starting to catch on in Europe and other popular vacation destinations where locals are tired of rude, destructive, and intrusive visitors. In Spain, thousands of marchers gathered in July to protest against overtourism, which resulted in a complete ban on short-term rentals in Barcelona. In Venice, tourists now have to pay a five euro entrance fee to visit the city in an attempt to limit overcrowding, while Thailand has closed a popular coastal national park to visitors to protect it from environmental damage.
Not all countries are attempting to deal with the tourist problem by keeping them out. Instead, some are trying incentives to encourage good behavior instead. The Copenhagen tourism board recently announced it would reward tourists who demonstrate climate-friendly travel behavior (such as traveling by bicycle or train instead of car) with free museum tours, kayak rentals, art workshops, meals, and more. From British Columbia to Micronesia, other vacation destinations are implementing similar programs.
As travel expectations from both host countries and visitors evolve, we expect to see less-traditional vacation destinations step into the spotlight. While some locations attempt to combat overtourism, others are taking advantage of the crackdown to encourage more travelers. Taiwan introduced a lottery system to give tourists money to spend while traveling in its local cities, and countries including Kenya and Pakistan are hoping to boost tourism with visa-free entry. Wales is taking a tech-forward approach to draw tourists — the country recreated its popular tourist attractions in the metaverse, giving visitors a chance to experience them in virtual reality and learn more about the country before ever actually setting foot there.
These models of encouraging tourism have seen success in the past. Portugal, which has been actively seeking out visitors since the pandemic lull, has now exceeded pre-pandemic tourism levels, setting a record with €25 billion in revenue (that’s nearly $28 billion USD).
As we mentioned, the FTC’s ban on noncompetes is set to take effect September 4, which could have significant effects across industries. The ruling is under legal attack, so we’re monitoring how its rollout may be affected in the coming weeks.
Google has been hit with another antitrust suit over its dominance of search. Could this be the opportunity AI needs as it seeks to insert itself into the search world?
AI tech providers are turning to smaller, sleeker models in an attempt to offer a more effective (and cost-effective) product to companies struggling to see ROI from their AI investments.
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