Time Well Spent: advertising in the era of digital calorie counting

The term digital detox has been around for years, but in 2018 it began to enter the public consciousness in a new way. The “Time Well Spent” movement is redefining how tech providers and individuals quantify the value of digital activity; moving from the amount of time spent to the quality of the experience. In 2018 a growing consensus that spending too much time on your phone is bad for your mental and physical health led to tech companies and consumers thinking about screen addiction and the actual enjoyment of digital experiences.

What’s next?

Five portions. 8 hours a night. Over 10,000 steps. Under 2,000 calories… Is the next key daily number for a health-conscious person going to be under 60 minutes looking at your phone? The functionality is there and the public consciousness is shifting. In 2019 we will start to see if people use these features or go even further in developing new ways to curb their screen time.

Of course, this shift could have a huge impact on the advertising industry, which has developed its own addiction to the power of the smartphone screen. Here are the three big questions we think need answering.

1. Where is the attention going instead? And how can we capitalise on this?

Deloitte's 2018 Mobile Consumer Survey highlights the impacts that smartphones have on our everyday lives, with 95% of people claiming to have used their phone within 24 hours (compared to 65% for a laptop/PC).

We're also not just picking up our phones once or twice: in 2019 it's predicted that Americans will be on their smartphones for over 3 hours 35 minutes, which will surpass TV as the medium attracting the most minutes in the US.

For advertisers and marketers, the value of mobile eyeballs has been apparent for some time. So what happens if we start putting our devices down?

First, we have to understand who would be looking to make a change to their mobile usage habits, and the obvious contenders are Gen Z and Millennials. Over 59% of people aged 16 - 34 feel they use their phone too much, with many starting to utilise screen-time apps.

If these digital natives do start to use their phones less, a new fight will emerge to capture their attention elsewhere, and the smart brands who win will be those that understand the changing habits of their consumers.

Gaming has been increasing its global revenue for some time and is now bigger than the movie industry, with no sign of slowing down in 2019. Younger users who are making an effort to limit time on one screen may be moving their attention to another. Advertising within games has started to appear in a variety of forms, ranging from simple product placement (a Zippo lighter in Call of Duty) to full branded real-world environments such as NBA 2K where players can walk the virtual streets seeing posters for Gatorade.

While looking at our smartphones less may become the future, we’ll still be using them to listen. Digital audio apps represent the most used feature on our phones, and thanks to the explosion of smart speakers we are streaming more audio than ever before. This rise has seen podcasts grow in popularity with more people tuning in – but despite this rise in listenership, advertisers have been slow to catch-on. Early adopters, such as Squarespace, have seen a lot of success through partnerships with cult series such as Serial but expect smart brands to get more involved in podcasts as capturing people's attention via audio becomes more important.

Finally, with more of us starting to look up from our screen for more extended periods, will there be a resurgence of OOH advertising? Digital OOH is getting smarter with tech brands like Flow City able to show different messaging based on weather or environmental factors (i.e. the presence of a high pollen count in a specific area will trigger a relevant advert).

It's worth remembering that just because people can track their usage, it won't equate to a change in behaviour. The Deloitte Mobile Report explains it well:

“Quantification of behaviour alone will not change behaviour for everyone. A user of a fitness app whose measurements show a lack of exercise will not necessarily change their behaviour as a result.”

It may be too soon to predict where people's attention is captured, but brands need to start making preparations if they don't want to be left behind when the wind suddenly changes and starts taking their audience in a different direction.

2. Can brands take advantage of the broader “digital wellness” trend?

Any brand which has a stake in health, fitness, nutrition or wellbeing should be considering the ways in which they can address the arrival of digital wellness on the scene.

You can already imagine how sporting brands like Nike or Lululemon, wellness brands like Headspace or even some cosmetics companies like Lush or the Body Shop, might do bold, exciting work in this new space.

However, as with all social good trends, brands should first consider their own culpability or participation in the problems they might claim they want to solve. Nike’s excellent training apps still come from the same design school philosophy that the originator of the “Time Well Spent” movement Tristan Harris rails against. They include intrusive push notifications, addictive gamification and social pressure that keeps users glued to their phones. Nike would probably protest that their apps are doing this in the name of keeping people fit and healthy, but there’s still a question as to how far the end justifies the means.

Ultimately, any brand which wants to make a serious play in this space need to review and acknowledge its own participation in the worst excesses of the attention economy and act accordingly. A great case study here is Patagonia who famously told people not to buy a Patagonia jacket unless they genuinely needed one. They have also run a long line of initiatives and competitions to counter the environmental damage caused by the production and over consumption of clothes. In this way they can meaningfully reconcile their role as a capitalist clothes manufacturer with their progressive ecologically friendly brand ethos. They’ve done something real to address the problem and customers respect them because of it. When it comes to the digital wellness brands should look at themselves first and only then think how they can appropriately contribute.

3. Collateral damage / unintended consequences: What does this mean for the experience economy?

A meme has been circulating the web featuring famous historical scenes with the copy 'not a cell phone in sight. just ppl living in the moment.' It was born out of a Twitter copypasta that parodies holier-than-thou attitudes towards smartphone usage, believing that the lack of smartphones keeps people engaged with their surroundings.

While it's easy to laugh along with what they're saying, there is an underlying truth that mobile phones are stopping people from experiencing live events as the growing demand for social currency and content becomes more important than what's happening right in front of them.

Artists and entertainers, including Jack White and Chris Rock, have introduced no phone policies at their concerts to stop people documenting their experience and to keep them engaged in the show. Phone users are now being treated in the same way as other social outcasts (such as smoking) by being forced into outdoor areas, away from the show.

Activations that combine digital and real-world experience have been commonplace for some time, but as brands look to capture consumers attention away from their phone screens, they will have to work harder to create meaningful experiences that bolster their cultural cache.

People aren't going to stop documenting their experiences via their phones, but as people start to cut down on their screen time, will we start to see people developing a new level of respect for what's happening around them, trying to keep at least one foot in the moment?

Conclusion

Watching the progression of Time Well Spent in 2019 will be fascinating. Will consumers embrace the new functionality and take back control over their screen time? Will someone’s digital diet start to be quantified and considered as much as their physical diet? And what happens if consumers resist efforts to fight screen addiction? Will brands, tech providers or even governments push harder to help the public reduce their screen time? Whatever happens we should expect change, challenge and be ready to adapt as our audience’s attention evolves.

Authors: Richard Langrish & Rob Meiklejohn