As you know, we’re all about helping companies achieve real time relevance and growth in this ever changing market place. The more organisations we work with, the more we see that any growth needs to be underpinned by a strong, focused and robust culture –…
Think globally, act locally: the integration of local markets into world capitalism. Is it possible for the universal and the particular to co-exist? Popularized in the 1990’s by sociologists and economists alike, the idea of “glocalisation” has been around for longer than you think. From…
In our busy and stressful lives, time is the greatest commodity, and entertainment our greatest release. Ecologically sustainable living is not always easy, nor is it always fun. A documentary on the tragedy of polar bears on shrinking ice-caps, or an animated comedy about a…
It’s easy to forget that once, multigenerational living was the rule, not the exception. Post-recession, do we find ourselves moving back home? Nqobile moved back into his parents’ home for six months after college while he searched for a job. When Sara’s 90-year-old dad leaves…
A new millennial citizen has emerged: the Techno Hippie. Their population expanding rapidly throughout the world’s concrete jungles, this species is most likely to be spotted in a fair-trade coffee shop, eating a sprout salad while signing Greenpeace petitions on a smartphone. Techno Hippies are…
The intuitive assumption that poor countries are trying to play catch up with first-world countries is a strategic blind spot. If necessity is the mother of invention, we should turn our gaze to those in need. Usually, innovation comes from the top and trickles down…
Once upon a time people were born into communities and had to find their individuality. Today people are born individuals and have to find their communities. A new youth culture is emerging. Read more about this macro trend. There’s an exhaustion with trying to seem…
Technology now provides ways for improving mental health through stress detecting and self-treatment gadgets. New innovations offer time-starved, stressed and overworked consumers the edge on their peers by simply downloading an app for much needed relief on the pressures of modern life. The quantified-self movement…
Whether it is ‘always wanting’ a new version of a consumer electronics device, or a software app update or even a food item that’s “new and improved”, consumers are relentless in their pursuit of “New”. The old model of physical consumption – purchase, use, declare…
Africa, and other emerging markets including India and Latin America hold consumers whom are no longer willing to tolerate mass, untargeted messaging from brands. 2013 saw the biggest brands in sub-Saharan Africa roll out initiatives that allowed their consumers to participate in some truly novel…
