The most influential thing today is bed rotting. It's a phenomenon that's silently affecting our young consumers, talent, industry and creativity.
it's when you retreat in bed all day, binge watching online content. You experience this awful feeling inside you. Relieved to have time to yourself but feeling crap from spending all day in bed.
It’s an escapist behaviour accelerated by our smartphones, the shift in social media from connection to endless content (whether it’s good or bad) at our fingertips.
We escape because we are burnt out. COVID may have been the final straw in the rat race. But ultimately the pressure has been building for years.
lets think about here-
ridiculous university repayments,
unaffordable housing market,
the decline of third spaces,
job instability and stagnant wages
and to TOP it all off - we are on our way to recession
I mean we’re basically wondering “What's the point?”
Why should you care about it? Why am I on this stage talking to you about Bed Rotting?
Bedrotting isn't just a personal struggle; it's a symptom of burnout, and it's eroding the lifeblood of our industry – our talent. They are the driving force behind work that cuts through the noise and connects with the same young consumers experiencing bedrotting too.
Burnout is the enemy of creativity. Our ability to produce compelling work hinges on the well-being of the creative minds shaping our industry. And I know creativity is important to you or else you wouldn’t be here at Most Contagious right now.
To fix this we need to address the root causes. As an industry, we must implement two fundamental changes:
Mental Health Leave Allowances: separate from sick leave
And Fair Compensation Practices: match salary to inflation. We should be thriving, not surviving.
And I know some people in this room, like myself, are powerless to make those changes. So I will share this with you instead. Especially as someone who admittedly also bed rots.
I’m talking about: Celebrating the small wins. Give credit, where credit is due. Prioritise cultivating culture. Get comfortable with talking about mental health. Be an active ally. Push the DE&I efforts forward.
And remember that although you won’t know everything but you’ve gotta try.
Our young talent and consumers are the future of our businesses. Our young talent understands young consumers more than any tool can. When given the support they need, They will be able to create marketing campaigns that drive a genuine connection.
And Connection is key to bringing our audiences out of bed rot and into establishing meaningful relationships and patterns of behaviour. So when our talent creates impactful storytelling, or community building initiatives that bring people together. That is what will cut through to someone's bed rotting. It could change their life. For the better.
Take this away from today: combating bed rotting is battling burnout, not just for our industry and its talent but for the well-being of the communities we serve. It's a fight for the very people we aim to impact.
Because what we create is not just advertising, it’s culture and we need to stop.the.rot.
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