Ten Things We Saw This Year That Point To Tomorrow 👀

2017: It’s a WrapHere’s a recap of our Trendspotters’ 10 favorite finds

of the past year that reflect emerging cultural currents.

This vegan burger, served only at a few restaurants right now, “bleeds” like real beef. The secret lies in an ingredient called “heme” which is plant-derived and gives raw meat its pinkish hue. The next step for this burger is mimicking the complex variety of textures that animal fat provides to a burger.

Impossible Burger#1

KEY TAKEAWAY The burger has not been approved by the FDA but is “GRAS”: Generally Recognized As Safe. Consumer interest in spite of this speaks to how experimental our tastes have become. As we say in our current prediction, meat is on Tobacco Road.

More evidence of the shift away from meat: Sonic launched a part beef, part mushroom burger this year, to appease rising interest in going semi-meatless.

Whitney BiennialThis highly anticipated art exhibition spoke to a collective desire to take action: A testament to the relevance of trends like Save Our Society, Vigilante Consumer, and Icon Toppling.

Works encouraged student debtors to organize and used the Biennial to fund community projects. Other work was focused on police brutality, the US-Mexico Border, and class stratification.

KEY TAKEAWAY Politics isn’t working! The ethos of the day is transformation and actions that catalyze metamorphosis. As Faith says, Values are the new value. Which brands will be “woke” first?

#2

Jump Into the Light And VR BarThese spaces are experimenting with how to provide VR.

VR Bar had more of an arcade vibe, charging by the minute, and hosting children’s birthday parties.

Jump Into the Light positions itself as a VR theater and had the atmosphere of an art space, with clinics, exhibits and community events.

KEY TAKEAWAYThere still hasn’t been a blockbuster VR experience. Can advertising get there before entertainment or art?

#3

Line Friends StoreLine is a messaging app like Whatsapp or WeChat. The Line Friends are a group of characters based off of stickers (think emoji) that can be used in the Line app.

They star in a cartoon series and on merchandise. Line has opened a flagship store in Times Square with the hope of sharing these characters and their app with international tourists.

The entire store is Instagrammable, with a wide variety of scenery for customers to pose in.

KEY TAKEAWAY Consumers need brands to contribute something human and joyful. Cutesy anthropomorphs are just the beginning.

#4

Wired Business Conference 2017

Visa predicted that cash and credit card will be replaced with biometrics and demonstrated how this might work.

The CEO of Numerai, a hedge fund run by AI, explained that he pays his anonymous employees in cryptocurrency and offers Cryonics as a benefit.

The Rt Hon. Lord Foster of Thames Bank shared designs for a Mars base to be 3D-printed.

Yasmin Green discussed Jigsaw’s projects aimed at moderating hate speech and keeping ISIS from recruiting on the internet.

Jennifer Doudna, co-inventor of CRISPR, explained “gene drive” and stressed the importance of public discussion around the technology since it’s unlikely that there will be international agreement on constraints. KEY TAKEAWAY:

With so much changing so quickly, brands need to educate consumers and consider their feedback.

TOP 5 MOMENTS FROM WIRED BIZ CON

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

#5

Cactus StoreA summer pop-up from an LA-based cactus storeserved cocktails and let visitors see a curatedcollection of plants. A gathering spot to hear lectures, swap info, and shop a shirt collection by Guess Jeans. This is a new way for Clanning to unite us, powered by the AtmosFear Trend as we try to salvage our dying planet.

KEY TAKEAWAYS 1. Succulents and Cacti are enjoying a moment

as Millennials seek low-maintenance reminders of the natural world.

2. Retailers thrive by creating community and surprising new connections.

#6

ReformReform takes Ikea’s cabinet systems and works with high-end designers to create upgrades for them.

An example of Egonomics and a mass-class hybrid. We want to put our personal stamp and aesthetics on our one-size-fits-all world.

KEY TAKEAWAY More mash-ups, bootlegs, and collaborations. Consumers hunger for surprise and hyper-personalization accelerates.

#7

CoupThis anti-Trump bar donated all profits to charities funding causes that the current administration has targeted.

With each drink, customers are given a token to choose which charity their money will go to.

Coup has announced plans to go “on the road” with the concept.

KEY TAKEAWAY Create opportunities for customers to participate in action. The bolder, the better.

#8

Baba CoolBaba Cool’s Boozy Dragon Bowl is a typical acai bowl with some rosé added to it. As the divisions between work and play dissolve and we adopt a digital nomadic lifestyle, dosing ourselves – with nutrition, nootropics and mood-morphing ingredients—becomes the norm. This also reveals the way alcohol is being reinvented as a part of the plate, not just something served in a glass.

KEY TAKEAWAYAs we live in the blur, food, booze, and mood management hybridize. Increasingly, nutrition alone isn’t enough.

#9

Ad Age Next 2017Burger King’s Head of Brand Marketing, Fernando Machado, explained that less than 2 billion social media impressions is just “background noise”. The only way to break through that barrier? Do something terrifying.

Isobar presented their emotional surveillance system. It aims to quantify the impact of VR experiences by measuring the physical and mental response of users.

Darren Brelesky and Matthew Evans of Nickelodeon predicted fans will soon have realistic conversations with a SpongeBob AI.

Wendy Olson Killion, Global Senior Director of Expedia Media Solutions, shared a case study about using facial recognition to customize Hawaiian travel.

Marc Pritchard, P+G CBO, reminded us that when P+G reduced their ad spend by $100 m, they saw no negative impact on sales at all.

JWTIntelligence’s Lucie Greene introduced Xennialsconcept, those born on the cusp of Millennials & Gen X.

KEY TAKEAWAY Advertising has taken on so many forms that quantifying its impact and measuring its value has become impossible. Emotional surveillance will transform this.

Top 6 moments from Ad age next

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

#10

6.

🤔

Take action, not positions. To win fans and keep their loyalty, brands must constantly take decisive and daring action to transform the world.

What does it all mean?

Add meaning. Be it in retail or VR, brands need to create something that gets users to show up and come back for more.

In an era of high novelty, mashups and collaboration can’t lose. Consumers crave the novelty of an unexpected combination.

OFFER ESCAPE ENGAGEACT

Tell us what you think of our Top 10 – and share your favorite observations with us here:

info@faithpopcorn.com

Faith Popcorn’s BrainReserve55 East 59th St, 17th Floor

New York, NY 10022212.772.7778

Faith Popcorn

@faithpopcorn

Faith Popcorn

FaithPopcorn.com