How are you adapting to change?
Updated: Oct 13, 2021
The way we receive news and information has changed dramatically in recent years. The introduction of the 24/7 news cycle, the consumption of news via social media, and the decline in readership of print media have altered how, when and where organisations and brands target their audiences and the messages they share with them.
And if the communications changes we’ve experienced in the past decade aren’t overwhelming enough, Committee for Perth’s latest FACTBase Bulletin highlights how dramatically our population has also changed since the end of the Second World War.
Perth residents are now older, less religious, more culturally diverse and less likely to own a home than ever before.
As Committee for Perth CEO Marion Fulker said: “in one lifetime, Greater Perth has transitioned from a small region of almost 300,000 people to a major global metropolis with a population of two million.
“1947 was chosen for this longitudinal study of Greater Perth because, like our post-boom era, it was a period of immense transformation.
“This evolution of our population has ongoing ramifications for policy development and planning for critical services – for example, the development of aged care services that cater to a culturally diverse clientele.”
Committee for Perth’s example of aged care services that need to cater to a culturally diverse clientele can be adapted for many businesses and brands. How well is your business placed to communicate to an aging, culturally diverse consumer who is less likely to own their own home and therefore less rooted to a particular location?
The research shows our migrant population has changed dramatically in the past 70 years – while the UK still makes up a large proportion of new Perth residents, the highest rates of immigration growth were from our closer neighbours of the Philippines, India and China.
Cultural awareness, bi-lingual communications and niche media outlets are now more important than ever, as are communications strategies that ensure all your potential customers or stakeholders are catered to.
After all, it’s not just the way we consume news and information that has changed, who your customers are and the way they live their life has changed too.
HOW WE’VE CHANGED:
In 1947, 54 per cent of Greater Perth residents owned their home with 77 per cent of those owning their home outright yet by 2016 only 28 per cent of homeowners owned their home outright;
In 1947 average weekly rent was the equivalent of $72.79 (in 2016 prices) and in 2016 the median weekly rent was $360;
Female participation in the labour force tripled between 1947 and 2016;
In 1947 less than 0.5 per cent of Greater Perth’s population identified as non-religious; growing in 2016 with more than 32 per cent identified and non-religious; and
The average age to get married has increased from 23 (women) and 27 (men) in 1947 to 29 and 31 respectively.
FACTBase Bulletin 66 forms part of Committee for Perth’s Hashtag Perth project - a two-year initiative that aims to develop a plan for how best to leverage Perth’s positive attributes and address its weaknesses by enhancing Perth’s reputation as a region to live, work, study, invest and visit.