Young people are emerging from the pandemic as unapologetically outspoken agents of change, into a new world ripe for a youth-centric reset. Sport is no different to this fast-moving new reality.
Sport for Business member Thinkhouse has published a new far-reaching report that highlights some of the areas of sport and marketing that are different for the generations rising to that which has been the case for those of us who have gone before.
Emerging in an Emergency, the 2021 Irish edition of Youth Culture Uncovered is the fifth annual youth culture investigation exploring the hypothesis, “what’s it like to be young today?”.
Produced by the Youth Lab, Thinkhouse’s insights, strategy and planning division, the investigations (incorporating both qualitative and quantitative research) are designed to understand life through the lens of 16-35-year-olds, providing businesses and organisations with insight and intelligence to resonate better with youth audiences, respond to their challenges and ensure continued relevance for their brand or organisation in the long term.
Brands and sport: an ever-evolving affiliation
Last weekend, the English Premier League kicked off with players from all 20 clubs once again ‘taking the knee’, but in front of in-stadia spectators for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
The reaction to it, off the back of three prominent English players being racially abused following penalty misses in the Euro 2020 final last month, was largely very positive and one thing is certain: athletes have never been in a more powerful position when it comes to advocacy.
Pierre, 25, from Black & Irish, spoke to The Youth Lab about the ever-changing relationships between brands and athletes:
“Brands are realising their athletes are activists in certain areas now. They need to come on board and not make excuses about not being involved because what happens outside in society affects you as a company.”
“It’s good to see brands who work with athletes who are willing to support them [like Colin Kaepernick and Nike] endorse athletes who are outspoken because they align to their values, not just ones that are good looking or scoring goals.”
The Roaring Twenties
Pandemic history has taught us to expect a post-pandemic radical upheaval and the 2021 post-pandemic landscape is not dissimilar.
This time is likely to be different in terms of the kind of roar to expect.
The flapper flamboyance of the 1920s has been replaced with an unapologetically outspoken youth voice – a now or never attitude and sentiment flowing from young people, because in a world stacked against them, young people have no other choice but to roar.
We should expect a reinvigorated young population to speak their truth and voice out and voice loud for a rebalancing of the social contract with systematic economic and social restructuring at its core.
This is evident already in areas from climate change to housing, toxic work cultures to unsustainable or dishonest business practices. Youth are demanding honesty, transparency, accountability and positive action.
Some of the key insights to emerge from the report:
For Brands:
The top three expectations of brands today are honesty and transparency; quality products and services; and to be ethical and responsible (sustainable).
For Social Structures and the Environment:
69 per cent of 16-24-year-olds claim to consciously choose to support businesses that deliver more sustainable products and services, (up from 66% in 2021).
For Culture and Society:
66 per cent claim to have a new perspective on life and how society is organised after going through Covid-19 and 73 per cent believe that society needs systematic economic and societal restructuring.
Top Apps:
Top three apps for 16-24-year-olds: Snapchat, Instagram, YouTube
Top three apps for 25-35-year-olds: Whatsapp, Instagram, Facebook
Prediction: TikTok will be the app that Gen Alpha will grow up with and will be core to their everyday usage as their entire generation was introduced to it at the same time.
“It really does feel like a huge, historic, moment – one where we are being called to carefully listen to others (and our planet) in new ways in order to find the right questions and feed our collective resilience into the future.,” said Laura Costello, Strategy Director – Purpose & Planet at Thinkhouse and co-author of the report.
“The post-pandemic world for young people is a groundswell of discontent, combined with a collapse of trust. We’ve seen that manifest itself in the sporting arena, too, with young athletes such as Naomi Osaka, Colin Kapernick and others breaking with tradition and standing up for what they think is right.”
Voicing Out: Finding Your Voice to Youth Relevance
The Youth Lab findings highlight that to be relevant to this generation of young people during this period of upheaval, the immediate opportunity is to be “a voice for youth”, suggesting three pathways to relevance:
Dismantle the Old
Be a Voice for Change: be a transformer pushing for radical change
Be a Voice for Hope: be a beacon of hope and optimism amidst uncertainty
Deliver the Now
Be a Voice for Authenticity: be who you are supposed to be, delivering on your promise
Be a Voice for Proximity: be accessible and a quick problem-solver
Welcome the New
Be a Voice for Escape: be a purveyor of escape giving young people a break
Be a Voice for Innovation and Difference: be new and different, bring new culture makers into the mix
For more information about the report, or to book a presentation contact theyouthlab@thinkhousehq.com or visit thinkhousehq.com.
Watch out in September for the launch of a new sport for Business podcast series looking at the voice of Youth in Irish sport through the PwC Sport for Business 30 Under 30.
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