person on a bed trying to work on their laptop while a young child plays on top of them
COVID-19

September 29, 2020

Releasing the Pressure: Responsibility & COVID-19

The pressure to be responsible has only intensified during COVID-19 as people have taken on additional roles, such as parent and educator, and dealt with new situations, such as work from home. We set off to explore how our relationship with responsibility is changing and what happens when the pressure gets to be too much.

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Industry Smarts

August 27, 2020

Human Motivations: Toolkit for Brands

Find new ways for your brand to understand human motivations and add value and meaning to people’s lives with our Motivation 101 Toolkit. At-home starter kit with 4 exercises will enable you and your team to explore, understand, imagine and plan ways to accelerate the growth of your brand.

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african-american-woman-on-bed-sleeping-with-a-sleeping-mask
COVID-19

August 24, 2020

Reclaiming Relaxation During the Great Pause

As COVID-19 has forced us to slow down, we've begun to see a transformation in how and why we relax. We see people around the world taking a more holistic and proactive approach to relaxation, and a movement towards putting in the time and effort to truly "reset" ourselves. But what does this all mean as we look to the future and a world that's beginning to open up again?

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Online Messages
COVID-19

July 21, 2020

Meaningful Connection Amidst Virtual Fatigue

At-home entertainment is helping us meet our intensified desire to connect with others during lockdown. But while some behaviors are a band-aid solution, others speak to a deeper value shift toward seeking more meaningful connection.

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image of watch face
COVID-19

June 18, 2020

The Pursuit of Progress During the Big Pause

During COVID-19, our desire for progress is stronger than ever, yet there’s no clear destination in sight. As the days blur together, people are engaging in new at-home entertainment behaviors to feel a sense of purpose and avoid losing this time. The Sound set off to explore these new behaviors and understand which habits will last.

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young man in different moments at his bedroom
COVID-19

June 15, 2020

Paradoxes of Home in the Time of COVID-19

As the fixed boundaries of home are increasingly tested, the feelings associated with home (stability, creativity, belonging) are harder to achieve than ever, yet perhaps are more important than ever. Our recent exploration has unearthed several paradoxes tied to home, and in doing so, revealed opportunities for brands to help reinforce these feelings, connect to their audience and echo consumer behavior within the new boundaries created by the pandemic.

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photo of man and a woman standing close together
COVID-19

June 9, 2020

Nostalgia: Stabilizing and Coping in Pandemic Times

How can we re-establish stability in the highly uncertain times of today? Our daily lives and routine have always provided us with a sense of stability. However, being hit by a pandemic has changed life as we knew it. Disrupted lives and looming uncertainty of a “new world” have left us in a state of flux.As we cope with the situation at hand we find ourselves leaning on Nostalgia to derive the lost sense of stability that we earlier got from our daily routines and lives.

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man holding a glasses
Empathy

April 10, 2020

Empathy: A Decade in Review

Empathy is as hot a topic as the economy these days, so we decided to reflect on how brands have been dialing it up to make deeper connection with people.

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empathy brand strategy insight corvid coronavirus
COVID-19

March 19, 2020

Brands Give a Boost: Empathy Amid Coronavirus

COVID-19 is no match for the human spirit. Every day we are seeing acts of kindness, empathy and connection on an unprecedented scale. Around the world people are coming together as a community to support and lift each other up, and some smart brands are helping them do it.

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Gen Z and tech trends, generation Z characteristics, gen z social media
Cultural Insights

March 12, 2020

Gen Z and Tech: 5 Surprises

Close your eyes and imagine a group of ten teenagers… Hard to keep reading with your eyes closed huh? But in all seriousness, we suspect that heads down, phone in hand is central to the picture you painted in your mind. And while this is very often the case, you’d be surprised to know that compared to Millennials, Gen Z’s relationship with tech is evolving.

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