In-Home Living

The world undertook a sudden and massive Covid-19 experiment in 'Working From Home' back in March. At the time, Irish research by eir Business (1) suggested a largely positive takeout for many people:

- 74% report higher productivity

- 82% agree that it can improve work-life balance.

Six months later, as the country steps back into tighter restrictions, the prospect of returning to work any time soon diminishes. For now, at least, WFH is here to stay.

This is also driving our desire for superior, re-imagined experiences in-home, growing across a range of newly adopted in-home activities and pass times.

Old assumptions of what home is – somewhere to eat, sleep, enjoy a little leisure – have been broken.

Now, as we not only work from home but socialise, collaborate, exercise, learn and even date from home, it becomes even more central to how we experience and enjoy life.

This has been highlighted by the Nintendo Switch game “Animal Crossing: New Horizons”, as it sold over 13 million copies in the mid-March to end-April, making it the fastest-selling Switch game and a Covid-19 phenomenon.

It ‘plays less like a traditional game and more like a lifestyle simulator; a candy-coloured substitute for real life’, as described in the NYT (2).

This is now how we ‘self-curate’ and how we mingle, digitally vicariously, on our screens and always ‘from home’.

Yes, although people are frustrated and upset that 'Reopening Ireland' has hit a bump in the road, the initial 'stay at home' period provided people with great wins in personal autonomy, quality of life and convenience that were cherished.

Now, as we're again encouraged to further limit our social interactions for another period, we expect people will want to hold on to the previous gains and enjoy an In-home Life that is experiential and not by definition, a second-best experience to their previous out of home life.

From ‘castle’ to ‘command centre’; expect people to increase their demands of the home as a place to:

01 - Open new sensory experiences and new worlds through, for example, games, products and learning.

02 - Launch their ‘best selves’ through smart work, social or dating tools.

With this, people tomorrow will expect In-Home Life (IHL) experiences to match, even exceed, those ‘In Real Life’ (IRL).

In a world that views home with a new experiential lens, the brand imperative is to innovate awesome, experiences that enhance people’s IHL:

- Apply sensory technologies such as AR; VR; Haptic; 3D Printing.

- Re-imagine people’s home retail service experience; ‘breakthrough’ the screen and be more than just a delivery.

- Collaborate with like-minded in-home brands for new experiences.

Aim to make IHL the new and better IRL!

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