Co-creation

Trend - Watchmakers are incorporating sustainable materials, such as ocean-bound plastics, into products. This offers customer the combination of luxury build quality and name, with the positivity associated with sustainable goods. This adds further value to luxury timepieces beyond status symbols, enabling new levels of self expression with timepieces.

Insight - Customers interested in collectible luxury goods are typically motivated by exclusivity, quality, and appearance. These consumers value products that fit their lifestyle, such as luxury watches that match outfits. As a reflexive action to these motivations, the luxury watch industry is filled with ultra limited-edition, ultra luxury iterations. However, these products are typically sold only on their complex composition and professional build quality, which may not fit into every consumers lifestyle due to environmental concerns. As a result, luxury watchmakers are now incorporating sustainable materials, such as ocean-bound plastics, into collectible timepieces.

Trend - Workpalces are using generative artificial intelligence to craft training modules, provide feedback, and improve overall onboarding experiences for employees. These AI models deliver accurate feedback more quickly than human workers, saving companies time and money on onboarding.

Insight - For many businesses, onboarding is an expensive process, often requiring time and resources invested from multiple other employees and branches of the businesses. As a result, these businesses continually search for ways to streamline the onboarding process while ensuring that new employees are prepared for their jobs. These businesses desire no-compromises automation that is customizable to suit each required role, leading to generative AI being used to create onboarding models.

Trend - CPG brands and restaurants are launching foods made with chai ingredients. Chai is popular in drinks for its strong, spicy, floral flavor, and its health benefits. This is now being made available to non-tea-drinkers in the form of snacks, breakfast bars, bakery items, and packaged goods.

Insight - The modern consumer in North America has countless flavors from international locations available to them for snacks, drinks, and foods. These consumers are willing to try new flavors, pairings, or interpretations of recipes, to find a new flavor, with priority given to functional foods. Some of the most popular flavors for drinks, such as chai tea or blue curacao in alcohol, are often only found in beverages, making it difficult for certain customers to ever try these flavors.

Trend - 3D scanner apps capture and generate three-dimensional models of real-world objects or environments. These apps transform physical objects into digital 3D assets that can be used in various applications and industries, including augmented reality, virtual reality, design, gaming, and health.

Insight - Consumers are often looking for ways to access advanced technology without purchasing a new device, and mobile-integrated scanners are an accessible resource for individuals looking to view and create personalized digital assets. By using an app instead of a machine, consumers without prior experience in 3D assets can experiment and produce their own without incurring hefty costs.

Trend - Peripheral manufacturers are experimenting with productivity-enhancing keyboards with integrated LCD panels. These keyboards act as an additional monitor for simple tasks, providing quick access to information or apps when needed. These are multipurpose for professional or entertainment use.

Insight - Nearly every consumer who uses a computer for work or entertainment in 2023 has multiple monitors. Additional monitors enhance workplace productivity, while on the entertainment side, monitors provide quick-access to extra content. There is a constant pressure from consumers on both of these sides for products that enhance productivity and entertainment, with brands consistently experimenting with new multipurpose peripherals that combine functions into one device.

Trend - Luxury fashion brands are unveiling anime-themed collections to foster relationships with the younger generation and today's nostalgia-fueled adults. Anime and cartoon motifs can transform pieces into collectibles valued for years, and with the popularization of diverse media, brands are finding inspiration outside the dominant culture.

Insight - Fans are eager to purchase merchandise featuring their favorite characters, making anime a more approachable marketing strategy. As consumers look for more diverse sources of culture in everything they do, the luxury scene is proving that it can appeal to a more diverse and younger consumer audience. By releasing anime-themed goods, luxury brands demonstrate that they are willing to interact with an ever-changing pop culture scene.

Trend - Businesses offer tools enabling clients to build fully-functional chatbots quickly. These bots are trained on custom datasets, making them suitable for internal, consumer-facing, or consulting purposes. Businesses across numerous industries can benefit from personalized low-cost chatbots.

Insight - The influx of artificial intelligence in business combined with the introduction of highly-effective generative AI tools has led to an AI arms race in several industries. Even businesses unrelated to AI feel pressured to offer AI-related services in at least one way, whether it be for customer service or workflow assistance. These businesses do not always have the expertise to build and integrate their own AI tools, causing them to seek partners offering custom AI-building services.

Trend - Brands across multiple industries are launching consumer-to-business-to-consumer (C2B2C) storefronts. C2B2C offers consumers discounts on products and enables consumers to sell unwanted products while the business handles transactions and verifies the quality of listed items.

Insight - When consumers no longer require products, whether it be clothing, technology, or furniture, they often turn to third-party marketplaces for all-purpose listings. However, these marketplaces pose various risks, causing some users to be wary of misleading products and scam attempts. Some consumers desire streamlined ways to liquidate older goods safely and securely, while others desire quality goods at discounted prices. Brands are responding by launching first-party C2B2C marketplaces.

Trend - CPG brands and food manufacturers are launching cheese-based products made with upcycled ingredients. These products have reduced carbon footprints and long shelf lives. Brands use upcycled ingredients acquired from manufacturing byproducts and excess storage to reduce cost and waste.

Insight - While many consumers prioritize environmentally or socially-friendly products over alternatives, some consumers are unwilling to pay increased costs for these products. These consumers only opt for these products when the price and quality are comparable to the alternatives. This cost-conditional desire has led to brands finding ways to produce environmentally friendly foods while maintaining, or even reducing, production costs. Brands appeal to these customers by turning to upcycling.

Trend - Restaurants and food brands are launching pastries infused with both taro and cheese, combining the sweet, nutty flavor of taro with the rich, savory flavor of cheese. Taro is traditionally found in dishes across East Asia and is now gaining popularity in pastries in North America.

Insight - Consumers are drawn to pastries for their versatility. Pastries can be sweet and sugary, fruity and healthy, or rich and savory. Each consumer may have different preferences, leading to brands consistently experimenting with new ingredients to include in pastries. Some brands have responded to this pressure by looking to cultural recipes from other regions. Out of these recipes, customers in North America have shown interest in mixed taro and cheese pastries for their blended flavors.