Unique Consumer Insights

Trend - As the COVID-19 vaccine becomes more accessible across North America, brands are launching commemorative pieces that users can wear to celebrate their vaccination. These range from shirts to dresses.

Insight - The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically altered the way of life for most individuals. As hope for a return to "normal" comes into the horizon, consumers are looking to celebrate with specialized products that serve as a visual reminder of this anticipation. Brands that help commemorate these special moments will win consumer loyalty.

Trend - While our capacity for mass space travel is still years away, brands are offering consumers a taste of outer space through products that are partially or fully made in space. Be it a cookie or a pair of boots, these goods satiate shoppers looking to indulge their sense of individuality.

Insight - Space travel is an ambitious project that has captured the attention of many consumers who are rooting for innovation and human progress. Individuals are interested in the novelty of this concept and often internalize it as part of their personal brand. As a result, they become vastly engaged in products and services that bring them closer to knowing and experiencing outer space, while also allowing them to show off their future-forward mindset.

Implications - In an effort to engage in more wellness-driven practices, some consumers are increasingly drawn to what were once New-Age practices for their elements of ritual and spirituality. The growing interest in ritual-based practices like meditation and witchcraft in North America comes as many consumers face excess and uncertainty in their daily lives, which is coupled with their increased prioritization of self-care.

Implications - Alcohol brands are attempting to regain loyalty lost to the recent Millennial preference for sober socialization by converging unexpected flavors within the alcohol category. While these flavors might not appeal to the masses, for Millennial foodies or die-hard fans, products like vodka-flavored beer serve as a shareable and novel experience.

Implications - While blockchain technology is still in its infancy, its application in voting means that we can almost guarantee security while allowing for increased participation for remote legally registered voters. With electoral fraud being highly scrutinized as of late, blockchain technology has the potential to provide a foundation where institutions can work to restore faith in electoral systems, and could contribute to more accessible voting processes.

Implications - As the Gen Z and Millennial generations downsize homes and reduce physical commodities, items of sentimental value are transitioning to digital formats. Today’s consumers no longer see the value in displaying figurines or storing memorabilia passed on from previous generations, but would rather preserve moments via digital storage to ensure safe keeping and ease of access, in keeping with the digitization of data and information.

Implications - While products like insect repellents provide consumers with a straight-forward method of protection, troublesome application often prevents consumers from adopting such products into their lifestyle. Seeking to make the process more enjoyable, brands are adding components of play and interaction to make repellents more gratifying for the consumer. Integrating repellents into arts and crafts and motorcycle accessories, brands are using unexpected activities to bring an element of surprise and delight to the process. The use of such interactive components suggest a growing consumer need for entertainment, even when it comes to one’s health.

Implications - Realizing the growing importance of individuality among modern consumers, public events like festivals are evolving to tailor to more niche interests. Moving beyond concerts and musical entertainment, festivals are putting a greater emphasis on everything from religion to sexual orientation to customized experiences. This shift toward hyper-targeted events reflect a growing need for specialization, particularly in the entertainment industry.

Implications - Anti-aging concerns are higher than ever, and to continue innovating in this sphere, companies are creating more extreme measures of sun protection that go past the average SPF. Though aging is seen in a more positive light in the digital age, Instagram and other visual social media sites have shone a new, brighter light on appearance and vanity, creating this need for extreme measures of preservation.

Implications - No longer just of interest to those who study paleontology, references to dinosaurs and archaic animals are emerging within mainstream culture to satiate obscure interests. Integrating prehistoric references into fashion labels and even interior decor, brands are using primordial designs to not only add a sense of novelty, but also to showcase an element of fearlessness and strength often associated with animals that roamed the earth thousands of years ago.