J. Walter Thompson’s Innovation Group has launched its third annual Future 100 report. The Future 100:
Trends and Change to Watch in 2017 helps readers keep a tab on emerging consumer behavior with 100 original trend predictions across 10 categories from the Innovation Group. Each trend explores it is showing up in consumer behavior today, signs that it is growing more popular, and an original analysis on why brands and marketers should be paying attention.
Highlights from the report include include:
Marijuana: The New Rosé?” – Today, women in the marijuana market are looking beyond remedies for menstrual pain. In fact, marijuana may be on its way to overtaking wine as the hip indulgence of choice.
“Second Skin” – Much of the visible appearance of aging skin can be attributed to loss of elasticity. Researchers are uncovering new materials that create a “second skin” to restore natural tautness. Scientists at MIT and Harvard have created an invisible layer of polymers that produces dramatic results in initial tests.
“AI Art” – There’s been plenty of talk of artificial intelligence replacing taxi drivers through self-driving cars, and even making white-collar professionals redundant – but will AI also replace artists?
“Trippy Travel” – In past decades, countercultural types flocked to the coffee shops of Amsterdam to sample legal marijuana, but today’s aspiring psychonauts are traveling farther afield. In the past few years, tourism around ayahuasca, a potent psychoactive brew of vines and leaves used as traditional spiritual medicine among the indigenous residents of Amazonia, has exploded.
“Retail Naturalism” – Technology brands are evolving retail concepts away from cold and minimal shops toward something friendlier and more natural.