What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

·     How the pandemic has accelerated a fourth industrial revolution

·     Why prosumers’ favorability of Big Tech companies has increased during the pandemic

·     How the way we view tech has evolved from important to essential

·     Ways that prosumers want Big Tech companies to be held more accountable

How is it that, despite intense scrutiny and criticism in recent years, Big Tech companies such as Amazon, Google and Facebook have seen their favorability drastically improve among consumers? In a word, it’s the pandemic, according to Sebastien Houdusse, chief strategy officer of BETC Paris. As everyone isolated within their homes, technology was the thread that kept us cheerful, entertained, informed and connected, he says.

A guest on this month’s episode, Sebastian authored the latest edition of Havas Group’s Prosumer Report. Called “Tech Forward, Why The Tech Trial Won’t Happen,” the report is rooted in an expansive study of 16,000 people across 32 markets and asks whether or not these companies can maintain this newfound public support.

In this episode, we take a deep dive into the implications of this report and what it all means for consumers, with a discussion moderated by Red Havas’ Pattie Sullivan, joined by Sebastien and Jeremy Dale, CMO of Likewize.

“We were actually very surprised by the data at first,” says Sebastien. “But when you think about it, Big Tech actually helped us amid the pandemic to stay connected with our loved ones, to stay entertained, and to continue to work, shop, teach, and learn. At a time where some governments were seen as failing, trust in tech was rising. We already knew that tech was useful in our daily life. But thanks to the pandemic, we realized that we couldn't live without it.”

Says Jeremy, “We know we’re living in the fourth industrial revolution, where the speed of change is like nothing we've ever seen before. The pandemic has just accelerated that change even more, and I don’t think we will ever entirely go back to the way we were before.”

While it may seem that we have become overly reliant on technology, consumers have widely expressed that tech innovations have improved their lives. Regardless, many consumers insist on holding tech companies accountable for the collateral damage they cause.

“80 percent of our prosumer sample think that tech giants have acquired too much power in our society,” says Sebastien. “They say these companies should treat their employees better, should support local businesses in the countries they are settled in, and should practice sustainability.”

The episode wraps with Red Havas VP Ellen Mallernee Barnes firing off a new set of questions for Red Questionnaire guest Nigel Hughes, managing director at Red Havas UK. Their conversation covers a myriad of topics from current guilty pleasure (The royal family) to how he describes his job to his own family (it’s not so easy!) to the book he’s currently rereading (“The Fame Formula: How Hollywood's Fixers, Fakers And Star Makers Created The Celebrity Industry").

The latter traces the origins of the public relations industry, men who stepped out of the circus life carrying the legacy of P.T. Barnum and applied it liberally to vaudeville and the movies. Says Nigel, “If you tell somebody they can't do it, they’ll want to do it. For publicists, that’s one of the oldest tricks in the books.”

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Also mentioned on this episode:

·     Sodajerker On Songwriting

·     The Fame Formula

·     Lack of lorry drivers in UK leads to empty shelves and uncertain futures

·     Piers Morgan and Louis Theroux lead celebrations as Emma Raducanu wins US open: ‘Pure class’

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