Personalization

Implications - Brands that offer sweet treats and ingredients are specifically catering to individuals with diabetes, who typically monitor how much sugar they intake. By accommodating people with diabetes, these brands are able to appeal to a group of consumers that typically would not be able to consume their products, while simultaneously catering to the larger segment of wellness-minded consumers. [More]

Implications - Focusing on both safety and empowerment, brands are offering travel services and tips for the LGBTQ+ community. These programs and services aim to enhance the lives of people in this community by offering them accessible forms of travel, prioritizing the safe spaces that LGBTQ+ people often require in order to live and enrich their lives. [More]

Implications - Between discriminatory Airbnb hosts and prejudicial airline practices, the travel industry hasn't always been as accommodating as it should be for people of color – a fact that is slowly changing via travel brands led by and prioritizing people of color. By creating such specific spaces, these brands are showcasing the importance of grassroots and self-led empowerment in the process of creating large-scale change. [More]

Implications - Children with autism are likely to be extremely sensitive to sensory stimulation, and so various toys and products are being streamlined in order to better benefit these children. Whether providing comfort or educating, such products are able to appeal to parents via their highly personalized and specialty designs. [More]

Implications - Connotations around aging are evolving, and as consumers look to identify themselves beyond just a number, products and services are arising that allow aging consumers to feel young again. From all-age encompassing outdoor adventures to elements of education, brands are recognizing the desire from consumers to stay physically active, but to take risks as well, especially as they reach life stages that allow for more free time and leisure. [More]

Implications - Businesses are offering their customers loans – whether financial or product-based – offering an explicit, enhanced mutual benefit for both the brand and the consumer. Whether used for marketing purposes or to enhance the customer experience, these loans serve to retain customer loyalty for their ability to show the brand's willingness to go above and beyond consumers' expectations. [More]

Implications - Hotlines are no longer restricted to functions like supporting people's mental health, and are becoming much more specific in the support they offer – with everything from sleep-inducing services to ones that aid refugees who are crossing the Mediterranean. These services are popping up as some of the negative effects of social media, such as interpersonal isolation, encourage consumers to seek digital connections through varying platforms. [More]

Implications - Making a shift from a mostly functional product into something much more aspirational, supplements and vitamins are undergoing a change in terms of how they're marketed, branded and perceived by consumers. Thanks to the influx of start-ups looking to revolutionize the industry using customization, minimalist aesthetics and more relatable language, these products are, in some cases, being perceived as luxury items. [More]

Implications - New home adornments are being created around the idea that functionality comes second to the technological aesthetic. Consumers, particularly Millennials, are more willing to spend their money on high-tech, decorative objects that appeal to their visual senses while satisfying a desire to be part of - and even own - futuristic technology. This shift in at-home products provides consumers with an elevated sense of status, and gives brands a new outlet for developing tech-focused decor pieces. [More]

Implications - Emerging primarily as an antidote to the cult of minimalism of recent years, the campy maximalism of animal print apparel and footwear is being re-embraced by tastemakers and the fashion-forward. In addition to serving as an example of the reemergence of 1980s fashion motifs, this shift speaks to the desire of many consumers to liberate themselves from the minimalist doctrine that includes a safe neutral palette. [More]