EP35 - Exploring Accenture's 2025 Life Trends with Brent Chaters

Are you curious about the next trend? Alison Simpson, CEO of The CMA, explores Accenture's Life Trends 2025 report with Brent Chaters, Managing Director of Marketing Transformation at Accenture. Together, they explore trends like hesitation, the dignity of work, AI tools, the impatience economy, and how these trends apply to the Canadian market. ReadAccenture's 2025 Life Trends report here: https://www.accenture.com/us-en/insights/song/accenture-life-trends

 

00:00:01:16 - 00:00:24:09
Presenter
Welcome to CMA Connect, Canada's marketing podcast, where industry experts discuss how marketers must manage the tectonic shifts that will change how brands and businesses are built for tomorrow, while also delivering on today's business needs. With your host, CMA CEO Alison Simpson.

00:00:24:11 - 00:00:43:14
Alison
I'm thrilled to have Brent Chaters joining me for today's episode. Brent's the managing Director of Marketing Transformation at Accenture, a global leader in consulting and technology services. In this role, he works with some of the world's top brands to help them innovate and adapt to the ever-shifting marketing landscape. Brent's also on our CMA board and chairs our Finance and Audit Committee.

00:00:43:16 - 00:01:14:13
Alison
Brent brings a wealth of experience and insights to this conversation. It's also very timely since Accenture just released their latest Life Trends 2025 report. The annual report offers a window into people's evolving behaviours and attitudes towards a world around them, covering major shifts in business, technology, as well as society. The report this year is focusing on five emerging trends, and the trends explore the cost of hesitations as people are seeking out a healthier, more balanced relationship with technology, both for themselves and the next generation.

00:01:14:15 - 00:01:31:10
Alison
The report dives deep into these trends and what they mean for businesses who are trying to navigate an increasingly complex landscape. We'll be unpacking the key trends from the report and discussing how they vary in the Canadian market, as well as getting Brent's take on how businesses can both adapt and thrive. Welcome, Brent. It's great to have you here.

00:01:31:12 - 00:01:33:11
Brent
Thanks, Alison. Excited to be here.

00:01:33:13 - 00:01:45:00
Alison
So, Brent, I'd love you to tell us the origin story for Accenture's Life Trends report and share some of the unique insights that it provides to help marketers and businesses understand how consumers behaviours and expectations are changing.

00:01:45:02 - 00:02:10:18
Brent
So the the Trends have been something that we've run for well over a decade. Effectively, what we look at is, what are the things that are happening today, like immediately right now that are impacting societal norms, and then kind of how that is extracted out into both customer experience, customer behaviour, customer activation, and, you know, effectively it's the things that are going to drive the threads of, you know, where we are going to go on a global societal level.

00:02:10:20 - 00:02:29:21
Brent
They run across 22 different markets. We talk to about 24 to 25,000 people every year. It allows us to look at both the global macro trend. And then I can also look down into like what's happening  by country. That's kind of how does Canada differ versus what, you know, we see happening at a, at a global level or across other countries as a whole.

00:02:29:23 - 00:02:54:01
Alison
That's a massive report. And to your point, I'm excited to dig into where Canada is aligned with the other 25 global markets and where we're different. And in reading the report, I really found that the trends collectively point to a significant rebalancing of digital and physical experiences. And linked with that, a really growing emphasis on trust and authenticity and the need for more human-centred approaches in both business and technology.

00:02:54:03 - 00:03:05:08
Alison
So that's going to present some great opportunities, but also some challenges for brands in figuring out how do we adapt and innovate and respond to how consumers are changing their behaviours and expectations.

00:03:05:10 - 00:03:22:22
Brent
That one is actually interesting, because if you look at each of the trends through the last 3 or 4 years, we've seen a heavier shift, more towards kind of like these physical experiences. If you kind of go back to like the big things that happened in the last 4 to 5 years - Covid, probably being the biggest trigger that drove that when everybody kind of got locked down.

00:03:22:23 - 00:03:42:22
Brent
It did force like a reconnection to like your physical spaces and rethinking what physical versus digital meant to people. But, you know, I'd say this year you're kind of, I think you're kind of starting to see a lot of that all culminate together in terms of what we've seen kind of happening. I call it the more smaller areas, like there used to be like 1 or 2 trends.

00:03:43:00 - 00:03:51:11
Brent
This year, it almost threads through all five trends of like this drive for like a more physical engagement and what that means to people at a more humanistic level.

00:03:51:13 - 00:04:09:13
Alison
So I'd love to start out with the cost of hesitation, that your report is certainly showing that online experiences degrading and hesitation is becoming almost a reflex as people are getting so bombarded with content and really can't trust what they see. So what's your take on how this trend is affecting businesses?

00:04:09:15 - 00:04:34:14
Brent
This trend itself is really about authenticity. I think a lot of it's being driven by, I don't want to say Gen AI, but like how accessible Gen AI has become. You know, for $20 a month, you can subscribe to a Gen AI tool or multiple sets of tools. You can create your Gen AI stack for a very nominal fee. And then with that you can produce, you know, an absurd amount of content very rapidly that feels very authentic.

00:04:34:16 - 00:05:04:17
Brent
And then what this is driving is, it's creating questions of people saying, you know, is this a scam? I see this, see this t shirt? I see these shoes. It feels like it's meant for me. But then I go out and I start to Google and there's no website presence or there's no ratings and reviews or there's nothing else about this organization, you know, and it's, it's gotten to a point where it's really hard to distill the difference between, is it real and authentic, or is it something that just popped up overnight and it's a scam as a whole?

00:05:04:19 - 00:05:28:02
Brent
You know, the other thing that we're starting to see is that big organizations are leaning into Gen AI in ways that I'll call maybe a little too lazy as well. You might have heard about things called like, Gen AI hallucination. So effectively, what that is, is, you know, your models sit there and they're, they're directionally right. But like for some reason it's come up with this like absurd sort of concept or idea.

00:05:28:02 - 00:05:45:03
Brent
You know, the example of glue being used on pizza instead of pizza sauce, for example. It's, you know, it's a liquid, it's the right thing. But like, it's, you know, there's something that you would want to eat, nor should it be there. You know, and those are things, those are ones that are very easy to identify. Other times you might see something that is not as easy to identify.

00:05:45:03 - 00:06:03:17
Brent
It might not be as easy to understand that it was not something that is grounded in truths or factual data points. And so with that, you know, you're starting to see larger organizations that have to be aware of, like, how they're working through that content that's also produced as well, because, you know, if you think about it, at the end of the day, it's about trust, right?

00:06:03:18 - 00:06:25:22
Brent
Big brands, little brands, no matter what you're trying to do, earning trust is hard. Losing trust is easy. And so, you know, poorly executed, AI-driven experiences are going to drive to that trust being broken. And when that trust is broken, trying to rebuild it again becomes a lot more difficult. The two biggest industries where people are looking for authenticity - health and finance.

00:06:25:22 - 00:06:56:06
Brent
I don't think that's a surprise to a lot of people, but people are looking for, you know, authentic experiences across health. And, you know, historically, if you look at it, the health industry, if you think about all the different vitamins and pills and whatever else that get pushed out there, this industry of both medically-prescribed and non-medically prescribed brands and you know, they're just pushing content and they're looking to get as many people to utilize that. In the health area, because people are much more aware and they're able to self-diagnose,

00:06:56:06 - 00:07:17:21
Brent
and we'll talk about some of this a little bit later on too, is they're going to these digital channels first. And so they're looking for it, you know, authenticity. And is this really something that is going to be helpful for me or not. And is there misinformation is critical. And then, you know, there's a saying that you want to be able to be informed about your finances, but you don't want to divulge what your personal, you know, finances are.

00:07:17:23 - 00:07:36:12
Brent
So, you know, again, people looking for authentic ways to connect with their financial advisors, with their banks, what they should do financially. There's a great concern of, do I have enough to retire? You know, this is an ongoing thing with inflation, with everything else. Are people able to save? And if so, you know, how are they doing that?

00:07:36:12 - 00:08:01:18
Brent
But people looking  for authentic ways to engage with brands as a whole, you know, and I think the last the last big thing too, is Canadians specifically, is where Canada differs, 59% of Canadians, almost 60% of Canadians, feel that they're getting constant advertising of some sort or another. compared to globally, it's about 48%. So Canadians are just being inundated with a lot more advertising that is targeted.

00:08:01:19 - 00:08:28:07
Brent
And, you know, we're trying to distill down what is real and what is not. You know, and on the flip side of that, Canadians typically are not identifying the deep fakes as strongly. So 28% of Canadians identify deep fakes, whereas 32% globally are identifying the deep fakes. So, you know, we're kind of seeing more advertising as Canadians, but we're having a harder time to just to distill down what is authentic and what is real versus what was like AI-created or targeted.

00:08:28:09 - 00:08:46:19
Alison
So in this low trust environment, what are some of the recommendations you have for businesses to maintain trust, or if they're in the unfortunate situation of having lost trust, as you called out, it's so hard to win it back. What would you recommend as potential ways to maintain that trust in this type of environment?

00:08:46:21 - 00:09:07:20
Brent
Well, what we're looking for is organizations become more humanistic in their approach, rethinking about how you're using your physical experiences. You know, if you're a bank, what was the opportunity you have with a branch? You know, telcos are probably the highest in terms of digital engagement, you know, and they're constantly rated as one of the lowest for customer satisfaction in terms of like customer care.

00:09:07:22 - 00:09:35:20
Brent
So, you know, finding ways to start to get reengaged from a truly human perspective becomes really relevant. The other things that are probably going to start to emerge over time is you're going to see things like associations that are going to offer authenticity to something. So, you know, this message was validated and approved through X Association. And it's, you know, genuine content that'll probably be tied back to QR codes or blockchain that sits on the back to be able to validate those things.

00:09:35:22 - 00:09:59:02
Brent
But they'll be tied to an approved, trusted, you know, authority to say that something is genuine or not as well. So, you know, I think there's new technology that's going to arise outside of this. You don't have all the perfect answers today. But, you know, those are the things I think are gonna start to come out that will start to change how organizations think about how they're building content and how they kind of reinforce what is authentic or not authentic.

00:09:59:04 - 00:10:14:19
Brent
You know, the last thing to think about, too, is as easy it is for you to be a good marketer, who are the bad marketers, or who are the bad actors out there as well. Like, I could very easily and quickly stand a marketing machine and put out a lot of false information about a competitor as well. Right?

00:10:14:19 - 00:10:33:10
Brent
And so doing that, I can actually go out and proactively damage your brand a lot more. So, you know, I think your other question was kind of, how do you repair that brand? Yeah, I think it's, it's making sure that you're you're creating those authentic, real-time connections with people. And, you know, it becomes a lot harder of a lift than what we've we've traditionally been used to.

00:10:33:12 - 00:10:43:08
Brent
That said, we used to be able to do this in the 70s and the 80s, in the 90s, before we had all this access to technology. So, you know, you almost have to look to the past to think about how you want to manage to the future.

00:10:43:10 - 00:10:46:11
Alison
And how can some of the tools we have today help with that?

00:10:46:13 - 00:10:47:06
Brent
Yeah.

00:10:47:08 - 00:10:54:01
Alison
Not an easy question to answer, but definitely the tools that are creating the situation can also be part of how we solve for it.

00:10:54:03 - 00:11:15:01
Brent
Yeah, I mean, absolutely. Every organization should be thinking about how they're utilizing the tools today. There's there's definitely advantages, and organizations need to think about how they're adopting those tools. Part of the problem, and we see this, you know, as we talk about the dignity of work a little bit later, part of the problem is organizations aren't investing in their talent.

00:11:15:01 - 00:11:40:03
Brent
They're not investing in their people. And so there's kind of this disconnect that's happening right now, what's happening from a work perspective to enable your your talent to have the right skills and then being able to like, activate against that. So I think, you know, right now the biggest gap that organizations need to think about is like, how do I upskill my organization to be able to utilize the tools in the right way and, and become a little bit more proactive in the investment of that workforce?

00:11:40:05 - 00:11:55:14
Alison
Let's actually jump there now because as you highlighted, the dignity of work and employee motivation levels is another key trend. And they're,they've been quite shaken by business pressures, tech advances and evolving human dynamics. So I'd love you to share more insights about this trend.

00:11:55:16 - 00:12:27:10
Brent
So the dignity of work, you know, you kind of look at what's happened over the last 4 to 5 years. You kind of went from a very high talent demand. So, you know, looking for,  especially digital talent, AI, data analytics type talent. And there was a huge demand for it. And then, you know, as the economy and the big macro factors around us start to change, you saw this shift towards back where organizations were controlling more of the jobs and now people have shifted more towards what's important to me - work life balance.

00:12:27:12 - 00:12:48:21
Brent
But job security is number two. Whereas if you went back four years ago, there was a lot of opportunity from a job perspective. Now people are kind of thinking more about like, what's my job security? What's happened, though, is that organizations haven't shifted towards taking care of their talent. We're expecting the investment into training to decrease anywhere between 14 to 15% over the next couple years.

00:12:48:23 - 00:13:07:16
Brent
We're seeing a decline in people feeling that they've got the right skills to do the jobs that they need to do, you know, and I think those are like the big, big signs out there that if organizations aren't investing into their people, it's a lot harder to go out and hire those skilled people than it is to build them up.

00:13:07:16 - 00:13:22:23
Brent
And so if you're not doing that, are you going to be ready for the future? The second thing is from like, from an emotional perspective, employees are recognizing and seeing that this isn't happening. And so they're starting to feel, you know, like I'm just a cog in the machine. I, you know, you're going to replace me, especially Canadians.

00:13:22:23 - 00:13:45:21
Brent
Canadians have this sense, like 13% more Canadians then globally feel that AI is going to take their jobs away. So there's this this heavy focus on, you know, as, as Canadians that, like, Gen AI is not a positive thing. Here is something that is going to take my job away. It's going to replace me. You know, there's this shift of thinking of like, I'm a creator to I'm just a manager of workflows.

00:13:45:23 - 00:14:10:00
Brent
You know, people are missing being that creative, that that ability to express the pride in the work that they're doing. And so, you know, as we look at the dignity of work, you kind of have, you know, two things that are happening. There's the education, the re-skilling of talent. I also think that's a very heavy Canadian thing. Canadians as a whole are feeling that there's less, less focus on their personal growth and career opportunities compared to globally.

00:14:10:00 - 00:14:29:18
Brent
So there's about a 10% gap there again. So, you know, Canadians are generally feeling less invested into. And then you also have to think about how that's driving culture as a whole. And you know, I think organizations are spending more time trying to manage when and how you're showing up, like counting badge swipes. Did you tap into today?

00:14:29:18 - 00:14:46:14
Brent
Are you in the office today? Are you physically here today? The employees are feeling that we're all adults. You should trust me. And by telling me that you have to count if I'm tapping in or not, you don't trust me. My trust with you is broken. Therefore, why should I give you, you know, any any more of my time than I need to?

00:14:46:16 - 00:15:07:01
Brent
Which means I want, I want better work life balance. You know, the employee workforce is kind of starting to fight back. And that's driving, that's that's driving the overall cultural behaviours as well. And then, you know, the last thing is, as people are not seeing the career advancements, they're starting to, you know, wonder like am I stagnant in what I'm doing or you know, what is what is my next career growth?

00:15:07:03 - 00:15:26:03
Brent
If you're not investing, investing in me from an education perspective, if there's no opportunity for me to move forward, I'm going to start to feel frustrated and stuck. And so, you know, I think you're going to start to see a lot of employees where, you know, we're already seeing this in like cultural satisfaction surveys, where year over year it's declining.

00:15:26:08 - 00:15:50:23
Brent
And now we've got to start to think about, like, how are we going to start to reengage with teams and with talent? And that all starts at leadership. Right, like this isn't something where we need to go like how do we get, you know, the individual contributors. You have to start with leadership. Because right now the perception is leadership is more focused on dollars and cents than on employee satisfaction on, you know, am I building up my team and my skills and my talent?

00:15:51:00 - 00:16:05:18
Brent
I'm just focused on like, did I hit this quarter's, you know, numbers that I need to hit and you know, that that culture. And I think this is right. I think that that culture is set at the top. And so it has to carry down from the bottom. So there's a reeducation that has to happen across leadership.

00:16:05:20 - 00:16:25:22
Alison
Yeah, it's definitely a work in progress. And when you talk about the leadership role, what leaders really need to appreciate is by supporting their employees, by building the culture that will ultimately lead to the business outcomes and the sales results that they need. Not doing that with your employees will ultimately, in the not too distant future, have quite a negative impact on your business success.

00:16:26:00 - 00:16:48:01
Alison
One of the things that really surprised me when it comes to the key trend around dignity of work, was the depth of the concern. So I was shocked that 45% of employees don't currently believe that their organizations see them or treat them as a person. They're increasingly feeling like that cog in the wheel. Are we seeing that Canada better off there,

00:16:48:01 - 00:16:51:11
Alison
worse off? Consistent with the global findings?

00:16:51:13 - 00:17:18:08
Brent
This is another area where, lik, Canadians are typically feeling that a lot more. You know, it's probably about 6% higher. And, you know, there's two things, like Canadians are worse off in kind of their perspective or their view on that, but also year over year the trend is continuing to go up. So on a global level, we're constantly seeing more and more people feeling that they're not necessarily valued or, you know, dis-enfranchized with, you know, kind of how they're perceived to be viewed.

00:17:18:10 - 00:17:41:22
Brent
And again, like, this is a very Canadian thing, like we are we are what we call silented triggers. So Canadians, when we get dissatisfied with something, we often won't vocalize it. And so things kind of fester and they'll sit there and then eventually we're just like, okay, we're, you know, we're done and we're leaving. And so you see that happen both with like when Canadians are not happy with how they're getting serviced by by brands.

00:17:42:00 - 00:17:58:20
Brent
But the same thing happens from an employment perspective, right? If, if I'm not happy, I will quietly go look for another job. I will find that job. And when you counter, my perception is going to be like, well, why didn't you do this before, you know, I decided to have something like, you only see that I have value now?

00:17:58:20 - 00:18:09:00
Brent
Now that I found, you know, this other opportunity. Now if somebody asks, like, is that a great place to work at, that the answer's probably going to be no from that person because they left feeling, you know, undervalued.

00:18:09:02 - 00:18:34:02
Alison
Yeah, and there's so much learning and doing the opposite of that to really engage and have employees that are valuing the workplace and it also highlights the critical need for ongoing communications within, across the organization, and really just letting that your team and staff know what's going on and what their role is, and thanking them for the many contributions that they're making.

00:18:34:04 - 00:18:53:23
Brent
I think you're so right on that one, though, right? Like, I don't think we're, like this goes back to like, leadership starts at the top. And just a simple thank you, or a simple note out to people. You know, I think we we undervalue just how much people just kind of want to be acknowledged. And that comes up in this trend a fair amount, is that people just want to be treated like people.

00:18:54:01 - 00:19:18:05
Brent
And the more, like, the more we use language like digital agents, you know, it has a connotation of that digital asset being something that is used like a human would be. We're calling our people assets, right? Oh, we have a lot of great assets. Well, now we're we're, you know, not making them feel like they're human. We're just seeing them as, as cogs in a machine.

00:19:18:07 - 00:19:36:09
Alison
Now, you also highlighted that Canadians are more concerned about Gen AI replacing their jobs. So do you think that's also part of why Canadians are feeling the dignity of work and like they're being treated more like cogs instead of humans to a greater degree than our global counterparts?

00:19:36:11 - 00:20:03:03
Brent
Probably a little bit, yes. And then there's also a little bit in there in that Canadians have been a lot slower to adopt AI as a whole. And with that, we've also been slower at educating people of what AI can and cannot actually do. And so, you know, I think I think there's a little bit of a balance of, I do believe there's a world with Gen AI, but I also think like it's a fit for purpose tool that you use.

00:20:03:05 - 00:20:19:18
Brent
And we need to both educate people in terms of like how they use it and what it can and can't do. And right now, I think a lot of it is built on perception that's not necessarily backed in full understanding. But at the same time, I've also seen some organizations that have used it in like really bad actor ways as well.

00:20:19:18 - 00:20:47:14
Brent
And so when people see that, you know, if you misuse your AI capabilities and people see that, then that also sends a signal of like, oh, hey, you're actually thinking about like how this can replace me. And I actually don't believe that's the case. Like, I've never, as long as I have been working, I've never once gone into any organization, both when I was working client side or consulting side, where somebody is like, oh, my day is done now it's 10:00 am, and I'm going to be able to have a coffee break for the next like six hours.

00:20:47:16 - 00:21:10:04
Brent
No, there's always work to do, right? So I think one of - the way I look at it is, it will allow me to clear some of that, that backlog. But we also again have to be smart because the problem is those that are the early adopters, there's this disconnect of perception of speed. So it's like, if you guys are really good at using your AI tools and you're getting your job done 2 to 3 times faster, more work is going to come to you.

00:21:10:04 - 00:21:24:12
Brent
This is the paradox, right? More work is going to come to you. And so we're going to ask you to get more done. And then that's going to create this like sense of overwhelming as well. And so you know there's a capacity that people are going to be able to operate at. So we kind of have to balance how the tool is used,

00:21:24:14 - 00:21:32:01
Brent
and like people's ability to to drive intake and manage what they're, what they're doing as a, as a whole.

00:21:32:03 - 00:21:46:16
Alison
Now another trend from the report is the impatience economy, which certainly, when I look around me, when I think of myself, like my patience isn't probably what it used to be, and there's lots of contributing factors to that. But I'd love you to explain the trend and share where brands can fit in.

00:21:46:18 - 00:22:06:12
Brent
Think of this one as like, this is like the economy of hacks, right? So everybody's kind of impatient and there's a faster way to do it. You know, TikTok has given rise to a lot of like, hey, here's a quick hack on like how to get more coffee from Starbucks. Or here's a quick hack on how to make your washroom feel two times bigger without having to do a renovation.

00:22:06:12 - 00:22:32:21
Brent
Or if you're renting, here's a hack to give yourself an accent wall. And you know, there are some good hacks out there. But we also have to figure out, you know, what ones make sense and which ones don't. Because sometimes you get something and you're like, oh, okay. That like, sure, it looks nice, but 4 or 5 days or, you know, a couple weeks later or months later, you know, that nice accent wall is suddenly starting to fall apart because you used shoddy glue, or Velcro is not actually the way that you should like be

00:22:32:21 - 00:23:00:16
Brent
keeping your wood paneling up. That same sort of thing starts to extract out people looking for financial hacks. How do I how do I like 3X my investment portfolio? People are looking at side hustles. How do I increase my own personal income in automated ways? You know, through the last five years, we've seen an increase in side hustles by something like 48% overall with millennials. They're bringing in another $1,300 per month.

00:23:00:18 - 00:23:24:19
Brent
You know, so everyone's kind of looking for like different ways to cut corners and to get to an outcome faster. And so, you know, organizations need to start to think about, how am I going to be able to talk to to my people? I'm not going to just bury the lead in an FAQ. I'm going to help you understand very crisply and clearly how to get from point A to point B as fast as possible and the right way to do it.

00:23:24:21 - 00:23:50:07
Brent
And if there's a reason that you have to take a long route there, then we've got to do a better job of explaining, like why? Like what is the difference between artisanal craftsmanship versus, you know, very quickly knocking something together and saying like, that's just as good as what I got over here, you know? And so brands especially are going to have to start to build out like why like why is this a more important process or what is different about what you're doing?

00:23:50:09 - 00:24:13:18
Alison
You mentioned earlier that the two industries, when it comes to trust and authenticity that consumers are most interested in are finance and health and that makes so much sense to me. Yet, with the impatience economy, those were also the two sectors that people were looking for more hacks and were exploring riskier paths for accomplishing their health and financial goals.

00:24:13:20 - 00:24:20:17
Alison
I don't know if that felt like a disconnect to you, but it'd be interesting to dig in a little deeper and understand both sides of that.

00:24:20:19 - 00:24:37:16
Brent
Yeah, I mean, I think, and and I'll talk a little bit about a Canadian number in a second, but I think as a whole, everybody wants to be rich and they want the fast track to it. But at the same time, the way it comes to managing my day to day finances needs to be crisp. I need to be able to pay my bills.

00:24:37:18 - 00:25:03:09
Brent
So I kind of look at it as like household budgeting. Those sorts of things are very,  like very, very specific. And I need to make sure that I can, like, live off that. But at the same time, I want to be able to take any of my investments. So if I have RSPs or TFSAs or RESPs or, you know, any other investments through stock or whatever, what is the right place to put it and kind of how do I accelerate at a faster pace?

00:25:03:09 - 00:25:25:13
Brent
So there's a little bit of, I think, expendable dollars versus the dollars that I need to to survive. So I think that kind of helps, at least to me, helps explain the financial one. I think from a health perspective, I need to trust my doctor. I need to have a good relationship with my doctor. But at the same time, you know, we are constantly inundated with live longer, live healthier.

00:25:25:15 - 00:25:47:02
Brent
There are these shortcuts that you can get. And like that, that is something that has existed for forever. You know, if you go back, people have always been looking for like, something that they can take that gives them an edge health-wise as well. And so, you know, we know that our time here is limited, and so you're trying to maximize and make sure that you have the the best and fastest way. You go back to the 80s,

00:25:47:04 - 00:26:13:19
Brent
And everybody was pushing, you know, it's easier to take a pill to for diet, for diets and fat loss, right? Now we've got needles that we can very quickly get. And you're getting like Ozempic that's like being pushed everywhere as like the quick solution as well. So everybody wants the miracle, the miracle fix for health. But at the same time, people also understand that, you know, I need to have like a certain level of trust with my doctors and my physicians as well.

00:26:13:21 - 00:26:41:15
Brent
That said, where Canadians do differ is that we are actually less likely to have the side hustles, and we are more likely to engage on online gambling, as a whole. So we're more likely to look at where and how we can can double down on something where we put the least amount of effort into, such as gambling, but we don't want to do the actual work that's required to run that second or third job, as a whole.

00:26:41:15 - 00:26:51:04
Brent
So I think Canadians have like an even weirder dichotomy in terms of like kind of how we do and don't want to spend our time and what we want to focus on as a, as a whole.

00:26:51:05 - 00:26:56:04
Alison
And in that Canadian dichotomy, do you see some opportunities or risks for brands?

00:26:56:06 - 00:27:20:07
Brent
Canadians still go to blogs and videos as their number one source, but we do it less so than globally. So I think Canadians are a little bit more likely to look across multiple channels overall instead of kind of consolidating across 1 or 2 channels. So I think organizations need to think about like, how am I kind of connecting with you across maybe blogs, videos, social.

00:27:20:07 - 00:27:40:01
Brent
And then, you know, we're also seeing this rise of needing to be able to connect with people in more physical spaces as well, kind of as we talked about people wanting to get connected back to nature, I think out of home, you know, I don't think it's going to suddenly go the other way, but out of home and smart out of home advertising starts to become an interesting way of connecting with people.

00:27:40:03 - 00:28:06:12
Brent
You know, if you think about when Taylor Swift came here, that was like, that was such a great physical experience that happened. There were pop-ups across the city. You know, she drove billions of dollars into the economy. But like all of that came down to like her ability to drive and engage in new channels and getting consumers to literally line up around blocks to buy you know, swag and different Taylor Swift, you know, memorabilia.

00:28:06:18 - 00:28:21:17
Brent
But also people were connecting differently too, like, you know, people had the bands and they were like sharing their bands and collecting different beads and, you know, all of those things, you know? So I think that there is still this drive of wanting to connect in a very humanistic, you know, way.

00:28:21:19 - 00:28:46:06
Alison
That's such a great example. Now, a fourth trend from the report is The Parent Trap. And this is about an acceleration of policies and parental activism to help establish probably much-needed guardrails around young people's online experiences. So I know from both the marketers in our audience and also the parents in our audience, they will be very interested to learn more about this trend and the possible repercussions for organizations.

00:28:46:08 - 00:29:07:08
Brent
Yeah, the Parent Trap really starts to look at, you know, you've got the first generations that were raised on digital now raising the second and third generations that are coming up in a pure digital society. And I think, you know, what you've what you're starting to see is that the early digital adopters are realizing how much digital kind of took out of their lives.

00:29:07:08 - 00:29:27:00
Brent
And also, you know, how easy or not easy it is for kids to engage from a digital platform. You know, you're seeing a push for being able to understand who your kids are talking to online as well. There's a heavier, you know, desire to want to understand how kids are utilizing their screen time. What videos are you watching on YouTube?

00:29:27:02 - 00:29:50:04
Brent
You know, my kids love Roblox, so I want to make sure that their friends that they have on Roblox are their actual friends and not some stranger that I don't know who that is. And you know who and what they're talking about. You know, and it's interesting because like, as somebody who grew up in that in-between generation, like we grew up having like a Nintendo or a Sega, and you sit side-by-side with your friend and you played video games.

00:29:50:04 - 00:30:14:12
Brent
And so, like, the kids are still playing video games, but each one has the individual screen now, instead of a shared experience. And I think, you know, this happens every generation. The older generation is kind of like, oh in my time we had this, and we were doing that, and some of that I think is coming through as well where it was like, well, I, you know, like I socialized at least I sat beside my buddy and you know, we talked and you know, we'd actually be present. Like, well, no, the kids are talking and if anything,

00:30:14:12 - 00:30:29:22
Brent
like they'll sit there and they'll have their iPad on, they'll be playing their game, and then they're talking to their friends over another app. And I think they're all still very engaged. But it's a different type of engagement that probably feels a little bit uncomfortable for parents. So I think parents are looking and saying, you know what,

00:30:30:00 - 00:30:47:05
Brent
what should I do? But then there's also times where, you know, very clearly digital devices are a distraction. You know, a lot of parents want, and there's a paradox in here, right? Like a lot of parents want their kids to be reachable. So I want you to have a phone. I want to be able to track where you're going because I can track you with the phone.

00:30:47:05 - 00:31:09:08
Brent
And, you know, I understand, you know, it's it's easy to do those things, but at the same time, I don't want you to spend all your time on that phone, scrolling through things. So it's also, it's it's having an impact on the kids. But parents are also thinking about like their utilization of screen time as well. Do I want to be doomscrolling all day, or am I being more mindful about where and how I'm spending my time?

00:31:09:10 - 00:31:27:12
Brent
You and I were talking about this, but like I went full, I just I dropped my cell phone off on my charger over the holidays, and I did my best to not touch it. And like, I could go days without like having my phone. And the first day was hard. But then after that it was kind of like, you know, I, I felt much more connected with my family.

00:31:27:14 - 00:31:47:12
Brent
I didn't have to always have my phone. We were going out. We were doing more physical activities. And, you know, I think parents are also looking at that same sort of thing. And it's like, if my kid's sitting in their bedroom isolated from the family, how do I start to get them more engaged as well? And so this generation that is coming up is being more informed by their digital experiences.

00:31:47:12 - 00:32:13:08
Brent
You know, we see it come out through through gender. Girls are more likely to be exposed to sexually inappropriate images at a young age. And so, you know, girls are having a heavier self-confidence issue because of that. And so, you know, in one way, we kind of went from like, well, let's not airbrush anymore to, okay, now we're going to like, this is a girl who doesn't even exist that we've like, manufactured that that becomes the ideal beauty state.

00:32:13:08 - 00:32:35:13
Brent
So, you know, there's a, I think there's a lot of work to do from both genders in terms of like both how kids are communicated to and messaged to. And we're starting to see a lot of countries are putting forward legislation to put guardrails in terms of both, like how content is being utilized to target kids and guardrails in terms of like both when and where technology can and can't be used, as well.

00:32:35:15 - 00:32:43:04
Alison
I think there, brands have a business and societal obligation. And I also see a role for regulation for that, for sure.

00:32:43:08 - 00:32:45:06
Brent
I would totally agree.

00:32:45:08 - 00:32:56:17
Alison
The final trend from the report is social rewilding, which is definitely an intriguing name. So I'd love to have you share what it means and how social rewilding is changing opportunities for businesses.

00:32:56:19 - 00:33:18:10
Brent
You know, within Canadian society, we see an even bigger, interesting we we have an even bigger dichotomy. Quebec has a much more higher propensity to move towards physical social connections than we see across the rest of the country as well. So there's, you know, some cultural differences that say, you know, even within the Canadian society in terms of kind of how and when we want to, to engage.

00:33:18:12 - 00:33:48:04
Brent
And then, you know, the last components are as people think about sports engagements, physical events, going out and making memories. If you think about the gifts that people are getting, it's no longer about like getting like a little widget or whatever. It's about getting an experiential pass to something, right? So if it's like going out to a hockey game or getting to go out to a physical event that somebody was interested in doing, it's more about like getting together in a meaningful purpose.

00:33:48:06 - 00:34:15:04
Brent
And wait, you know, we talked a little bit earlier about Taylor Swift. I think you saw that kind of amplify it up again across both Toronto and Vancouver. You know, she was, she was creating ways for for getting people to come together by sharing their bracelets, by talking about their joy for Taylor. I remember sitting on the train coming into the city one day, surrounded by all the Swifties and like they all knew, they didn't know each other, but like they all had this like common thread and they were all excited.

00:34:15:04 - 00:34:45:01
Brent
And you would have from like, little kids who were, you know, excited to see Taylor to to people who would probably be older than you'd think Taylor's demographic is. But they all had this, like, same excitement for it. And they were all excited to like, talk about their favourite songs, their their favourite Taylor memories, you know, exchanging bands, exchanging information. Like, you know, we're I think as a society, we're craving for for that desire to have more of these, like physical connections.

00:34:45:03 - 00:35:04:04
Alison
Now it's so very true. Over the holidays, my sister's birthday, instead of doing a bunch of gifts, we met a spa with some of our nieces and nephews and us, and spent the day outside treating ourselves and had great conversations. And it was so much better than any physical gift we could have given.

00:35:04:06 - 00:35:19:02
Brent
I've got two daughters and both of them were super excited to get their nails done. And they they did a couple dates, a couple dates with mom, and then they did a couple dates with their friends, and they loved doing the whole, the whole experience. And now they're like, well can we do that, you know, every week? It's like, well, I don't know if 

00:35:19:02 - 00:35:32:07
Brent
this is every week thing but... you know, maybe it's something that starts to become a little bit of a ritual to be able to go out, you know, and do. And it's again, it's just a different way for the kids to be able to connect with out of having all this, this digital overhead.

00:35:32:09 - 00:35:37:19
Alison
I think they should loop Dad into that. And you can show up at our next CMA board meeting with your nails done.

00:35:37:21 - 00:35:40:12
Brent
I'll work on it.

00:35:40:14 - 00:36:01:09
Alison
So obviously really rich learning in the 2025 study. Thank you so much for everything that you've shared. I know that there will be listeners who are interested in learning more, so we'll make sure that we include a link to the report with the podcast as well. Before I let you go though, Brent, I would love to have you answer one last question.

00:36:01:11 - 00:36:18:04
Alison
You've got an incredibly inspiring and very diverse career, and you've really taken some big bets along the way. So I'd love you to share your perspective on taking chances versus playing it safe in one's career. And what's one piece of advice that you would share with listeners who aspire to senior roles like yours?

00:36:18:06 - 00:36:38:06
Brent
You know right now, like I'm having a conversation with my daughter. She has the opportunity to  move up into playing a higher level of hockey. When she goes out and plays with that team, she always complains about how hard it is. And so we're having this conversation about, you know, the hard things or what makes you better. So if you want to become a better athlete, if you want to become a better marketer, if you want to become better at anything, you know, it kind of comes down, to me,

00:36:38:06 - 00:36:56:12
Brent
it comes down to focus and effort. And if you want to put in the effort, you've got to have something that's going to challenge you to do that. And so taking on those harder opportunities, while they might be scary, those are the things that start allowing you to become better at what you do, you know? And so I've always been fortunate enough to have people who trust me to take those things on.

00:36:56:14 - 00:37:16:05
Brent
And at the same time, you know, I've always had the opportunity for people who have been able to to understand that, like, this is maybe a little bit outside of my reach but getting the coaching or the support to be able to do it. And, you know, there are other times too, where like, you just have to become your own, your own best cheerleader and say, you know, I'm going to make a sacrifice.

00:37:16:05 - 00:37:36:19
Brent
When I wrote my book, I remember sitting, and I had to carve out 12 weekends to get a chapter done per week and have enough time to edit and do everything else. And that meant I had to give up, you know, effectively three months of social time to to do other things. And it was just having that that fortitude to go in and say, this has to get done.

00:37:36:19 - 00:37:48:17
Brent
This is the time, this is the focus. So having that level of like focus and drive becomes, you know, very critical to be able to to take those things on. And sometimes doing less is actually more.

00:37:48:19 - 00:37:55:21
Alison
That's such rich advice. And it's also very inspiring that with everything else that you've accomplished, you're also a published author. So congratulations.

00:37:55:23 - 00:37:56:15
Brent
Thank you.

00:37:56:17 - 00:38:06:11
Alison
So Brent, I thoroughly enjoyed our conversation as I knew I would. And really rich with insights. So a huge thank you on behalf of the CMA and all of our listeners today for a great conversation.

00:38:06:16 - 00:38:14:05
Brent
Really enjoyed this today.

00:38:14:07 - 00:38:26:20
Presenter
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