More presence and fewer screens: the digital detox option for brands
Growing number of companies choosing live experiences and real relationships to respond to hyper-connection fatigue
From running feet to kneading hands. An epochal transition for one of the world's best known brands. Forget apps to measure sports performance, immersive platforms in the metaverse, game consoles for streamers. Today, the most revolutionary idea no longer passes through connected screens. Adidas decided to focus on a live table for participants in the recent Dubai Marathon. Thus was born Adizero Pasta, a limited edition ravioli in the shape of a running shoe produced with Italian pasta maker Sagra. The initiative transformed one of the pre-race carbohydrate rituals into a moment that brought thousands of marathon runners together.
The marketing of presence
What if, in the time marked by AI and digital consumption, it was precisely companies that put a brake on thesocial drift and tech fatigue? Never before has there been such a proliferation of marketing campaigns that favour disconnection, encouraging live interaction. It is the digital detox economy. An awareness and responsibility that multiplies offline channels and encourages live relationships. This is how brands put the brakes on hyper-connection with presence marketing.
A few days ago Le Monde highlighted how a significant proportion of consumers, including very young ones, are trying to regain control of their lives by deleting apps, limiting time in front of screens and adopting blocking tools. An individual response to screen fatigue that could become a structural phenomenon. "We are not registering a rejection of digital as such, but a rebalancing phase. Not everyone and not in the same way. Certain value profiles more oriented towards control, well-being and authenticity are questioning the hyper-connection as an implicit norm. The digital detox becomes an identity practice: not an escape from technology, but a conscious attempt to govern time, attention and relationships,' says Furio Camillo, professor of business statistics at the University of Bologna and scientific head of the first Zeta and Alpha Webboh Lab and the Sylla research institute.
But the picture is still blurred. "The phenomenon is polarised. On the one hand, profiles are growing that seek disconnection, depth of experience and clearer boundaries between online and offline. On the other, hyper-exposure behaviour, linked to appearances, selfies and social performance, is strengthening. This is not a unique emotional reaction, but a divergence in values. On generation Z we do not see a generalised disconnection, but a growing selectivity: they disconnect but not completely, especially the more reflective and relational profiles, less oriented to continuous visibility. Digital remains central, but is compartmentalised,' Camillo points out.
Fewer feeds, more people
Meanwhile, awareness campaigns are multiplying with an invitation to switch off devices. Heineken launched 'Social off socials', an initiative that encourages real moments ofsociality by switching off social channels. Also with Nokia it presented 'The boring phone', a transparent clamshell mobile phone with a minimalist design capable of doing only the essentials. In America Polaroid with The Camera for an Analog Life celebrated the analogue experience by contrasting it with digital noise. In the Philippines, McDonald's launched 'Night Classroom', turning the interiors of 60 restaurants located near university centres into smartphone-free study areas for students all night long. In India, mobile phone operator Vivo launched the #SwitchOff campaign, encouraging families to switch off their smartphones during meals at home. In Italia, Sassuolo Calcio with 'Social off' chose silence for days, transforming a renunciation of visibility into an educational gesture on presence.
