An FCMO’s field guide to separating pandemic panic from structural change.
Pandemic Panic: The Echo Chamber of 2020
In early 2020, the marketing echo chamber reached fever pitch. LinkedIn filled with charts foretelling doom for shopping centres, proclaiming offices redundant and consigning formalwear to history. Brand consultants rushed to assert that Covid-19 would accelerate the shift from brick-and-mortar to digital, touching every facet of commerce. This narrative, seductive in its certainty, persuaded many founders to panic. As a fractional CMO, I saw CEOs of seed-stage businesses scrap physical retail projects, dismantle carefully-planned experiments, and stake everything on hastily absorbed webinars promising exponential returns. But fear makes for poor strategy, and hype is an even worse financial advisor.
With five years of hindsight, the hyperbole looks almost comical. Bill Gates once observed, “We always overestimate the change that will occur in the next two years and underestimate the change that will occur in the next ten.” Covid provided a dramatic confirmation: short-term predictions wildly missed their marks, while longer trends adjusted only slightly. Marketing expert Mark Ritson describes this return to stability as the ‘boring red line of continuity’. Zoom out from any consumer trend graph and you’ll notice the same steady gradient re-emerging after the abrupt pandemic spike.
Red Line Reality: Choosing Data Over Drama
E-commerce illustrates this clearly. US online sales crossed the trillion-dollar threshold in 2024, double their pre-pandemic levels. Yet, despite this apparent surge, digital transactions account for barely one-fifth of total retail sales, predicted to inch upwards modestly by 2027. The dramatic leap of 2020 was temporary—a sudden upward jerk rather than the new norm. The underlying red line of steady, incremental growth remains intact.
Physical retail, despite dire predictions, has adapted rather than vanished. In the UK, footfall remains slightly below 2019 levels, yet spending per visit has risen. Consumers now blend online research with strategic in-person visits, confirming omnichannel as the sustainable equilibrium. Retail has not ended; it has merely recalibrated.
Workplace trends mirror this theme. Zoom’s explosive 2020 growth has mellowed into ordinary, steady software expansion. UK data shows hybrid working stabilising at around 28%, with only 13% fully remote. Most workers remain physically tied to offices, proving video calls have supplemented rather than supplanted in-person meetings.
Even cinemas, once prematurely mourned, have bounced back. Admissions in the UK and Ireland plummeted to unprecedented lows in 2020, yet rebounded significantly by early 2025. Although revenues haven’t quite reached pre-pandemic heights, the public’s appetite for collective, big-screen experiences has clearly not vanished. Habits have adapted, but not broken.
Surprisingly, even men’s suits—widely ridiculed during lockdown—are resurgent. Formalwear has adapted to new tastes, embracing looser fits and comfort. Consumers proved willing to resume dressing formally, provided fashion adjusted to post-pandemic preferences. Nostalgia and novelty coexist comfortably.
Across sectors, the same pattern emerges: a dramatic initial reaction, a partial return to previous habits, and ultimately a continuation of pre-existing trends. This consistent red line refutes marketing’s favourite myth that every disruption reshapes human desire. Startups can find comfort in this truth: chasing every fad—NFTs, DAOs, or next quarter’s buzzword—is unnecessary. Instead, calibrate to steady demographic shifts, psychological constants, and proven economic realities.
A Fractional CMO’s Practical Playbook
As an FCMO, my post-pandemic approach is pragmatic. About 75% of marketing budgets belong to proven channels; the rest should fund clear, measurable experiments. Additionally, even digital-first companies gain from tangible experiences—events, branded merchandise, or retail partnerships—which anchor brands firmly in customer memory. Finally, always build brand equity—consistently, patiently, knowing today’s investment matures during future disruptions.
The pandemic years tested systems rather than resetting them entirely. They exposed fragility, accelerated existing trends, and demonstrated how fear often outpaces facts. Ultimately, consumers proved resilient and predictable. Entrepreneurs recognising this truth—and resisting the allure of constant disruption—will discover that marketing remains less a sprint and more a careful marathon, guided by common sense rather than clairvoyance. The future may change, but seldom as drastically as the loudest voices suggest.
