The Appeal Of Boring Business

In the midst of today’s volatility and turmoil, boring has become alluring. Not as escapism or retreat. People still want exhilarating experiences, but without risks, extremes and recklessness. It’s finding the extraordinary in the ordinary. Which is to say, boring.

Volatility

Since the turn of the century, volatility has grown dramatically. Not just the past few years of pandemic, inflation, interest rates, protests, war and AI. It’s the past couple of decades of all those things (a couple more than once) plus economic collapse and recovery, demographic turnover in generations, households and diversity, the explosion of digital and social media, climate and weather extremes, political polarization, regime changes, Brexit and other nationalist movements, opioids and fentanyl, and a new class of mega-billionaires.

It’s reflected in how people feel about their prospects. Our analysis of consumer data in countries around the world finds a parallel jump in the volatility of sentiment. Other tracking of mental health finds related trends of growing anxiety and depression.

This is not to say that life is all bad. People are resilient. Gallup tracking worldwide finds life satisfaction to be relatively stable, with the only notable drop during the financial crisis. Indeed, 2020 jumped up. It’s a challenging environment, though, and people are looking for ways to navigate it.

Let’s Get Boring

Fight-or-flight is a good way to bucket how people respond to threats and uncertainty. For shopping and buying, the equivalent is spending with abandon or pulling in.

Immediately after the pandemic, spending took off much faster than expected (which combined with supply chain snarls to spark a big inflationary spike). People had extra money that they had been able to bank during lockdowns when spending was restricted in all sorts of ways. So, there was a lot splurging on travel, restaurants, live entertainment and luxury items. Now, though, people are pulling in.

Consumer spending is not crashing. It remains robust, though not as strong as the past few years. Spending is back to the pre-pandemic trend line. Which hints at a desire among people to regather themselves and catch their breath. In other words, boring.

Boring Is Not So Bad

I dimensionalize boring in three ways. A leveling out from extremes. A return to the ordinary as the way to enjoy extraordinary pleasures. And a renewed interest in brands that just work, or do what they’re supposed to do. There are three things to add to these.

Refuge. This will be a fractious political year. It is already. Which means heated rhetoric, pointed confrontations and brittle interactions. Brands are sure to find themselves under pressure to take stances and play politics. But consumer attitudes are trending in the other direction.

Instead, consumers want stability and security from brands, not politics or advocacy. They want brands to be less outspoken and more boring. They want brands that feel comfortable in a contentious world. This is not to say that purpose has fallen out of favor. Integrity and responsible operations matter as much as ever. Such values make for an even better refuge. But there is no refuge if turmoil is invited in, too.

Nostalgia. Ordinary things that are making a comeback. One is old movie revivals and the other is boat shoes. These are not just ordinary things but ordinary things infused with nostalgia and classic styling. There is emotional comfort in familiar things such as these, particularly in stressful situations.

The Middle. The Wall Street Journal noted recently that Walmart’s flavor strategy for its new food line, Bettergoods, “isn’t…too trend-forward” because Walmart is “aware that many of its core customers still want something familiar.” Only when that foundation is established will Walmart consider doing more. In a similar vein is the rise of so-called mid-TV. It’s not mediocre. It’s copycat facsimiles recycling inventive ideas. The middle is better, which makes the middle more satisfying even as it makes it less electrifying and thus, ineluctably, boring.

Contributed to Branding Strategy Insider By: Walker Smith, Chief Knowledge Officer, Brand & Marketing at Kantar

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