2020 : The ‘unprecedented’ year in 101 pictures

2020 will probably go down the history books as the most infamous year of this century.

Exhausting, Unprecedented, Hellacious, Chaotic, Stifling, Relentless etc. are top words used to describe the year.

2020 was remarkable for those who made the most out of a crisis, and was made meaningful by our relentless front line masked heroes.

This post is my visual ode to those events that taught me a lot more about us, our planet and about what makes us humans thrive even when the odds are stacked against us. Hope this blogpost inspires you as well as you ‘Enter Arena 2021’.

Please note that these pictures are from a myriad of sources, primarily from FT, Economist, NYT , WSJ, Visual Capitalist, Bloomberg, Washington Post, CB Insights, HBR, Forbes, google news, google images etc.

[ONE] To start with, it is important to recognize how we started the year. We had massive bush fires in Australia that killed over half a billion animals and made many species extinct. This event left an indelible mark on our one-sided fight against the ‘Climate Emergency’. However, the year did present to us a glimmer of ‘green hope’ when majority of the countries went into a lock down. The pollution rates reduced to such levels that many of us saw views of nature that were ever-hidden away behind clouds of dust and carbon. Many animals re-claimed the streets and the waterways that once were their homes. It was a heartening moment, though short, as humans and nature co-existed in harmony. This pandemic made us realize that even at the top of the food chain, our existence is at the mercy of nature.

[TWO] As the year progressed we got more bad news from the events controlled by the pandemic and the tremendous pressure on our healthcare system. Countries locked down their transport / trade routes to break the chain but were finally beaten by the virus’s network effect. The supply chain upheaval crippled many mega-cities, businesses and lives. Politicians exploited all of this to increase the ‘nationalist’ (/ ‘anti-China’) sentiment, thus accelerating the demise of a 25 year old institution that is the World Trade Organization (WTO).

[THREE] The year continued to yield events that will leave a lasting impact on our future. According to me, the Top 10 events that made headlines are :(1) A remarkable increase in environmental consciousness as per a recent BCG survey, (2) Return of the milkman and the local delivery boy as an access to our essentials, (3) Self appointment by social media giants as gatekeepers of our democracy and freedom of speech, (4) Digital transformation of the basic definition of work, (5) Religious extremism adulterating the ‘teacher-student’ relationship marked by the beheading of a French teacher, (6) Disney flexing its film franchises to win the 2020 streaming wars, (7) The WB-HBO partnership posing an existential threat to theater business (and a downstream impact on retail, real estate etc.) (8) Elon Musk’s starship getting closer to colonizing Mars (9) Musk’s human-computer interface also getting closer to revolutionizing humanity, and finally, (10) Life thriving under incessant surveillance.

[FOUR] The year also saw global brands making a concerted effort in responsible and authentic marketing to their socially conscious consumers. Such brands contributed to pandemic conversations in form of health tips for self and community care. As per the MBLMs Brand Intimacy report, since the start of the pandemic, there has been a~25% increase in brands that consumers have an emotional connect with and such brands outperformed other S&P and Fortune 500 top brands.

[FIVE] In 2020, the world of work changed forever. The pandemic reset age old work trends. As leaders we will need to rethink workforce acquisition — engagement — experience strategies. As per a Gartner research, 32% of organizations are replacing full-time employees with contingent workers as a cost-saving measure. According to Slack, only 12% of the knowledge workers want to return to full-time office work, and 72% want a hybrid remote-office model moving forward. As the lines between home and work blurred, organizations are expected to play an expanded role in their employees’ financial, physical and mental well-being. According to a top tier consulting firm, Enterprises will increasingly adopt a “Virtual-First” way of working.

[SIX] One of the worst hit industries in 2020 was Travel and Tourism. The international travel business nose dived as ~1Bn travelers chose to stay home or travel locally during their vacations. As tourists deserted their favorite destinations, the flights started operating at 50% lower capacity opting to transport cargo instead of humans. World Economic Forum estimated the economic damage to exceed over $1 trillion pushing the global tourism industry back by 20 years. In all of this gloom, one of the clear winners was the exercise machine (the cycle or the treadmill)— Peleton reported a ~4X jump in workouts on their machines from Q1'20 to Q4'20.

[SEVEN] Back in 2018, WSJ published an article on how every company is now a technology company. 2020 was a rude awakening for those who hadn’t yet opened up to the change. Gartner noted an increased positive correlation between business performance and use of digital business models. 2020 further accentuated a permanent shift in consumer behavior in favor of on-demand : always-on : frictionless businesses such as telemedicine, videoconferencing, streaming services etc. Legacy businesses such as restaurants, automotive etc. committed themselves to achieve years worth of transformation in months, through newer models focused on delivering personalized customer experiences per mile or meal.

While some organizations burnt more cash then ever to stay afloat — as per S&P, ASPAC banks may add $600Bn in NPA due to Covid-19. Some of those already in process of disruption found their inevitable end sooner — many iconic brands such as JC penny, Hertz, Brook Brothers etc. found the bottom of the ocean. Oil futures found an unprecedented low and some countries continued taxing savings using negative interest rates. This poses a risk of deeper economic contraction in 2021, a greater dependence on fiscal stimuli and, according to WEF, a mountainous global debt of $277 Trillion i.e. 365% of world GDP.

[EIGHT] 2020 also marked the end of ‘Trumpism’ (atleast for now). It was an election for Trump to lose and he didn’t disappoint. [NINE] Social Media giants Twitter and FB tried using this election to reclaim the ground lost to the “Great Hack from 2016” but fell short.

2020 had its ‘stupid moments’ — from people refusing to wear masks, to people finding themselves in compromising situations in video conferences to Rudy Giuliani melting and then farting in front of the US public. Drumpf and Rudy did complement each other pretty well this year.

The 4th pillar of democracy i.e. media in its current politically affiliated journalistic form continued waltzing towards an inevitable collapse.

Sports had a year of empty stands, with very few moments of brilliance and a few moments of extreme stupidity. [TEN] But for me the greatest takeaway this year has been the increasing trend of gamification of sports by likes of Nike, Peloton etc.

This years fashion highlights included suits without pants, branded masks & shields and a new trend in gestures.

[ELEVEN] If there was a technology winner this year, for me it had to be Zoom communications. By Q3'20, its total revenue was $777 million, up 367 percent from the same period of last year. More than three trillion minutes equivalent to around 5.5 million years were spent on the app this year alone. The company managed to hit many curve balls out of the park — i.e. the cyber attack or zoombombing or possible banning over US national security concerns. Zoom went beyond work for many of us to make our ‘quarantined lives’ a little more meaningful during the pandemic — through remote movie nights with friends or through telemedicine, remote schooling and election canvassing etc.

[TWELVE] Covid-19 was not the only pandemic this year. We had widespread cybercrime, Infodemic (/fake news pandemic) and digital burnout (i.e. due to over exposure to digital / devices)

No ‘Year in review’ is complete without a few predictions. So below are 5–6 of my top predictions for the new decade 2021–2030.

[THIRTEEN] By 2030, experiences will primarily be ‘digital’ with extreme personalization. This is the “Internet of Senses” — Ericsson’s 10 consumer trends for 2030

[FOURTEEN] We will finally see mainstream adoption of AR/VR within the next 5 years. [FIFTEEN] Online games will be one of the biggest sources of entertainment and socializing for Gen Z and Gen Alpha. And, finally within a year or two, we will have version 1 of designer babies/ humans among us, a fossil fuel independent future and Esports will be the next hot bed for streaming services.

To end this post, here are a couple of bonus picture compilations. These are some of my favorite cartoons and memes from 2020. Enjoy!! and wishing you all a Happy — Healthy — Hip 2021. Cheers!