Meet the new masters: the changing face of digital engagement in the UK

The digital landscape keeps moving. AI, biometrics, ambient computing, and ever-richer data are reshaping how customers and brands interact. But the more useful question isn't what the technology does — it's what customers think, feel and do as a result.

Quadrangle's research programme Meet the New Masters: The Changing Face of Digital Engagement in the UK set out to answer that. Across eight years of qualitative and quantitative work, we've mapped how UK customers are segmenting into four distinct digital engagement cohorts, each with its own implications for brands.

Mapping the modern digital customer

Society is now in the third wave of digital. The first two waves were about hardware and software build. This era — internet ubiquity — should mean customers are more comfortable with digital and the role it plays in their lives.

Or does it?

Our research identified four determinants of digital engagement: mobile dependency; attitudes to technology; willingness to share data with brands; and perceived power in the customer–brand relationship. Position on each dimension (high or low) places a customer into one of 16 typologies, which we group into four post-digital cohorts:

• Digital Masters
• Mobile Masters
• Power Masters
• Digital Doubters

Used well, the cohorts help brands develop empathy with their audiences and anticipate how propositions and communications will be received.

Inside the cohorts

In 2016 the Digital Doubters were the largest group in the UK, which goes some way to explaining why so many digital communications of the era fell flat. By 2024 they are just 17% of the population. This male-skewed group has the lowest expectation of brands' digital capability, and is typically reluctant to share data or engage with new technology.

The Digital Masters have moved to the top of the pile, now 43% of the country. They embrace technology and have integrated it into daily life. But despite being the youngest-skewing cohort, brands shouldn't assume every Gen Z or Millennial belongs here — one-in-eight Gen Zers remain Digital Doubters.

The Mobile Masters are the fastest-growing cohort, up from 15% in 2016 to 27% in 2024. As Ben Skelton, CEO at Quadrangle, points out: "they're not automatically a soft target; just because they've got their mobile in their hand doesn't mean they want to engage with a brand, either through mobile or digital."

Finally, the Power Masters. The oldest and smallest cohort at 13%, they share the Digital Masters' high perceived power in the relationship with brands but rely less on mobile. The group has stayed roughly static across the eight years, with a brief spike in 2019 as some adopted more digital behaviours — grudgingly.

Five trends to factor into strategy

• Levelling up: the emergence of a digital customer class system.
• The hype myth: the tensions between analogue and digital preferences.
• Harder than you think: the challenge of creating brand opportunity from mobile dependency.
• Friend or foe: generational differences in attitudes to technology.
• Era of uncertainty: brands still hold the key to building trust.

Practise what you preach

The implications play out differently for different businesses. Simon Brady, Head of Marketing, Insight & Brand Experience at London Gatwick Airport, frames the operator's challenge: "There's still a sizable cohort that are Digital Doubters, and as an airport we can never forget that. Our repositioning work with Quadrangle found that everybody has a unique expectation, so our challenge was to deliver a tailored experience to a varied audience. The key to unlocking these additional propositions requires customers sharing a lot of data."

For retailers and financial services brands, Lindsay Forster, CEO at Shepper, sees the bigger shift in omnichannel: "[They] need to get much better at understanding the end-to-end journey and finding innovative ways to start measuring and driving insights on what happens the moment you leave the digital world."

Trust runs through all of it. At Gatwick, the personalisation customers want spans the everyday and the high-stakes. "This can be at a basic level, such as a family wanting to know where the baby changing facilities are when using digital wayfinding. At the extreme end, it could be wanting to share biometrics to accelerate their journey through painful touchpoints. But that's very high order data, which requires ultimate trust. In order to convince them, you have to deliver an elevated customer experience."

As Lindsay puts it: "There are new hygiene factors that customers expect brands to achieve just to get on the cart of consideration, and therefore loyalty and trust. Transparency is absolutely key; people value honesty. And if you're asking customers to share data which is personal and sensitive, they want to know a) you're going to look after it and b) you're going to use it for mutual benefit."

Watch the webinar

Hear the full conversation between Alison Camps, Ben Skelton, Simon Brady (London Gatwick Airport) and Lindsay Forster (Shepper) on how the four cohorts are reshaping digital strategy.

Key takeaways

Whatever the mix of Digital Masters, Mobile Masters, Power Masters or Digital Doubters in your base, connecting effectively means engaging with customers on their terms and delivering value that resonates personally.

That starts by abandoning a one-size-fits-all approach and thinking "and, not or". The brands that bring Customer Emotional Intelligence to their strategies will be best placed to create, develop and keep profitable relationships across very different types of digital customer.