Trending 2018 The Report Global

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About Foresight Factory
We’re the consumer trends and data expert. We help household name companies, brands and their
agencies own the future through turning complex consumer data into actionable intelligence.
Our expertise is understanding what consumers worldwide want now and in the future and translating this into
recommendations for brand management, product development, loyalty, customer service delivery and other
key touch points on the consumer journey.
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and commentary from our network of Trendspotters to our trends platform FFonline. Subscribers get a
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© Foresight Factory 2
Welcome to Trending 2018
Each year Foresight Factory summarises a selection of new trend themes that promise to impact the
consumer experience in the year ahead and thus demand our clients’ attention. Yes, in reality, trends refuse to
fit neatly into calendar years (trends analysis is, after all, a continuous, and not a once-a-year, process) but
what promises to rise in 2018?
Here we:
Anticipate the zeitgeist for 2018: In a #NeverNormal world, where all that was once fixed is in flux, upon
which consumer certainties can the customer-centric brand rely?
Introduce a number of new and evolving trend themes: Are you ready to erect challengewalls? To
forever onboard your customer? To create loyalty-inducing commitment-lite relationships?
Quantify, predict and advise: Each trend theme is supported with related data, carries a firm prediction
and a recommendation on how to act.
Align with established trends: Trends rarely exist in a vacuum. How do the new themes interact with our
bank of established trends in 2018?
Capture fresh and related commercial innovation
Contents
1. ZEITGEIST | Welcome to the #NeverNormal 5
2. HUMANISE 6. RETAIN
Engineered Empathy 10 Latchkey Loyalty 31
3. REINVENT 7. REBUILD
Life in Beta Mode 17 Fine to be Fallible 37
4. CLARIFY 8. CHALLENGE
Mechanised Truth 21 Quest to Purchase 42
5. SUPPORT 9. ENTICE
Anti-Automation 26 Custom at all Costs 46
1. Zeitgeist: Welcome to the #NeverNormal
A new manifesto of B2C disruption
Zeitgeist: Welcome to the #NeverNormal
A decade ago, Foresight Factory recognised that the

then rapidly-unfolding drama of the Global Financial Crisis
would have a long-lasting impact on the B2C landscape.
In the New Normal (2009), we summarised the consumer
response: cautious and careful, yes, but refusing to be
victimised in volatile times, using new smart tools and
approaches to budget finances, maximise purchases and
favour “cheap treats” as priorities shifted.
We foresaw a coming decade of consumer
empowerment, a New Normal in which the commercial
landscape would need to creatively innovate (via price, via
customer experience, via new business models) to retain
consumer affection.
How to characterise the next decade of B2C FORCES DRIVING #NEVERNORMAL

experience? Certainly, many of the trends we Next-gen tech and automation of the Fourth
monitor will retain a presence in consumers’ lives. Industrial Revolution that promise to
And the core needs they carry – for recognition, for simultaneously empower consumers yet also
wellbeing, for cost-effective living – will remain just upend traditional business models and auger rapid
labour market destabilisation.
that, core.
A dismantling of traditional stores of authority and
#NeverNormal describes a world in which so many trust: authority becomes localised, truth becomes
of the things once considered fixed, immutable, subjective, fixed facts are challenged and muddled.
certain… face serious disruption from fresh forces An economic and political zeitgeist in which long-
stalking lives and markets. standing norms – from the depth of the social
Expect a decade of disruption – to trends, to contract (what a citizen can expect of the state) to
support for globalisation, to the shape of wealth-
business models, to established truths. creation – are queried and reset.
Upon one thing we can rely: the consumer’s ongoing Serious flux inside life stage progression:
refusal to be victimised by the end of certainty. An economic and demographic factors newly combine
ongoing opportunity exists for commercial partners to delay, extend and cancel traditional life stages.
that promise to protect their interests in novel ways. New tribes emerge, and old stereotypes lose any
commercial relevance they once may have had.
© Foresight Factory Source: Foresight Factory | Base: 1000 - 5000 online respondents per country (24 markets) aged 16 - 64, 2017 7
TRENDS FULL OF DISRUPTIVE OPPORTUNITY FOR #NEVERNORMAL TIMES
Retirement, house-buying, child- New third-party intermediaries between

rearing, jobs-for-life… no longer the customer and purchase threaten
conforming to rigid patterns, no limited branded presence in everyday
longer guaranteed fixtures in life – prompting a need for new routes to
consumer lives. consumer engagement.
LIFESTAGES BRANDING
IN FLUX BYPASS
THE ME
DE-POP! ME WORLD
Technology’s disruptive impact on New permission and opportunities to

the workplace, with life-changing optimise products, prices,
implications for careers, incomes engagement and empathetic
and leisure time. experiences for the individual shopper.
2. Engineered Empathy
Human engagement in an EI-expectant world
Engineered Empathy
PREDICTION: Expecting a warmer, human

embrace in the digital space
Cold brands =
56%
given the cold shoulder of global consumers are interested in
using an online shop assistant that I
could talk to for advice as I was
Emotional intelligence – an ability to empathise browsing products online.
and engage on a human level – will become a
core and advocacy-building consumer expectation, Next generation: sharing to show how they feel
as well as a valued everyday life skill demanded
of US Gen Z social networkers “share
by workplaces and personal relationships alike.
Engineered Empathy will be boosted by new
drivers in 2018: an intensifying battle to perfect
36% posts on social media to show how I am
feeling” (same is true of 18% of GB Gen Z).
scalable AI bots with EI sensibility; a growing

ability and freedom to capture/share emotion; Voice interfaces: requiring human sensibility?
desire for human interaction in tech-saturated global consumers have used voice
times; and calls for greater empathy in
polarised times. 1 in 3 commands on their smartphone/
wearable/tablet (e.g. Siri, Alexa, Cortana).
Source: Foresight Factory | Base: 500 - 4000 per country online respondents aged 16 - 64 (Indonesia 16 - 54), 2017 August
Source: Foresight Factory Kids Research | Base: 920 social networkers aged 7 - 15, 2017
Engineered Empathy
RECOMMENDED ACTION: New ways to signal our emotions = new triggers

for real-time emotion-reflective messaging?
Use EI metrics to boost
engagement and CX  34% of global consumers use
emojis every day as shortcuts for
Brands are invited to develop rounded emotional emotional expression. In
September 2017, Apple
strategies that: assess both the real-time announced that iPhone X owners
emotional states of customers and address how can use “animojis”: customised,
this data can be exploited (via, for instance, animated emojis that use the
emotion-sensitive messaging and service); device’s FaceID functionality to
measure (in the full gaze of, and with the track the user’s facial movements,
permission of, your customers) the emotional enabling them to “share and
express whatever you want to
impact that any given product, commercial process express”. In response, the
or service interaction has on a customer – and use possibility of emotion-based
this insight as a basis for truly customer-centric programmatic ads has been
service enhancement. raised by the advertising sector.
© Foresight Factory Source: Foresight Factory | Base: 500 - 4000 per country online respondents aged 16 - 64 (Indonesia 16 - 54), 2017 August 11
Engineered Empathy
Empathy as branding opportunity: Brands as Lover or hater? New tools to prove

ambassadors for cross-aisle interaction (and share) emotional affiliations
Heineken’s 2017 “Worlds Apart” September 2017 saw Marmite launch its
campaign brought together people who TasteFace app, inviting customers to
held opposing views on subjects and asked upload a video of themselves eating the
if there is “more that unites us than divides product. The app uses Microsoft’s
us”, subtly emphasising its role in fostering Emotion API facial recognition technology
and strengthening relationships. to tell if the user’s face shows enjoyment or
disgust, with results easily shareable
across social media channels.
New ways to measure emotional engagement
Indian startup Entropik Tech analyses Emotional intelligence as core workplace skill
user’s touch patterns on devices to
determine their emotional state, including Published in August 2017, Harvard
their emotional connection with things on- Business Review’s “Emotional
screen. The company wants to create Intelligence Collection” includes the
scalable AI-driven means of understanding books “Empathy” and “Happiness” and
emotions to “translate human behaviour aims to enlighten business leaders on
and transform product experiences”. “how to be human at work”.
Engineered Empathy
SUPPORTING TRENDS IMPACTED SECTORS

A growing expectation of A brand’s functional attributes – its commitment to
emotionally intelligent value, to well-located on- and offline stores, to quality
interaction with brands across – alone cannot indefinitely sustain customer
multiple channels – from engagement.
messenger apps to chatbots, Its ability to satisfy emotional needs – to deliver
CONVERSATIONAL from human reps to Twitter. human warmth in all contexts, to activate against the
COMMERCE customer’s real-time emotional state – will become
We will increasingly want to an increasingly vital factor inside B2C relationships
see a little of ourselves (especially in the coming era of
reflected back in commercial opt-in marketing).
interactions, including our Customer Experience, Retail, and Advertising are
real-time emotional state. A perhaps more impacted than most by the promise of
THE ME ME brand that fails to notice you new emotional metrics that form the basis of
WORLD are feeing low… soon to be personalised interaction and service enhancements.
admonished?
Engineered Empathy
To learn more about Engineered Empathy, download

our EI Brands report, which we produced together
with Sensum, our emotional solutions partner, for
Advertising Week Europe in March 2017.
READY TO ACT NOW?
foresightfactory.co/emotionalintelligence
We’re ready to help you think
about how your brand can use
cutting edge emotional data
techniques to better connect
with consumers.
info@foresightfactory.co
020 3096 6380
3. Life in Beta Mode
Ready for a world of forever onboarding?
Life in Beta Mode
PREDICTION: Post-purchase information-sharing:

a role for chat messengers?
Expectation grows that
products peak after POS
52%
of global consumers are interested in using
a chat messenger service to ask a
company or brand questions about how
As foretold in the trend .THNG, the emerging to use a product or service (One in two in
Internet of Things (IoT) era creates a world in Indonesia and Thailand claim to have
which B2B and B2C products routinely upgrade already done so).
and improve long after purchase. Minorities have experience of
That products reach peak performance some connected devices: inevitably set to grow
time after POS is a message many will welcome
(and drive long-term loyalty), especially those In the US, UK, Sweden and
maximisers who seek post-purchase
reassurance that money has been well spent.
Anticipate a greater need for post-purchase
1 in 10 Australia had, by late 2016, used
connected or smart products
that have an internet connection
(not including a smartphone). 20%
support, value-signalling and a clear process of of US consumers had used a car
rolling onboarding. with connected features.
Source: Ofcom ICMR / Foresight Factory| Base: 9100 online respondents (9 markets) aged 18+, Oct 2016
Life in Beta Mode
RECOMMENDED ACTION: 21st century after-sales service

Live in beta, commit to Tesla vehicles receive “over-the-air”
forever onboarding software updates that add new features.
Once installed, onboarding tutorials can
be watched on the dashboard display.
Brands are urged to deliver a constant stream
of positive confirmation that product X has Owners of the Amazon Echo are
been a worthy investment as well as new routinely alerted to new features the
reasons to engage. device can now support, from new
apps to new question configurations
Consider: rolling updates that deliver that on-board AI Alexa can respond to.
functionality improvements with clear
onboarding communication; invitations to It is commonplace for video game
customers to contribute to future product software to be updated after release, and
upgrades often reflect customer feedback
upgrades; post-purchase messaging that (and criticism). A patch for No Man’s Sky
educates customers about how best to use was released in September 2017, over a
and adapt products to life in the wild. year after its launch. Developer Hello
Games plans further updates in 2018.
Life in Beta Mode

Products that routinely ship
new functionality for
consumers to learn and master Life in Beta Mode has long
chimes with a growing characterised the world of computer
consumer mindset that favours software but as IoT expands, expect
LIQUID continuous up- and re-skilling. it to colour post-purchase
SKILLS expectations in Home Appliances,
An opportunity to satisfy Utilities and Automotive and even
maximising consumers on a in sectors where smart connectivity
relentless quest for value. remains a distant or even unlikely
Providing post-purchase value- prospect. Once a need has been
signalling can help lessen any seeded in one sector, it will very
lingering anxiety relating to price or quickly germinate elsewhere.
MAXIMISING
BEHAVIOUR that a competitor’s product would
have been the better choice.
4. Mechanised Truth
Centralised routes to corporate truth-building
Mechanised Truth
PREDICTION: In-store information-checking

of EU5 claim to have used a mobile to
Truth becomes a
commodity in 2018 32% read a review about a product while
shopping in store. This proportion has
increased from just 20% in 2014.
Truth, trust, believability – all under serious News content: what to trust?
pressure in a consumer landscape developing a
of GB adults agree “I find it difficult to
healthy disrespect for traditional arbiters of truth
and authority, and where claim and counter-claim
on any given issue mean that settled, mainstream
38% know which news stories to trust”,
rising to 45% of women. 18% have used
a fact-checking service, a further 32%
truths are in short supply. are interested in doing so.
Enter new, centralised routes to commercial truth- Food and drink
building that herald a future in which tangible,
of consumers globally disagree that
mechanised truths more robustly challenge
emotionally-charged “alternative facts” and meet a
significant need for corporate transparency.
19% “it’s easy to find trustworthy
information about foods' health
benefits” with highest disagreement
from Ireland and Germany at 24%.
Source: Foresight Factory | Base: 1000 online respondents aged 16+, GB, 2017 August
Mechanised Truth
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Mechanising truth in product provenance, food

supply chains and digital imagery
Outsource internal truths to
Provenance uses blockchain technology
new arbiters of veracity to provide an online record of a product’s
supply chain. It aims to create a system
Truth- and trust-building will remain a live, and that anyone can use to guarantee the
provenance of anything from tea to fabric.
unresolved, issue inside global societies for the
foreseeable. In the meantime, brands are invited to, Also blockchain-based, Ambrosus aims
to become a “trusted ecosystem” for the
in effect, outsource internal truths to new arbiters of food supply chain to “allow consumers to
record-keeping and veracity. easily see where their products come from
Consumer tools that illustrate supply chain safety, and what is really in them”. August saw
retail and FMCG brands including Nestlé
clarify a brand's stated CSR impact, validate and Walmart enter a blockchain
marketing imagery... all can appeal. collaboration with IBM with similar ends.
In reality, truth alone will not seriously motivate, say, eco- Truepic is a “photo verification platform”
ethical spend but herein lies the beginning of a new era created to prevent photo fraud on peer-to-
of how corporate ethics are communicated and digested. peer resale, travel and dating services as
well as in insurance and beauty settings.
Mechanised Truth

An expectation that all personal
identifying characteristics Mechanised Truth prompts activity in all
seamlessly travel with us, consumer-facing sectors though we expect to
allowing for ever more see its impact felt most forcefully in Media,
convenient payment and Retail and FMCG – and anywhere where
THE DIGITAL transparency in personal affairs. consumer doubt (or subterfuge) can lurk.
PASSPORT CSR initiatives too are invited to evolve as
ethics and accountability reflect the emerging
Consensus on any given topic is data-rich, albeit trust-lite, world.
now rarely reached in a world of
claim and counterclaim, on All companies are invited to explore how
repeat. New, contemporary truth- validation of product and process hinterland
building tools gain a new can provide added value to customers, as a
COUNTER significance in this context. new touchpoint and opportunity for
CULTURE engagement.
5. Anti-Automation
Driving change in CSR policy near you soon
Anti-Automation
PREDICTION: Human first brands: Attracting a premium

positioning in 2018 and beyond?
Brands emphasise their
human first credentials of global consumers agree that “companies
Anti-automation sentiment hangs heavy in the air.

55% should prioritise employing humans over
robots / automated services even if it means
they have to charge higher prices”.
All manner of people – from entrepreneurs to
policy makers, from technologists to everyday Aware of the challenges ahead:
consumers – fret about the promised disruption to Identifying the future skills gap
working and leisure lives caused by the forces of
of global consumers agree that “People who
automation and evolving AI.
Whilst, in reality, consumers will welcome the
multiple benefits that automated innovation brings,
66% are not skilled in technology will find it harder
to get a job in the future”.
August 2017 saw South Korea’s government

disquiet (about job prospects, spending power, propose limiting tax incentives to companies
status) creates opportunities for brands to create investing in industrial automation as it
supportive messaging as well as new skills to help anticipates a growing need for tax revenue
consumers adapt. to support the newly techno-unemployed.
Anti-Automation
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Automated, human-free: Too good to resist?

Automation becomes an In July 2017, Alibaba opened a cashier-
opportunity to reposition free café in China (Hangzhou). It offers
food and drink and can accommodate 50
customers. Check-in and payment are
In reality, companies have long since automated organised via the accompanying app.
manufacturing processes, supply chain
management and even customer-facing service Adidas’s robot-filled Speedfactory is
functions. Typically, acquiescence has now operational, promising to help the
characterised the customer response. brand more quickly respond to changing
footwear fashions.
There is nonetheless an opportunity to reflect
contemporary concerns with canny positioning; will
more pivot to become human first brands, with A future to prepare for
offers proudly boasting their robot-free
OJO is a UK-based EdTech startup
credentials? Will others become life partners aiming to help prepare children for a future
helping customers weather the inevitable storms in which robots and AI-driven tools will have
automation will bring? a presence in many jobs.
Anti-Automation
SUPPORTING TRENDS
The consumer-citizen impact of
the Fourth Industrial WE’RE READY TO HELP YOU!
Revolution: a long-term
revolution in how consumers Interested in finding our more about
accumulate wealth, develop how Foresight Factory’s data and
DE-POP! careers and spend leisure time. expertise could help you win the
boardroom over, make decisions on
new products or services or position
A now widespread perception that
modern life brings new challenges your team in the best way?
(and anxieties) to bear on health
and wellbeing, inter-personal Call our team on 020 3096 6380, or
relationships, and on how we email info@foresightfactory.co to
MURDERED BY create financial and social security set up a convenient time to talk.
MODERNITY for ourselves and our families.
© Foresight Factory | Image credit: Creative Commons (L'oeil étranger)

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6. Latchkey Loyalty
Harnessing the free range shopper
Latchkey Loyalty
PREDICTION:
47% ofhave
Gen X consumers in GB say they
“actively avoided buying a
Consumers review product/service in the past because
long-term commitments the contract tied me in for a long
period of time”.
In Latchkey Loyalty, anticipate consumers to Warming to seamless, automatic switching

seriously review long-term and overly complex
of global consumers are interested in a
commercial entanglements in favour of
commitment-lite engagement where simplicity
and ease of entry/departure are emphasised. 66% service which automatically switched
your household utility supplier so that
you always got the cheapest tariff.
The demand for relationships of this kind has
been building for some time among capricious The appeal of pay-as-you-go
consumers: but herein lies renewed opportunity to
creatively ensnare the shopper in gilded cages of of GB consumers say they would be interested
apparent freedom and comfort, from where “you in a car insurance policy that allowed me to
can check out any time you like, but you can
never leave”.
29% pay for insurance cover per trip taken,
rising to 47% of 16-24’s.
Source: Foresight Factory | Base: 1000 online respondents aged 16+, GB, 2017 August
Latchkey Loyalty
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Freeing the B2C bonds

Emphasise freedom Amazon unveiled Prime Wardrobe in
June 2017, which delivers clothes to
inside B2C relationships customers with no upfront fee and gives
them a week to decide what they want to
keep and what to return.
A reluctance to be tied down creates the
opportunity for brands to offer on-demand, bite- Cuvva offers pay-as-you-drive car
sized, leave-when-you-like commercial insurance aimed at infrequent drivers.
arrangements, all in a bid to, counter-intuitively, Users pay by the hour and whilst a low
build long-term brand stickiness. monthly fee is collected (to insure cars
when off the road) the company claims
This is not the end of contracts as we know them, “we don’t stitch you up with sneaky
nor is it the end of consumers demanding rewards contract clauses… cancel anytime”.
for considered repeat custom. Rather, brands are
Members of the Qantas frequent flyer
invited to bring fresh creativity to how commitment loyalty programme are able to pause their
is communicated, as well as new features: membership when they become new
try-before-you-buy, pay-as-you-use, zero-notice, parents so that they do not lose accrued
flexible pricing… benefits, even when flying less frequently.
Latchkey Loyalty
Many now have experience of In a bid to make its paid TV sports offer
hassle-free sign-up and more flexible and accessible to customers,
cancel-anytime streaming services SKY TV began offering UK customers the
option of signing up to services devoted to
single sports (as opposed to all), including F1,
Over consumers globally currently
have a paid subscription to
cricket and football, hoping that newfound
freedom to choose incentivises sign-up.
a TV/Film streaming service,
1 in 3 with this proportion rising to

2 in 3 for US 16-64’s. Mid-range fashion and homeware retailer
Arket’s new London store (August 2017),
also offers complementary products from
A desire for smart scrutiny third-party brands including Adidas, Veja, RM
of contractual obligations Williams and Bordhallo Pinheiro –
recognising that shoppers appreciate the
of GB Millennials declare an interest freedom to “mix and match” and create looks
70% in a service that “instantly read

brand and company terms and
conditions (T&Cs) for you and
and interiors with input from multiple
providers, not just one. The H&M Group’s
new brand plans to open stores in
Copenhagen, Munich, Brussels and
told you if they were OK to accept
based on your preferences”. Stockholm in 2018.
© Foresight Factory Source: Foresight Factory | Base: 1000 online respondents aged 16+, GB, 2017 August
30
FURTHER READING
Latchkey Loyalty
FURTHER READING:
Interested to learn more about how to use
predictive consumer trends to drive engagement READY TO ACT NOW?
throughout the loyalty journey?
Contact Foresight Factory’s team
Download our loyalty sample report: to discuss your customer loyalty
foresightfactory.co/customer-loyalty challenge and get us thinking
about how we could help address
your business needs.
020 3096 6380
7. Fine to be Fallible
Profiting from an age of epic fails
Fine to be Fallible
PREDICTION: The (welcome) end of hubris brands?

Self-effacing fails feature of global consumers agree “I like brands/
on the consumer/brand CV
In societies hard-wired to strive for and venerate
45% companies that do not take themselves
too seriously” (though we note that 1 in 3
neither agree nor disagree)
success, it may seem counter-intuitive to suggest
that competitive advantage lies in publicly sharing Personal failings and achievements
our shortcomings. are openly shared
Fine to be Fallible describes a world increasingly
>70%
of consumers in Germany, GB, Sweden
at ease with the notion that failure is a necessary and the US agree “I openly admit to
pre-requisite of success – and an acceptable my failings”. Consumers in China only
reach 50% agreement with this.
consequence of being human.
A companion trend to Engineered Empathy, The fallible brand is the genuine brand?
herein lies an opportunity to associate brands with Foresight Factory research finds that the brand attribute
the kaleidoscope of human endeavour and carefully “genuine” makes consumers 10% more likely to
address failings of their own. recommend their favourite supermarket brand to others.
© Foresight Factory Source: Foresight Factory | Base: 1000 - 2000 online respondents per country aged 16+ (China 16 - 64), 2016 October 33
Fine to be Fallible
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Failure celebrated, repositioned as opportunity

Selectively celebrate – In July 2017, Gatorade launched a
podcast called The Secret to Victory,
and fix – brand fails which features athletes talking about
failures in their careers that ultimately led to
later success.
Empathetic brands will acknowledge that failure so
often pre-empts and motivates future success in Always released a new ad in its
consumer lives. The opportunity for supportive and #LikeAGirl campaign in August 2017 with
motivational messaging is clear. the message that it is acceptable to be
afraid and fail as it helps you learn and
In reality, consumers are less forgiving of brands grow. The final message: “keep going”.
that fail to meet exacting expectations. Fine to be
Fallible does not excuse corporate shortcomings; Museum of Failure opened in
rather, it invites brands to readily and rapidly Helsingborg, Sweden, in 2017. It celebrates
“a collection of [70+] interesting innovation
acknowledge where and when mistakes have failures”, including Bic for Her and Google
been made and, crucially, how this insight is being Glass. The museum will reopen in March
mined to improve products, services and customer 2018 following large amount of interest in
experience in future. 2017 – and a world tour is planned.
Fine to be Fallible
In August 2017, popular hotpot chain Haidilao – which has a

presence in nearly 60 Chinese cities as well as in Singapore,
Los Angeles, Seoul and Tokyo – swiftly acknowledged
“And yes, I was afraid. You’re never not afraid. I’m still afraid. I shortcomings in restaurant hygiene brought to light by an
was afraid to write this speech. And now, I’m just realizing how undercover investigation of one of its Beijing outlets. Its social
many people are watching me right now, and it’s scary. Can channels quickly released statements recognising failings and
you please look away while I deliver the rest of the speech? But committing the company to improvements and regular
my fear of failure never approached in magnitude my fear of reporting. In a market where food and supply chain safety are
what if. What if I never tried at all?” too often overlooked and rarely acknowledged publicly, the
From comedian Will Ferrell’s commencement speech to the company’s actions were welcomed by many on popular social
University of Southern California, May 2017 media channel Weibo.
Fine to be Fallible

Can brands looking to create Brands in all sectors walk the same archetypal
emotionally intelligent, authentic Hero’s Journey; encountering ordeals and error is
connections with consumers do an inevitable feature of business life, not least in
so without occasionally and today’s disruptive climate.
playfully communicating their For contemporary customers, corporate misdeeds
ENGINEERED (minor) weaknesses too? will not be undone with a simple apology. Instead, a
EMPATHY genuine commitment to self-improvement and
learning will be demanded, as will an opportunity to
A mortality of formality inside
leave feedback on company performance.
brand communications – and
the rise of self-satirising activity Meanwhile, brands in sectors closely aligned with
(largely welcomed by human endeavour – Food and Drink (preparation),
consumers) – supports careful Financial Services, Sports and Fitness among
THE SELF- messaging of internal mistakes them – can reflect the cycle of the failure and
SATIRISING BRAND and self-deprecation. success that so often characterises activity here.
8. Quest to Purchase
The rise of elective barriers to buying
Quest to Purchase
PREDICTION: Appealing to appetite for challenge, fun, status

Customers compete for % who say they aspire to be more
brand access “open to new challenges”
46%
Orthodoxy demands that brands strain every 37% 37% 35%
41%
sinew to kill obstacles on the path to purchase. 29% 32%
24%
In Quest to Purchase, brands are instead invited
to recognise the perceived value of deliberately Global Sweden USA GB Germany India China Australia
contrived pre-checkout challenge.
For the One-Click Generation, used to zero delay 21st century shopping:
between intent and satisfaction, new barriers to Already a quest to win for millions
buying – with opportunities to graft and compete
for favoured brands’ custom in offline, IRL settings of global consumers have used their
– provide new routes to fun and status.
40% mobile phone to compare prices
while in-store to check if I could
buy an item more cheaply elsewhere
Quest to Purchase
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Pre-purchase geo-challenges

Hide offers behind a Summer 2017 saw Nike use AR and its
SNKRS app to give people (and not online
challengewall bots) the chance to buy limited edition
sneakers. By pointing the AR app at the
menu of NYC eatery Fuku, users were
AR treasure hunts, puzzles, challenges… all can invited to purchase “Momofuku” shoes
create a sense of exclusivity and drive excitement designed by chef David Chang.
around a product release, nurture a sense of
community among brand fans, increase positive In June 2017, streetwear brand Anti
shares on social media, and create POS Social Social Club created an elaborate
connections with play (and not price) at their core. pre-purchase quest for customers eager to
Certainly, this is a trend that carries risks, but buy its new hoodie, involving geo-location
many will welcome the opportunity to work for their check-ins, Morse code cracking and clue-
laden billboards across Los Angeles.
favourite brand. A whole new meaning to the
term challenger brand emerges.
Can you imagine your customers cracking
a Morse code clue to qualify for a deal?
Quest to Purchase

The arrival of two-way ratings
(where customers and Not all offers will sit naturally behind a
companies rate each other’s challengewall but brands in all sectors (and
performance) primes especially those with achievement-related
consumers to work for their brand values) are invited to playfully engage,
preferred commercial partners. via one-off campaigns or inside loyalty
THE 5-STAR
CUSTOMER
programmes, with pre-purchase quests.
The Quest to Purchase impact will be most felt
Consumers are ready to outsource in those sectors and categories where personal
personal motivation – to diet, to status aligns with achievement, exclusivity and
save, to get more sleep – to privileged access to offers in short supply:
external tools that help them Retail (from gaming to on-trend apparel);
achieve goals. That third parties Leisure (access to status-boosting
CHALLENGE can provide playful challenges is experiences); Beauty and Personal Care
ACCEPTED! now well established. (access to new offers in limited supply).
9. Custom at all Costs
Playing new games with price
Custom at all Costs
PREDICTION: Never paying full price

Conversational POS global consumers say that “when buying
triggers price elasticity
1 in 3 new household goods, I never pay full
price” (rising to 48% in the US).
Price sensitivity remains a key and determining

feature of the consumer landscape, and recent Willing to negotiate prices
years have seen much price elasticity innovation
of global consumers say that “When
to appeal to consumers (even the relatively well-
off) engaged in a daily battle against unnecessary
largesse in the aisles.
66% shopping online I would like to be able
to negotiate prices with suppliers”.
In 2018 and beyond, anticipate further dismantling

Willing to pay via chat messenger: an expectation
of RRP and a growing tendency to permit flexible,
of pricing conversation at POS soon to follow?
time-sensitive, lifestyle- and lifestage-
personalised, progressive pricing models to
40%
of global consumers declare an
differentiate and entice. interest in paying a utility bill
via a chat messenger service.
Source: FF Online Research │ Base: 1000 - 5000 online respondents per country aged 16 - 64 (Indonesia & S. Africa 16 - 54), 2016 February
Custom at all Costs
RECOMMENDED ACTION: In 2017, Savvy Watch introduced the use of

PriceWaiter – software that allows for online price
Personalise and negotiation. Customers who appear to be leaving
contextualise price the site are invited to “make an offer” for products.
After naming their price, customers receive a
email notifying them whether the offer is
Some brands will balk at the prospect of accepted, countered or rejected.
endangering a hard-won premium positioning
with newfound pricing flexibility. But we Humble Bundle is an online store that invites
customers to pay-what-you-want for selected
suspect that more will warm to offers that video games, with a large proportion of proceeds
complement fixed prices with innovation that: donated to charity. By September 2017, $100
invites a pricing dialogue (on- or offline); that, million had been raised for global organisations
using collected data, proactively respects the including the Red Cross and MSF.
customer's particular context or lifestyle
circumstances; that allows the buyer to avoid In August 2017, Virgin Holidays announced
headline prices in favour of a pay-as-you-use new, reduced prices for single-parent families, a
approach (as explored in Latchkey Loyalty). group that often has little choice other than to pay
the same as a two-parent family. The beginnings
of mainstream progressive pricing?
Custom at all Costs

An uncertain economic climate
prompts a control-seeking An expectation of price elasticity will be shared
approach to household finances. by consumers in virtually all B2C sectors.
Appetite for non-conventional As personal data trails accumulate over time,
pricing, especially where the so the opportunity for incisive, personalised
PROFESSIONALISED customer stands to gain, is pricing activity grows; though much depends,
BUDGETING buoyed in this context. of course, on consumer willingness to share
personal data in exchange for commercial
A one-size-fits-all approach to benefits (a live issue in the coming world of
consumer engagement is opt-in B2C relationships).
rapidly being dismantled as
loyalty programmes, Even without a ready supply of personal data,
messaging and interactions much non-conventional pricing activity will be
THE ME ME of all kinds are revitalised pursued to compete for consumer attention
WORLD with one-to-one activity. and custom.
Appendix
About Foresight Factory
We’re the consumer trends and data expert. We help household name companies, brands and their
agencies own the future through turning complex consumer data into actionable intelligence.
Our expertise is understanding what consumers worldwide want now and in the future and translating this into
recommendations for brand management, product development, loyalty, customer service delivery and other
key touch points on the consumer journey.
Foresight Factory publishes 300 pieces of content every month, made up of reports, innovations, data charts
and commentary from our network of Trendspotters to our trends platform FFonline. Subscribers get a
dedicated client analyst team, as well as access to Foresight Factory’s proprietary data. Ready to talk to us
about how Foresight Factory could help your business?
Email info@foresightfactory.co,
call us on 020 3096 6380, or visit
foresightfactory.co to learn more.
Our people
Christophe Jouan Meabh Quoirin
Co-Owner & CEO Co-Owner & CEO
Love about FF Love about FF
The desire to constantly search for new ways of Leading a business that isn’t afraid to re-invent itself
getting ever closer to the truth about consumers
Wish for the future
Wish for the future A world where veggie burgers are sexier than their
Smoking is no longer bad for you meaty cousins
Kerry Rheinstein Josh McBain Dominic Harrison Nick Chiarelli Agathe Acchiardo
Head of Platform Sales Director of Consultancy Director, Global Trends Director of Research Director of Client
Love about FF Love about FF Love about FF and Analytics Engagement
Seeing the world through a prism Being one of the first to explore The company’s war on the Love about FF Love about FF
of change and market the most fundamental trends surface view, its global reach Spending my days helping The mix of science and creativity
opportunities impacting global industry and and its engaged clients clients to think about and create to get new ideas everyday about
society the future what the future holds
Wish for the future Wish for the future
Teleportation. So the physical Wish for the future A world where new generations Wish for the future Wish for the future
world becomes as instantly Electronic cars become more of smart tech adopt a less An England football team that I can’t wait for a VR dating
global as the digital world economical so I can afford a interruptive and visible presence I’m not embarrassed by platform, where people can have
Tesla S Model before I hit in our lives. No more phones at virtual dates on the top of Everest,
midlife crisis dinner! or in Alice’s Wonderland
A POWERFUL –
ALWAYS UPDATED
– PLATFORM.
The heart of our offer to you is our online platform, FFonline.
Beautifully curated. Highly intuitive. Constantly updated.
This best-of-its kind online system, perfect for exploring

broader trends and themes.
It gives you daily inspiration on new disruption and

emerging commercial threats. Or to get detailed data,
trends and analysis on things that are specific to
“Foresight Factory has the best
your needs. parts of Mintel and Iconoculture
– the combined perfect balance of
And everything in between. consumer and market insights.
And unbelievably usable!”
Fortune 500 client
Get a bespoke trends framework
A Foresight Framework is a bespoke and

engaging view of the most significant drivers and
trends impacting the operational environment of
your business – signposting the short, medium and
longer term calls to action that are required.
A bespoke project process that can involve
multiple internal stakeholders, Foresight
Frameworks can become a single and unifying
source of authority on the future societal,
consumer and commercial landscape facing your BENEFITS FOR YOUR ORGANISATION
business – and, crucially, a commercial call to Uniformity of trend language and understanding
arms to protect future profitability. Collaborative approach, stakeholder engagement
For more on how the trends contained within Identify new opportunities for growth
Trending 2018 and the 75+ trends we monitor at Clear and actionable foresight for senior teams
Foresight Factory could feature in a bespoke
Adaptable to specific markets, categories
Foresight Framework for your business, email and customer segments
LET’S TALK.
Let us show how we add value.
We’re happy to open up our world of data and trends.
Putting what we do best to work for you.
81 Alie Street, Whitechapel, London, E1 8NH

info@foresightfactory.co | +44 (0)20 3096 6380
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1

About Foresight Factory

1. ZEITGEIST | Welcome to the #NeverNormal 5

A decade ago, Foresight Factory recognised that the

How to characterise the next decade of B2C FORCES DRIVING #NEVERNORMAL

TRENDS FULL OF DISRUPTIVE OPPORTUNITY FOR #NEVERNORMAL TIMES

Retirement, house-buying, child- New third-party intermediaries between

Technology’s disruptive impact on New permission and opportunities to

PREDICTION: Expecting a warmer, human

scalable AI bots with EI sensibility; a growing

RECOMMENDED ACTION: New ways to signal our emotions = new triggers

Empathy as branding opportunity: Brands as Lover or hater? New tools to prove

SUPPORTING TRENDS IMPACTED SECTORS

To learn more about Engineered Empathy, download

PREDICTION: Post-purchase information-sharing:

RECOMMENDED ACTION: 21st century after-sales service

SUPPORTING TRENDS IMPACTED SECTORS

PREDICTION: In-store information-checking

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Mechanising truth in product provenance, food

SUPPORTING TRENDS IMPACTED SECTORS

PREDICTION: Human first brands: Attracting a premium

Anti-automation sentiment hangs heavy in the air.

August 2017 saw South Korea’s government

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Automated, human-free: Too good to resist?

© Foresight Factory | Image credit: Creative Commons (L'oeil étranger)

In Latchkey Loyalty, anticipate consumers to Warming to seamless, automatic switching

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Freeing the B2C bonds

1 in 3 with this proportion rising to

70% in a service that “instantly read

PREDICTION: The (welcome) end of hubris brands?

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Failure celebrated, repositioned as opportunity

In August 2017, popular hotpot chain Haidilao – which has a

SUPPORTING TRENDS IMPACTED SECTORS

PREDICTION: Appealing to appetite for challenge, fun, status

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Pre-purchase geo-challenges

SUPPORTING TRENDS IMPACTED SECTORS

PREDICTION: Never paying full price

Price sensitivity remains a key and determining

In 2018 and beyond, anticipate further dismantling

RECOMMENDED ACTION: In 2017, Savvy Watch introduced the use of

SUPPORTING TRENDS IMPACTED SECTORS

Beautifully curated. Highly intuitive. Constantly updated.

This best-of-its kind online system, perfect for exploring

It gives you daily inspiration on new disruption and

A Foresight Framework is a bespoke and

81 Alie Street, Whitechapel, London, E1 8NH

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