Trends Identified
Life in Beta Mode - Ready for a world of forever onboarding?
The emerging Internet of Things (IoT) era creates a world in which B2B and B2C products routinely upgrade and improve long after purchase. That products reach peak performance some time after POS is a message many will welcome (and drive long-term loyalty), especially those maximisers who seek post-purchase reassurance that money has been well spent. Anticipate a greater need for post-purchase support, value-signalling and a clear process of rolling onboarding.
2018
Trending 2018
Foresight Factory
Anti-Automation - Driving change in CSR policy near you soon
Anti-automation sentiment hangs heavy in the air. All manner of people – from entrepreneurs to policy makers, from technologists to everyday consumers – fret about the promised disruption to working and leisure lives caused by the forces of automation and evolving AI. Whilst, in reality, consumers will welcome the multiple benefits that automated innovation brings, disquiet (about job prospects, spending power, status) creates opportunities for brands to create supportive messaging as well as new skills to help consumers adapt.
2018
Trending 2018
Foresight Factory
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
Brand Youth as Politics Undergoes a Generational Shift
Justin Trudeau is perhaps the most recognizable among a new generation of political leaders from around the world—New Zealand to North Korea, and Austria to Saudi Arabia—who are redefining politics as usual. While some of these new leaders champion political views stereotypical of their generation, others have veered towards more conventional ideas. The emergence of these young leaders marks a watershed: it will signal either a rising tide of millennial leaders, or will relegate these early entrants to a short-lived experiment with change.
2018
Top 10 Tech Trends For 2018
Forbes
Managing Global Natural Disaster Strategies
Hurricanes, mudslides, earthquakes and floods battered the world with unprecedented frequency and ferocity in 2017. As the social and economic toll mounts, prepare for consortiums of businesses, municipalities and insurance companies working together in 2018 to take more aggressive steps and employ innovative strategies to minimize the impact of these natural disasters.
2018
Top 10 Tech Trends For 2018
Forbes
Platform-Only Business Models Cede Ground
In 2017, we saw some interesting developments at the world’s most notable platforms, Uber and AirBnB, which indicated a move beyond platform-only business models and into acquisition and partnership with asset providers. This underlined a need to differentiate and overcome some of the challenges that a platform-only model presents, with the objective of increasing the value of both digital and physical assets.
2018
Top 10 Tech Trends For 2018
Forbes