6. Authenticity
Life is complicated and getting more so. We are suffering from Too
Much Information (TMI), Too Much Choice (TMC) and Too Much Technology
(TMT). We are also being subjected to multiple truths (one minute coffee
is going to kill you, the next it's a miracle cure) and fed a seemingly
endless diet of half-truths and lies from companies and politicians who
want to sell us something. The response to all this is an interest in
authenticity or 'realness'. People want to know where things (or people)
are from and whether they can trust them. They also want to know what
the story is. Of course there are contradictions. On the one hand we
expect people and products to be trustworthy, ethical, real and tell
stories about their history. On the other hand we are ourselves leading
increasingly fake lives - filling our lips with Botox, dying our hair
blonde, enlarging our breasts and pretending we're happier than we
really are.
10. Personalisation
How can you have a list of top trends and innovations without
mentioning Apple’s i-Pod somewhere? The i-Pod is an excellent example of
all sorts of trends including place shifting, device convergence,
Moore’s Law and miniaturisation. However, the most interesting thing
about the innovation is that it personifies
personalisation.Globalisation creates commodification and
homogenisation, which in turn creates the counter trend of
personalisation as people react against standard issue products. Add a
dose of technology and hey presto you’ve got a product that users can
tailor to their own tastes and needs. Expect dozens of products in
different markets to offer a similar degree of personalisation in the
coming years as customer desire meets technological possibilities.
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