1/ Tapping into consumer’s values and passions for deeper connections

Just knowing your audience’s age and gender is soooo 2010 – Trendwatching says that today’s marketers use different metrics such as values, convictions and passions to understand consumers.

The result? A more tailored experience – especially when people shop online – and ever-deeper connections between brand and audience. Younger consumers especially are expecting this – they’re also expecting more curated content that is a perfect fit for them.

The slightly astounding example offered up by Trendwatching of this already happening is a collab between Spotify and EasyJet where listeners are given suggestions of where to fly to next based on the songs they like.

2/ There’s a robot for that

Forbes’s resident customer experience futurist Blake Morgan says that 2023 will see more automation and self-service solutions to help take the strain caused by staffing shortages.

It’ll go beyond mere self-checkout tills at the supermarket – think automated contact centres and warehouses. From a consumer POV, it all points to an increasing acceptance of automated services.

3/ ‘Phygital’ experiences will proliferate

Another of Morgan’s hot tips is that ‘Phygital’ – the merging of physical and digital experiences – will expand into multiple industries this year, including banking. She says we should expect “innovative experiences that customers use to make large purchases, including cars and houses.”

If you’re looking for an example of phygital in action today, look no further than your local McDonald’s where you make your order on a digital kiosk. Now think about live video shopping where you could get to see products being tested from your own home. Or video consultations with your bank manager.

The best examples in the coming years will likely merge VR, AR and AI, say the experts.

Bonus tip! Check out the much-loved Trendwatching Consumer Trend Canvas to see how you can apply the trends highlighted here to your own work. We’re massive fans – and you can now do it all online thanks to their recent collaboration with Miro, the virtual whiteboard.

4/ Be serious about your ESG goals

According to Trendwatching, being authentic is no longer a proven way to stand out – you’ve got to try harder. They say that being vulnerable will be valued, but better still is making genuine change when it comes to social issues and environmental impact.

Climate change, of course, and rightly so, is not going to fall off anyone’s radar in 2023. Reassuring messaging about this and other key issues that demonstrate actual results could prove pivotal.

When it comes to brands going the extra mile, they flag up the case of Apple, who are teaming up with policymakers and advocacy groups to help file lawsuits against States with laws that attack gay and transgender people.

5/ Life after death

Well, not quite, but when NBC started the year by asking a posse of experts to look at consumer trends for 2023, one that really stood out for us was a surge in demand for used and second-hand goods.

The secondhand market, they say, is set to rise 127% by 2026 – with Gen Z shoppers among the many consumers driving demand. Good news for charity and discount stores – and, perhaps, a golden opportunity for innovative brands (car dealerships, after all, have been selling second-hand stock for decades). Vinted is a personal favourite of mine for recycling my old clothes and getting a few quid.

6/ Watch out for consumer-creators

With so many digital tools at our disposal these days, consumers, say Trendwatching, have a wealth of ways to create their own markets. That could be creating content, renting out assets or selling goods and services.

Opportunities abound for companies that can help make these things happen. One that caught our eye a few years back was Swimply, which allows pool owners to rent their pools out by the hour.

7/ Spending continues, despite worsening economic conditions

Forrester, the market research heavyweights, say that despite soaring petrol prices and a cost of living crisis that seems to get gloomier by the day, people still have money in the bank left over from the savings they accrued during the pandemic.

And what do consumers with money do? They spend – cautiously, maybe, but Forrester say that “money in the bank will spur them on to greater spending.”

8/ Bring out the FUN!

According to Trendwatching, 2023 sees the return of fun; an antidote to the austerity and gloom of Covid-19. For proof, they cite 72% of Gen Z saying that fun is their number one value.

Expect brands to step up to the plate with a raft of quirky, memorable experiences and humorous messaging.

9/ Quality products will be highly prized

Another Forrester prediction, consumer demands for well-made items will soar in 2023. People will be looking to squeeze “maximum value” out of the things they buy. The good news? Fewer unwanted goods ending up in landfill.

This trend may lead to fewer purchases (fast fashion, anyone?) as people opt for preferred brands (McKinsey say that global luxury fashion sales will rise 10%). They may also embrace the pre-loved market (see #5) and generally be fairly cautious about wasting money on things they don’t need.

There’s a caveat, according to Retail Gazette: consumers may be happy to ‘trade down’ on essential items, buying cheaper brands.

10/ Judgement day for D2C

Not so much a consumer trend as a business/marketing one, this. Retail Gazette say that D2C clothing companies lost a whopping 73% of their value last year. Sadly Made.com, meanwhile, went out of business (modular furniture maker Swyft, by comparison, thrived – thanks in part to a partnership which puts their sofas in John Lewis stores).

D2C brands may need to diversify to different channels in 2023 in order to survive.

We like to refer to trends if we are in an information (thus insight) desert because we know that they can help to trigger ideas. We use Trendwatching’s Trend Canvas to help us unpack trends and figure out what might work for a given brand, product or service. Check out our blog on using the Trendcanvas.

What are your predictions for 2023? Will the rising cost of everyday items/ever growing energy bills stifle spending? Is online shopping going to soar? Will virtual worlds mean we’ll shop in store even less?

Let us know!

The post 10 CONSUMER TRENDS FOR 2023 – EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW first appeared on Now Go Create.

Young children are constantly searching for clues about their place in the world. One of the places that they get their information is from marketing, and all that entails.An obvious example is the colour designation of clothes for children. Historically all children’s clothing was white until about the age of 6, as apparently it was easier to bleach clean. But it hasn’t always been the ‘rules’ that we now conform to.

Any look around a typical clothing retailer today will show more blue for boys and pink for girls, and the trend for gender reveal parties are based around these colour references. Yet according to the Britannica.com:

“At the beginning of the 20th century, some stores began suggesting “sex-appropriate” colors. In 1918 the trade publication Earnshaw’s Infants’ Department claimed the “generally accepted rule is pink for the boys, and blue for the girls. The reason is that pink, being a more decided and stronger color, is more suitable for the boy, while blue, which is more delicate and dainty, is prettier for the girl.”

The current ‘blue for boys, pink for girls’ is attributed to the baby boomers of the 1940’s.

There are so many gender biases ‘baked in’ to our thinking. When generating and reviewing creative ideas it can be helpful to consider your assumptions and what bias might be in play, and then tackle it. Take the blue for boys/pink for girls attribution. It’s just ‘there’ for many of us.

But when it comes to deciding what ideas should make it into your creative work, exploring your bias and challenging any stereotypes is definitely part of the process. The Australian organisation ShEqual has created its list of stereotypes by analysing a library of campaigns released between 2016 and 2021. They show a clear link between how men and women are portrayed and violence against women in their study.

The stereotypes identified by ShEqual are: the model mother, the passive little girl, the observed woman, the sexualised woman, the pretty face, the magical grandmother and the ticked box. Sadly it’s all to easy to find current examples of all of these in a quick search across retail, fashion, sport and so on. But some brands are reaping the benefits from portraying women and girls in more realistic ways, like the Always, Like A Girl campaign (see below). It’s not just a ‘nice to have’ – its goal number 5 on the UN’s SDG goals – achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.

Their report reveals the stereotype, the reality of the situation in stats, and has suggestions how marketers can get real in their representations and how to get equal. They also have some great suggestions for how to do your own analysis of stereotypes in advertising (or any other form of communications).

They have also called out women who are not seen:

‘We also want to bring attention to The Missing Women, the women that don’t appear in ads at all because they don’t come with a pre-defined storyline created by stereotypes.  These women are part of the world and deserve to be seen, represented and recognised as much as authentic portrays of stereotyped women do.”

Stereotype – The Model Mother

The post Blue for boys. Pink for girls. Avoid these common stereotypes. first appeared on Now Go Create.

The post The case for commercial creativity first appeared on Now Go Create.

I have been doing some research on best practice for my own new e-learning courses. I came across this incredible free resource, ’50 ways to fight bias’, on the Lean-in website – it’s a create tool to use if you’re serious about tackling bias in creativity.

Given my recent research, I found myself contemplating how it is women that are commonly affected by bias in the workplace. Millions of women have been driven out of the workforce by Covid-19. And many more are struggling with burnout and considering downshifting their careers or leaving their jobs.

To avoid unwinding years of progress toward gender equality, creative companies need to act now to promote, hire, and retain women. Combating the biases women face at work is critical to getting this right.

Research shows that bias contributes to women being passed over for jobs and promotions. In fact, almost three in four women experience bias at work, and those who do are more likely to leave their jobs.

Tackle bias in creativity by acknowledging it

The first step to tackling bias in creativity is acknowledging it. As someone said: “It’s not ‘do I have bias’ but ‘what biases do I have?'” And this matters for creative ideas, particularly when evaluating or judging other people’s ideas. And having your voice heard in the first place.

How many times has the following happened to you or a colleague? It’s the classic ‘he or she who shouts loudest’ approach.

Common types of workplace bias

Take your pick of just a few common biases that affect women (and others) in the workplace – all of which our ability to share their ideas:

1. Likeability bias is rooted in age-old expectations. We expect men to be assertive, so when they lead, it feels natural. We expect women to be kind and communal, so when they assert themselves, we like them less.
2. Maternal bias: Motherhood triggers false assumptions that women are less competent and less committed to their careers.
3. Performance bias is based on deep rooted—and incorrect—assumptions about women’s and men’s abilities. We tend to underestimate women’s performance, and overestimate men’s.
4. Affinity bias is what it sounds like: we gravitate toward people like ourselves in appearance, beliefs, and background. And we may avoid or even dislike people who are different from us.

This digital resource offers free training, op eds and research on the subject to help you to tackle bias in creativity.

The post 50 ways to tackle bias & why it matters for creativity first appeared on Now Go Create.