DO YOU SPEAK VISUAL? THE AGE OF IMPATIENCE 1 2 3 IMMERSIVE EXPERIENCES MOBILE AS A GATEWAY TO OPPORTUNITY 4 TELEPATHIC TECHNOLOGY 5 THE END OF ANONYMITY 6 RAGING AGAINST THE MACHINE 7 REMIXING TRADITION 8 PROUDLY IMPERFECT 9 MINDFUL LIVING 10 10 TRENDS FOR 2014 AND BEYOND EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
In our ninth annual report, we see how consumers are both welcoming and resisting technology's growing omnipresence in our lives. For many, technology serves as a gateway to opportunity and an enabler of hyper-efficient lifestyles, but those who are most immersed are starting to question its effect on their lives and their privacy. One result is that more people are trying to find a balance and lead more mindful, in-the-moment lives. Our forecast also puts a spotlight on the growth of immersive experiences; the accelerating shift to a visual vocabulary; the new appeal of imperfection; and the rise of telepathic technology, which will enable brands to better understand minds and moods and react in a very personalized way. The full report-in which we cover each trend in detail, highlighting what's driving the shift, how it's manifesting and what it means for brands-is available at www.jwtintelligence.com
Text of JWT: 10 Trends for 2014 - Executive Summary
2 DO YOU SPEAK VISUAL? 3 THE AGE OF IMPATIENCE 10 TRENDS FOR
2014 AND BEYOND 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY IMMERSIVE EXPERIENCES 4 7
RAGING AGAINST THE MACHINE 8 REMIXING TRADITION 5 MOBILE AS A
GATEWAY TO OPPORTUNITY 9 PROUDLY IMPERFECT 10 TELEPATHIC TECHNOLOGY
MINDFUL LIVING 6 THE END OF ANONYMITY
10 TRENDS FOR 2014 AND BEYOND In our ninth annual forecast of
trends for the near future, we see consumers both welcoming and
resisting technologys ABOUT THE REPORT growing omnipresence in
their lives. For many, technology serves as a gateway to
opportunity and an enabler of hyperefficient lifestyles, but those
who are most immersed are starting to question its effect on their
lives and on their privacy. One result is that people are trying to
find a balance and seeking to be more mindful and in-the-moment.
And in a world thats become all too polished or mass-produced, they
are also embracing imperfection. JWTs 10 Trends for 2014 report is
the result of quantitative, qualitative and desk research conducted
by JWTIntelligence throughout the year and specifically for this
report. Trends dont happen in isolation. They tend to intersect and
work in tandem with each other, as youll see here. And many are
extensions or outgrowths of trends we formerly spotted; after all,
trends with real significance cant be assigned to just one calendar
year. The trends explored here, which we believe have significant
weight and momentum, indicate shifts that are likely to be with us
for a while. Like any complex and dynamic human phenomena, trends
are not preordainedonce they are spotted, they can be shaped. With
this trends forecast, we aim to bring the outside into help inspire
ideas beyond brand, category and consumer conventionsand to
identify emerging opportunities so they can be leveraged for
business gain. 2
1. IMMERSIVE EXPERIENCES Entertainment, narratives and brand
experiences will become more immersive and altogether more
enveloping in a bid to capture consumers imagination and attention.
EXAMPLE: To bring the tagline Fill Your Home with Music to life,
Sonos (the maker of Internetconnected wireless music systems)
created immersive installations in New York and Los Angeles.
Digitized color washes, lighting and animation coordinated the
color and mood of a room to the music playing through Sonos
speakers. Image credit: DJ Ecal 3
2. DO YOU SPEAK VISUAL? Were shifting to a visual vocabulary
that relies on photos, emojis, video snippets and other imagery,
largely supplanting the need for text. Visual is a new lingo that
needs to be mastered. EXAMPLE: Tinder and similar apps simplify the
online dating process by eschewing wordy profiles in favor of
photos that can be scrolled through quickly. Users of Tinder are
tallying up 350 million swipes per dayswiping right indicates
interest, swiping left indicates a decline. Image credits:
JWTIntelligence team 4
3. THE AGE OF IMPATIENCE With the mainstreaming of the
on-demand economy and our always-on culture, consumer expectations
for speed and ease are rising exponentially. As businesses respond
in kind, making the availability of their products and services
more instant, impatience and impulsiveness will only continue to
increase. EXAMPLE: eBay, Google, Amazon and grocery services
including Walmart To Go have introduced same-day delivery options
in some markets and are steadily expanding their availabilityand
some are shrinking the delivery window down to as little as an
hour. The eBay Now service provides delivery from local merchants
in about an hour for a $5 fee. Image credit: Tom Uhlenberg 5
4. MOBILE AS A GATEWAY TO OPPORTUNITY In emerging markets, the
mobile device is coming to represent a gateway to
opportunityhelping people change their lives by giving them access
to financial systems, new business tools, better health care,
education and more. EXAMPLE: Developed by Vodafone in collaboration
with Turkeys Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Farmers Club sends
SMS messages about government regulations, weather and market
prices, tailored to farmers locations. A partnership with ekerbank
lets users pay by mobile phone at the end of the year. Image
credit: GSMA 6
5. TELEPATHIC TECHNOLOGY Thanks to the rise of brain-computer
interfaces and emotion recognition technology, brands are getting
more adept at understanding consumers minds and moods, and reacting
accordingly in a very personalized way. EXAMPLE: To showcase the
power of a Kit Kat break, JWT Singapore and Nestl wired up students
with headsets that tracked their brainwaves while they ate a Kit
Kat bar, then generated a unique piece of art that reflected their
state of mind. Students who entered the brain booth got to see what
happened to their brain after they consumed a Kit Kat. Image
credit: Quavondo Nguyen 7
6. THE END OF ANONYMITY Thanks to an array of new technologies
and a growing drive to collect personal data, its becoming nearly
impossible to remain unobserved and untracked by corporations and
governments. As anonymity becomes more elusive, expect pushback
from consumers and a growing paranoia around technologies and
services that affect privacy. EXAMPLE: Tescos 450 gas stations in
the U.K. will start using screens made by Amscreen, a digital
advertising firm, that analyze the faces of people approaching the
register and target ads based on gender and rough age; they also
track how long people look at the ads. Image credit: Carolyn
Lagattuta 8
7. RAGING AGAINST THE MACHINE As we move further into the
digital age, were starting to both fear and resent technology,
fretting about whats been lost in our embrace of unprecedented
change. Well put a higher value on all things that feel essentially
human and seriously question (while not entirely resisting)
technologys siren call. EXAMPLE: A growing number of bands and
music festivals are asking crowd members to put their phones away
and experience the concert in 3D, as She & Him have requested.
Others who have objected to the usual sea of phones held aloft
include Jack White, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Prince and Bjrk. Image
credits: Michela Ravasio; Nick Ayala 9
8. REMIXING TRADITION With social norms quickly changing and a
new anythinggoes attitude, people are mashing up cherished
traditions with decidedly new ideas, creating their own recipes for
what feels right. EXAMPLE: While religious affiliation is declining
in the U.S. and the U.K., godless congregations such as the Sunday
Assembly are adopting elements of organized religion, seeking to
reap the benefits that come with ritual gatherings and the
community they offer. Image credit: isitsharp 10
9. PROUDLY IMPERFECT Imperfection and even outright uglinessthe
quirky, the messy and the flawedare taking on new appeal in a world
thats become neatly polished and curated. Imperfection provides an
unfiltered, all too human version of reality that reflects all the
diversity thats seen in everyday life. EXAMPLE: In October 2013,
the Austrian grocery chain Billa, part of Germanys Rewe Group,
launched a private-label line of nonconformist produce dubbed
Wunderlinge, a made-up word that combines the terms for anomaly and
miracle. Another German retailer, Edeka, has tested selling ugly
produce at a discount, branded as Nobody is perfect. Image credit:
Peter Mullaney 11
10. MINDFUL LIVING Consumers are developing a quasi-Zen desire
to experience everything in a more present, conscious way. Once the
domain of the spiritual set, mindful living is filtering into the
mainstream, with more people drawn to the idea of shutting out
distractions and focusing on the moment. EXAMPLE: Virgin Atlantic
commissioned content from the meditation gurus at Headspace for the
in-flight entertainment system. Designed to help passengers
meditate and deal with the stressors of traveling, the videos
address topics such as how to get sleep and deal with boredom.
Image credit: Lumina 12
2 1 IMMERSIVE EXPERIENCES RAGING AGAINST THE MACHINE 3 THE AGE
OF IMPATIENCE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT JWTS 10 TRENDS FOR 2014 AND
BEYOND, PLEASE VISIT WWW.JWTINTELLIGENCE.COM 4 7 DO YOU SPEAK
VISUAL? 8 REMIXING TRADITION 5 MOBILE AS A GATEWAY TO OPPORTUNITY 9
PROUDLY IMPERFECT 10 TELEPATHIC TECHNOLOGY MINDFUL LIVING 6 THE END
OF ANONYMITY