Trends Identified
Latchkey Loyalty - Harnessing the free range shopper
In Latchkey Loyalty, anticipate consumers to seriously review long-term and overly complex commercial entanglements in favour of commitment-lite engagement where simplicity and ease of entry/departure are emphasised. The demand for relationships of this kind has been building for some time among capricious consumers: but herein lies renewed opportunity to creatively ensnare the shopper in gilded cages of apparent freedom and comfort, from where “you can check out any time you like, but you can never leave”.
2018
Trending 2018
Foresight Factory
Fine to be fallible - profitiing from an age of epic fails
In societies hard-wired to strive for and venerate success, it may seem counter-intuitive to suggest that competitive advantage lies in publicly sharing our shortcomings. Fine to be Fallible describes a world increasingly at ease with the notion that failure is a necessary pre-requisite of success – and an acceptable consequence of being human. A companion trend to Engineered Empathy, herein lies an opportunity to associate brands with the kaleidoscope of human endeavour and carefully address failings of their own.
2018
Trending 2018
Foresight Factory
Quest to Purchase - The rise of elective barriers to buying
Orthodoxy demands that brands strain every sinew to kill obstacles on the path to purchase. In Quest to Purchase, brands are instead invited to recognise the perceived value of deliberately contrived pre-checkout challenge. For the One-Click Generation, used to zero delay between intent and satisfaction, new barriers to buying – with opportunities to graft and compete for favoured brands’ custom in offline, IRL settings – provide new routes to fun and status.
2018
Trending 2018
Foresight Factory
Custom at all Costs - Playing new games with price
Price sensitivity remains a key and determining feature of the consumer landscape, and recent years have seen much price elasticity innovation to appeal to consumers (even the relatively well- off) engaged in a daily battle against unnecessary largesse in the aisles. In 2018 and beyond, anticipate further dismantling of RRP and a growing tendency to permit flexible, time-sensitive, lifestyle- and lifestage- personalised, progressive pricing models to differentiate and entice.
2018
Trending 2018
Foresight Factory
Mechanised Truth - Centralised routes to corporate truth-building
Truth, trust, believability – all under serious pressure in a consumer landscape developing a healthy disrespect for traditional arbiters of truth and authority, and where claim and counter-claim on any given issue mean that settled, mainstream truths are in short supply. Enter new, centralised routes to commercial truth- building that herald a future in which tangible, mechanised truths more robustly challenge emotionally-charged “alternative facts” and meet a significant need for corporate transparency.
2018
Trending 2018
Foresight Factory
IoT becomes BIoT
Combining IoT with blockchain —or BIoT—ushers in a whole host of new services and businesses. For example, BIoT can be used to track shipments of pharmaceuticals and to create smart cities in which connected heating systems better controls energy use and connected traffic lights better manage rush hour.
2017
4 Technology Trends That Will Transform Our World in 2018
Fortune
The fintech renaissance
While bitcoin and blockchain were grabbing the headlines in 2017, social and mobile payments have fundamentally changed the financial markets. In China, mobile payment volumes now exceed $5 trillion annually.
2017
4 Technology Trends That Will Transform Our World in 2018
Fortune
Augmented reality goes mainstream
The mobile game Pokémon Go has unleashed a billion-dollar demand for augmented reality entertainment, and major brands are taking notice. Thanks to the introduction of affordable augmented reality glasses, our phones will remain in our pockets and Heads Up Displays (HUD) will improve how we work, shop, and play.
2017
4 Technology Trends That Will Transform Our World in 2018
Fortune
2018 is the year of the bots
We all have gotten use to speaking with bots whenever we call to make airline reservations or to confirm our bank account balances. The use of natural language bots will expand from use as automated customer service agents to become routine for daily living.
2017
4 Technology Trends That Will Transform Our World in 2018
Fortune
Recession Watch
Apologies for being contrary; all signs point to a solid economy in 2018, with tax cuts boosting growth. But that’s precisely the reason to start worrying. The economic expansion is eight and a half years old, and this spring, it becomes the second longest on record.
2018
Five Big Business Trends to Watch in 2018
Fortune