As we gear up to re-enter a world where people aren’t simply squares on a screen, we’re combing our hair again, ironing our shirts, reacquainting ourselves with the art of small talk. It's actually happening. And not only will we be bumping into friends and colleagues, but we’ll be encountering brands in real-life settings again, too. But what exactly will — or should — that look like?
 

There are plenty of answers to this question. For instance, the era of working and socializing (living?) virtually has put us in charge of many of the experiential elements that would typically be defined for us. (Volume up or down? Slacks or sweats? Tiger King background?) So we prize experiences that let us tune in at our own frequency. And, during this past year, when we have ventured out, we’ve discovered a whole new level of convenience through cash apps, touchless payments, and user-friendly pre-order tools that let us flit in and out of spaces (and transactions) with the lightest touch possible. This is now table stakes. As often happens, our innovations quickly morph into our expectations.
 

At the heart of all of this is interactivity. Not a new concept, but now it's the name of the game (or, maybe better, of the gamification). During the pandemic, bedrock industries from e-sports to music found solid footing by building fan competition, input, and engagement into their “experiential” model. Look at a breakout webcast series like Verzuz, which pits act against act, giving fans a voice in deciding who "wins" the battle. (Verzuz’s voodoo caught the eye of TrillerNet, who scooped up the company for an undisclosed fortune earlier this year.) In this spirit, the brands that successfully serve up IRL experiences in the post-pandemic world are likely to be those who understand that, in 2021 and beyond, audiences are eager to help shape where the story goes next. So these brands will lean into the promise and power of technology — much as we’ve been doing in our own digital lives lately — to connect us, empower us, and extend our experiences far beyond the ground we happen to be standing on at any given moment.