
Even though we couldn’t see each other in person, 2020 was a year defined by connection. Guided by our aspiration to elevate the human experience in all we do, our teams across the globe learned how to connect in new ways—with each other, with clients, and with friends and family. We joined the diverse parts of our business—from strategy and design to technology implementation and services—to connect our clients with the potential in theirs, even in the most challenging circumstances.
Here’s a peek at how we made work from home, well, work:
- We teamed with our amici (that’s Italian for friends) at Lamborghini to design a personalized experience for their app users. And what’s a luxury car app without find-my-car functionality, a digital garage, and remote-controlled headlights?
- We encouraged girls to “Dare to STEM” with a creative experience in Minecraft.
- We joined forces with New Balance to launch their first-ever digital flagship store.
- We combined nostalgia, modern filmmaking, and AAA’s customers' trust to launch this campaign for CSAA.
- We kept it cool with Bomb Pop, helping them reach tech-savvy tweens with their new mashup Bomb Pop.
- We helped Casey’s General Store digitize their customer ordering system, creating a new website and mobile app, and developing a loyalty program. Take a look!
Casey’s General Store | A brand’s digital journey:
Casey’s General Store knew its customers loved the pizza. But how could it transform its customer relationships to inspire loyalty and ignite growth? Traditional brands need state-of-the-art digital solutions to re-engage with customers and drive growth. Watch the video to find out how this community-centered convenience store chain in America’s Midwest took that crucial step.
A new, more human world
To better understand the new world we’re living in, our team talked with people everywhere to gauge how our preferences and expectations are shifting in the COVID-19 era. Our Human Experience in Times of Uncertainty research uncovered real human sentiment and emotions in just about every industry, from hospitality to automotive to retail. We even discovered that there are three “COVID mindsets” that people fall into when it comes to their attitudes and behaviors during this time. Which one are you?
Human behavior during COVID | Human Experience in Times of Uncertainty:
Deloitte Digital researched over 28,000 people to understand the human experience in times of uncertainty. Our research reveals that Americans fall under three different mindsets: Protectors, Pragmatists and Prevailers.
Once we understood how human attitudes and emotions are shaping decisions in this new era, we developed insights to help guide our clients:
- Trust is more important now than ever, and we have a new way to measure it: Introducing the Human Experience (HX™) TrustID™.
- Customer-led marketing in the COVID era means adapting to new customer expectations in every area of the enterprise. Here’s our guide to transforming marketing, sales, service, growth, and innovation.
- We also created The Social Sensing Report, which gave daily updates on consumer sentimentality by location, demographics, and sectors. Through the report, we shared industry-specific short-term analysis and long-term business implications based on data provided by two cutting-edge technologies: Heat AI and Sprinklr.
- And together with Salesforce, we explored what the world might look like in the next three to five years, creating four scenarios that show how we could emerge from the COVID-19 crisis.
Trusting your inner leader
This year was all about learning to embrace uncertainty and we learned from the best when Ronan Donovan and Ami Vitale, two National Geographic explorers, taught us how adaptability and vulnerability are two traits that can make or break a strong leader.
National Geographic's Ami Vitale | Deloitte Digital:
Innate human abilities like trust, empathy, and vulnerability may feel like a given. But, what if these givens are actually a superpower? National Geographic Explorer Ami Vitale explores how honesty, vulnerability, and authenticity enable deeper credibility and trust at the Reteti Elephant Sanctuary and the surrounding community in Northern Kenya.
Our own leaders parlayed these values of trust and connection into one of our most collaborative years yet, including:
- At the very-newly-digital Adobe Summit conference, we shared our expertise on inclusive workplaces, digital banking, and MarTech.
- To help transition to a world without third-party cookies, our team created guidance for this once-in-a-generation opportunity to change and strengthen the ways brands connect with customers and leads.
- Looking ahead to 2021, we developed seven marketing trends that can help marketers to build connection and drive engagement with their customers.
- We worked with Adobe to help financial services firms change the way the build, organize, and operate their customer experiences.
- We created new alliances with both Twilio, the cloud communications platform, and Five9, known for its cloud contact center software.
- We teamed up with WIRED to dive into digital transformation, what it means, and how we can use it.
- And, last but not least, a duck (of all things!) taught us all about the digital thread.
Sneak peek: Virtual Factory 3.0 | Deloitte Digital:
Dub Dub meets her match—literally, her digital twin. Stay tuned to find out what happens to Dub Dub as she becomes an improved version of herself using the digital thread—and in the meantime, download the Virtual Factory by Deloitte app to experience a smart factory come to life in the palm of your hands. See and interact with our innovative 3D virtual rubber duck factory, featuring real-world use cases that showcase how technologies such as Digital Twin, IoT, 3D printing and Augmented Reality can help enable digital supply networks to transform manufacturing operations with the power of the Digital Thread. Unlock scalable solutions with real-time insights end-to-end visibility from design to field.
People powered
All this work to elevate the human experience starts with, well, our awesome humans. We’re pretty proud of them.
- Our UX designers learned that the secret to being creative at home is part morning walks, part finding new ways to collaborate, and occasionally part whiskey sour. And our graphic designers learned a lot about the human side of design.
- Matt Witt, GM of our Chicago studio, changed up his leadership style in light of the new remote work situation. But by focusing on listening, well-being, community, and creativity, he’s been able to continue fostering his team’s incredible talent from afar.
- Nada Khan was named a 2020 Rising Marketing Star by ANA for her hard work as a data-driven strategist with a passion to transform numbers into human insights. Go Nada!
- And speaking of stars… Anna Klembarova shone bright enough to earn the title of a Business Insider’s Rising Star of Madison Avenue!
- Put your hands together for Heat’s Executive Creative Director, Elaine Cox! She’s 100% creative and 100% on Adweek’s Creative 100 list for the year.
- The wonderful Amelia Dunlop won Consulting Magazine’s Women Leaders in Technology award for her Excellence in Innovation.
- Two fearless leaders took the helm of Deloitte Digital, with Sam Roddick leading the way for our global team and John Peto becoming head of our US practice.
- Our female data scientists showed how women can make a huge difference in the male-dominated STEM fields by shaping the future of human experience.
We’re also pretty proud of the work. Here are a few of the ways we’ve been recognized in 2020.
- Our pals over at MuleSoft awarded us the 2020 Global Channels Partner of the Year for our big contributions in delivering a truly connected customer experience on their Anypoint Platform and accelerating business outcomes with application networks. We also were proud to receive Channels Partner of the Year in Americas, EMEA and JAPAC.
- 2020 was a great year for us at the Tellys, where we won in prestigious categories like Branded Content: Financial Services/Banking, Branded Content: Fully Animated Piece, Branded Content: Business-to-Business, Non-Broadcast: Production Co./Ad Agency Demo Reel, and Non-Broadcast: Documentary: Individual. Go team!
- Then the Addys came around and our work with Let’s Get Consensual won in the Online/Interactive Websites category while our work with San Francisco General Hospital Foundation brought in a win for Corporate Social Responsibility.
- Our mission to elevate the human experience paid off when we were named Customer Experience Partner of the Year by our friends at Qualtrics.
- We’re oh-so proud to be named a leader in Magic Quadrant for CRM and Customer Experience Implementation Services, Worldwide by Gartner.
- Who’s Adobe’s 2020 Digital Experience Solution Partner of the Year? Why, that would be yours truly, thanks to consistently delivering for Adobe customers and investing across Adobe Experience Cloud with a focus on bringing AEP to all industries.
4 ways to elevate the human experience:
Now, more than ever, we need to elevate the human experience. Not just to sell. But to connect.
The future is looking bright
Agility and creativity have always been core to the way we approach our client work. But in this—to quote everyone else on the internet—unprecedented year, these traits have proved more important than ever. Think you have what it takes to help us make an impact that matters for our clients and society (even in your sweatpants) in 2021? Learn more about how we bring creativity and technology together to imagine, deliver, and run the future. And while you’re at it, check out opportunities to join the team.