for trend watchers, to witness businesses voluntarily and pre-emptively making certain sacrifices is an interesting signal. These businesses were placing bets that “doing the right thing” (environmentally, socially, or for people's health) would be the right economic decision too.

Spotting the innovations that are exciting customers and analyzing them using the fundamental elements of trends is also disruptively faster and cheaper than deep ethnographic fieldwork.

Rather than setting their sights on the traditional, broad segments, smart brands will target narrower demographic tribes of shared taste, interest, and sensibility. Psychographics—close study of customer lifestyles, interests, attitudes, and more—is nothing new. And of course, it's received wisdom now that the Internet has made it possible to

But transparent markets that are filled with a greater volume of new ideas, more new entrants, and more efficient matching of needs with innovations (see overleaf) inevitably become a more hostile environment to old, tired, and lower-quality offerings. The result? An upward cycle in product and service quality, and in customer expectations of

you'll find four clear reasons why it's smarter to look to businesses first, customers second when it comes to generating future-focused insights: Expectation Transfer and the porous nature of customer experience. Bets on the Future and tapping the wisdom of the business crowd for customer insight.

These expectation-setting brands embody the rising demand for products and experiences that customers can enjoy without feeling guilty at the impact they are wreaking on themselves, society, or the planet.

customer-centered innovation, not customer-led innovation.

simple: consumers aren't respecting demographic boundaries anymore, so neither should you.

We look at two main forces when assessing our mega-trends: [1] Human. These are the universally relevant human needs and wants that make up the first fundamental element of trend analysis. They include the search for social status, for connection, for self-improvement, for entertainment, for reliable and trusted information, and more. [2]