Futures Coaching

We-Think: The Mega Trend behind Social Media

Would communications technology be so successful if people didn't feel the need to interact? Of course not. However, few recognise that our need to socialise and network is growing with or without social media. 

My lastest Slideshare summary, shines the spotlight on this Mega Trend. I call it We-Think (a term I borrowed from Charles Leadbeater).

Many authorities have lost ground due to this Trend, but a rare few get it - and I give example from the banking, supermarket, charity and FMCG worlds.

Have a read. It will take just 5 minutes to update your understanding. Click

 

 

 

How will the past change our future?

Trendspotters often focus exclusively on the future to understand change. But the past gives huge insights into how tomorrow's world will look.

Take Chinese medicine. Many of its ancient principles are now bang on trend and will shape the future of healthcare. How about the most revolutionary idea of Bill Gates - giving away his wealth? Sorry Bill but it's been done before. Canadian Indian tribal leaders already knew of the fantastic status to be gained by giving away all that you own.

How else can history help us understand what's coming next? Go back to the future here.

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Futures Coaching, March 2012: A typical month

Clients are constantly surprised by the variety of work we are engaged in. March 2012 will be typical. During the month we will:

- analyse social change amongst Filipino and Indonesian women and impacts on health marketing

- run deep-dive consumer research on social media

- present to a retail property audience on consumer futures and impacts on retail

- uncover future-facing insights in order to revolutionise branch formats for a retail bank

- blog on Asia, social media, outdoor events.....

Specialist in trends, social analysis, sector futures, Asian market evolution....Futures Coaching may be able to help you. Try us.

 

Silent Retailing: How this is about to change

I was asked to look at the future of retailing by real estate services giant, Jones Lang LaSalle. My study took a couple of intensive months to complete and involved over 30 experts. One of the themes treated in the final report was The End of Silent Retailing.

Jones Lang LaSalle have put significant marketing effort behind the 'Retail2020' Report and I'd invite anyone wanting to find out more to visit their website retail2020.com

Meantime, as an appetiser, find out why I think retail has been silent over the years and why this is about to change fundamentally over the next 5 Download The End of Silent Retailing

 

Growth Stories

It's official: 2012 will be worse than 2011. Well, that's what most commentators, journalists, Heads of State and stock market pundits seem to be saying. The consensus is in one direction: caution, safety, cost-cutting and NO BIG DECISIONS.

However. 

There is lots of positive news out there. You just have to be willing to go beyond the consensus, the conventional and the groupstink (sic). 

So I've decided to dedicate a series of blogs to just that. "Growth Stories" will be vignettes aimed at revealing the forces that will drive market growth in 2012...and beyond. All will be positive and aimed at helping you building business fortunes and brand profiles.

And to avoid information overload, each trend analysis will take just 5 minutes to read. To ensure you catch each of our Growth Stories, sign-up for a weekly newsletter (top right of this blog). You can unsubscribe anytime you wish. 

It would be wrong to suggest that 2012 will be easy. It will be a time of high uncertainty, 'black swan' surprises and negativity. But whilst everyone else is looking the other way, this will be just the time to identify the market opportunities. Growth Stories will, I hope, help you do just that.

Snake oil salesman or valuable guide?

A dear friend told it to me straight: no one believes experts are able to anticipate the future because the recent past has proven it. No one saw the Credit Crunch coming; the Arab Spring caught everyone by surprise; the Japanese tsunami was a true black swan.

No quite true of course. Bob Prechter, Nouriel Roubini, Richard Maybury, Dr Doom himself (Marc Faber) and others foresaw the economic crash; a computer at the University of Illinois predicted the Egyptian revolt; seismologists knew it was only a matter of time for Japan to be hit by a 'big one'.

However, I had to conceed that futurologists are not good at foreseeing 'out of the blue' events, any more than the average businessman. So what value can we offer? Here's a starter:

* a good sense of the coming agenda

* an evaluation for plausible outcomes

* a grip on the evolving dynamics shaping the world

* a wake-up call for the majority who see tomorrow as a repeat of today

 

And the consequences for businesses:

* taking smarter decisions in the evolving trading environment

* helping businesses and brands prepare for what's coming

* future-proofing existing offers

* stress testing strategies under different scenarios

* intercepting the future with new offers and services

* capturing leading edge targets

* demonstrating thought leadership

* challenging mono-cultures within companies by letting in different world views

* being an effective challenger brand by getting ahead of the curve

* making contingency plans for downturns, PR challenges, disruptive change

* providing a way to discuss fundamental business issues in a neutral way

Ultimately, it's about thinking more broadly about the changing world, lifting ideas above the day-to-day and moving the debate beyond stale, culture bound thinking. Looking to the future, forces management teams to examine their mental maps and ensures better decision taking.

So, no snake oil here. Just two challenges to management: 1) have you got the time, the energy, the courage and the intellectual horse-power to go beyond tactical delivery and build in business longevity?; 2) can you afford to ignore tomorrow's customer?

 

 

 

Changing China

In recent visits to Shanghai and Hong Kong I've been able to witness, first hand, the forces of change in China. First and foremost, change is a cultural phenomenon as society turns its back on the past and looks ahead. For example, even parents mistrust their own know-how; it's too rooted in yesterday's world to be so relevant for their kids. Much better, therefore, to send off children to extra classes where the most pertinent knowledge can be trained: skills fit for the future.

And, of course, the government is the great facilitator of change. Its recent 5 year plan lays out the contours of $1.25trillion of investment in seven strategic industries. The results of the planned economy are seen in December 2011's launch of the 500kms/hour super-rapid train. 

For a concise 5 minute briefing on the dynamics of Chinese growth, click here .

Leisure Asia: Some of the biggest entertainment markets

Here goes with another from the Asia 5 series. In only 5 minutes, get yourself up-to-speed with 10 ways Asians chill.

Did you know that Pachinko parlours bring in four times more revenue than global casino spending? Or that the Chinese authorities run anti-addiction programmes for online gaming, such is their threat to the national economy?

Get a step up in your understanding of Asian leisure markets here.

 

 

 

10 Insights into Indian Entrepreneurship

As part of the 'Asia 5' series of concise reports into the Asian marketplace, I have taken a look at entrepreneurship on the Sub-Continent. Huge strides have been made in just 5 short years and we can predict an explosion of start-up companies in the years ahead. Much is in place to allow this to happen, although some elements still need boosting. Find out more here

The New Retail Rulebook

This week saw the publication of a major report on the future of Britain's High Streets. It was good to note that Mary Portas's main recommendation to the government was that shops need to go 'beyond retail'. This was just one of 10 conclusions in my Retail 2020 report, written in the Spring of 2010!

Since that time, virtually all of my forecasts are in the process of coming true. So much so, my client asked me to go further and look at the implications for the sector. Called 'The New Retail Rulebook: 5 Key Lessons from the Future', this can be found here.

With so much work to be done to catch up on consumer trends, it is clearly necessary to innovate. Is there a retailer out there willing to intercept the future?