How to read the future?
Is it even possible to predict tomorrow? Yes, if you have the snapshot of today and know the vector of development. Woah, easy now! The world isn't the hyperloop, it's a roller coaster
Within the Internet, we all have access to the same information. So, I’m always wondering why some people get more out of it than others. My current answer to this is that those people know the right questions. They not just consume but digest the data so it’s being processed into knowledge. This is what I’m trying to share. Not the facts, news, info, cause there are a lot already, but the mindset and the questions you could ask yourself in order to better digest the world around you.
What will happen next?
Look at the pictures and try to read the future. Think about a transformation that will happen in a moment.
Learn physics of the process
There are different ways to read the future. When it comes to me, I prefer using a ball. Nope, not the crystal ball, but the basketball one. See the ball? See the future? What will happen next? Well, the ball will fall. We’ve studied physics at school, heard about gravity from books, or just experienced falling ourselves. Anyway, we are pretty confident about that. And the reason is simple. We know this, cause we know how the ball works.
Get the context
Yeah. Not that fast. Let’s assume the ball will fall. But where to? In what direction? In order to answer this question, we need to get the context. Where is the damn floor? What if the picture we are looking at is upside down? Or maybe it’s us who is upside down, and the ball, the floor, and the picture are absolutely okay. To be 100% sure, we need to check that it’s not a ceiling that looks like a floor for no reason, or that the building itself is aligned with Earth gravity, or that it’s indeed on Earth and not floating in outer space (which will be very problematic and will cause some issues even with our initial assumption).
Understand the driving force
Physics is about the rules. Context is the playground. What we really need to predict the next moment is to recognize the driving force. Who is throwing the ball and where is it going? Lost in metaphors? Well, every trend, every process on Earth have some starting point and some visible target or end state. Computers want to be as fast as instant, the Internet as free as… well, nothing today is free, but it is worth trying. Any tech innovation aims to penetrate the market so everyone uses it every single moment while becoming maximum effective at a minimal cost.
Capture the movement itself
Still, there will be several options left. You can’t predict tomorrow from today. Yesterday should be studied as well. Take several snapshots, and the movement will reveal itself. The longer you follow the process, the more obvious for you is the pace and the possible shifts. The future is now, but it’s defined in the past.
Predict the shifts
Processes never exist in a vacuum. The real way to read the future is to look into intersections of different shifts happening at the same time, influencing each other’s development. Once you’ve got to a good understanding of where you are, movement itself doesn’t bring any new information, so all you are looking for next is a turn. This is how trends work. It’s not the growth that matters, it’s the tipping point.
Trend of the week: Experiential Retail
As seen on Accenture, Publicis Sapient, Parcel Monitor, Tinuiti, Bernard Marr, Denave
Online was always growing fast, but COVID gave it another tremendous boost. Now offline need to keep up. With more costs to run and less traffic, brands are rethinking the role of traditional retail. As Tinuiti is stating, though the reality is that brick-and-mortar stores will sell less, they have the opportunity to provide value by strengthening customers’ relationships with the brand.
Immersive, Instagrammable experiences, aka “retailtainment,” can bring the brand alive in a way that digital means can’t. Interactive displays, personalized branding, and the use of AR and VR will help drive brand loyalty and engrossing shopping experiences. Aside from this, consumers are expecting to see a whole range of online services offline as well. This includes visit planners, extended digital assortment, O2O, contactless shopping, etc.
Those are some examples, quoted from a range of different trend reports.
Take Nike’s Time Square flagship store, for example, which has a basketball court with cameras to record shots and treadmills with screens mimicking famous running routes. Though it’s not a huge sales driver, that’s not its purpose. It’s become a huge tourist attraction that boosts brand engagement and awareness. (Tinuiti)
Meanwhile, Marvel found a valuable promotional tool in their touring Avengers S.T.A.T.I.O.N., an immersive exhibit that has pulled in huge crowds all around the world. Through interactive displays and real-life movie props, the franchise invites fans to step into the cinematic world that’s delighted them for years. (Tinuiti)
One technique used by Lidl is the treasure hunt experience. With this, people come in-store knowing they'll come across amazing offers and products, but those items won't be around for long. They devote about 20% of a store to 'Lidl Surprises,' a selection of unexpected goods in limited quantities, rotated weekly. (InfluencerMarketingHub)
Other stores focus on building communities. Some bookstores even encourage people to remain in-store and read the books they have bought. (InfluencerMarketingHub)
Some big retailers are now setting up smaller cut-down specialist stores, e.g., Ikea has opened a range of Ikea Home Planning Studios. Others create mini-stores that are stores-within-stores. Best Buy, Macy's, JCPenney, and Apple have all tried this in recent years. (InfluencerMarketingHub)
Some retailers, like Nordstrom, are adding amenities like coffee shops or restaurants close to pickup and return areas, giving shoppers a comfortable place to wait for their turn, while also encouraging transactions. Other brands leverage digital queues that let shoppers schedule pickup times or offer product lockers for contactless collection—all managed on a mobile device. (PublicisSapient)
Loblaw has been changing the way Canadians shop since 1919, and it was the first grocer to offer click-and-collect to shoppers in Canada. The strategic rollout of express click-and-collect pickup has put 75 percent of Canadians within 10 minutes of a Loblaw location, making order collection easy while expanding the grocer’s footprint. (PublicisSapient)
When Audi wanted to bring its showrooms to crowded city centers, it introduced Audi City, the first all-digital vehicle showroom. It is an experience powered by seamless gesture control and one-to-one rendering of life-size vehicles, combined with real-time pricing and availability that give buyers a completely new, transformative approach to car buying. (PublicisSapient)
65 reports for 2022 are live already. Those are some other trends from this week that I find interesting
Pandemic to endemic (The World Ahead)
Vitality: Employee wellbeing takes center stage (Future Of Work)
People are becoming increasingly conscious consumers (Bernard Marr)
Ecommerce Grocery Platforms Are the New Norm (Tinuiti)
The prolonged pandemic: Fans of flexibility (Dentsu)
Write the future
Tomorrow is inevitable. The future is happening no matter if you want it or not. There are two options only. Let the future happen to you. Or write your own future.
See you next week,
Ilya Petrov