1.
Trends 2014/2015: Executive Summary SONIC BOOM & reddit.com
TRENDS 2014/2015
What the culture creators want you to know: An executive summary
This document provides an executive summary of the key findings
from our most recent trends report titled “State of Public Discourse,”
detailing emerging trends in culture, and more specifically, trends in
four industry verticals - Automotive, Healthcare, Entertainment and
Telecommunications. To arrive at the conclusions below, our research team examined
over 20,000 conversations on reddit.com, covering a range of topics such as politics,
brands, pop culture, cars, technology, pharmaceuticals, food, entertainment,
telecommunications, etc.
Trends defined by the internet’s culture creators 1
Source:
WanderingtheWorld
(www.ChrisFord.com)

2.
Trends 2014/2015: Executive Summary SONIC BOOM & reddit.com
3 TRENDS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT
!
1 - Individualism is desired, and celebrated.
Individual autonomy and expression are highly valued. Brands, organizations, and things
that allow people to express themselves, and establish niche and often bookish
connections with others in the community, will be loved and celebrated.
For example, audiences expound an incredible amount of effort uncovering hidden plot
lines and character ‘tells’ as a way to express their identities as fans of the show ‘Breaking
Bad’.
!
2 - Fairness is expected.
An assessment of fairness is now a critical ingredient in the evaluation of brands and
organizations and audiences will proactively dig up information about a brand of interest
to assess for themselves the fairness with which a brand conducts its business.
Trends defined by the internet’s culture creators 2
Source: Daquella manera

3.
Trends 2014/2015: Executive Summary SONIC BOOM & reddit.com
For example, the “big three” telecommunications firms in Canada are constantly criticized
for their unfair trade practices – from price fixing to bad customer service, consumers are
constantly left frustrated and disappointed.
3 - Innovation is required.
Everyone (from celebrities to brands)
is constantly expected to innovate as
it is now the minimum requirement
to keep audiences interested.
Importantly, those that leverage
science to innovate and in the
process improve upon existing
systems will be looked upon with
great favourability.
For example, Tesla Motors is
considered the standard for
innovation in the automotive sector because of its pursuit of uncompromising excellence
in producing electric cars (while the competition creates electric cars that require one to
compromise on speed and performance).
!
!
!
!
Trends defined by the internet’s culture creators 3

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Trends 2014/2015: Executive Summary SONIC BOOM & reddit.com
IMPLICATIONS FOR YOUR BRAND OR ORGANIZATION
!
CONCLUSION
!
Audiences use belief and value systems as a way to connect with people, brands, and
things on the Internet. Understanding these value systems can go a long way in
understanding where a brand fits in the context of a larger conversation and, more
importantly, whether there might be opportunities to authentically engage audiences with
conversations that go well beyond a discussion of products, their features and benefits.
Interested in knowing more about your audience?
Feel free to contact us at strategy@sonicboom.com.
1 Examine your brand’s relationship to the identified trends and pinpoint the areas of strength
and weakness. Then, consider answering two questions:
!• What specific initiatives will allow you to play to your strengths and allow a deeper and more
emotional connection with your audience?
• Are there opportunities to introduce new communication programs, formats, or even
channels that can address some of the identified weaknesses?
2 Consider the most pressing issues within your vertical today. Now, think about what your
organization/brand can do to address those issues, through the values lens, and maybe even
lead discourse in the industry!
3 Don’t neglect the geeks! Find those people within your organization who really embody the
brand, the product or service in question. Give them an opportunity to have authentic dialogue
with brand fans who will be excited by the opportunity to “geek out” over what you do today,
and what you can do in the future.
4 Think about the overall set of values that guide your own organization, its operations and even
marketing. Are there points of alignment between organizational values and the emerging
values identified in this report? If so, what can you do to further communicate this marriage in
values to the marketplace, and build a closer relationship with your publics?
Trends defined by the internet’s culture creators 4

5.
Trends 2014/2015: Executive Summary SONIC BOOM & reddit.com
APPENDIX: OUR APPROACH
!
For years, we’ve looked at the real world for
clues on where our culture is headed –
fashion, art, music, television and more
provide direction on changing consumer
perceptions and needs.
Today, it’s a very different scenario. An
increasingly active online audience that
spends more time on the web, than it does
offline, means we now have an incredibly
rich pool of online data to understand the
evolving nature of people, their
perceptions of, and expectations from
brands.
Sonic Boom’s Trend Forecasting team looks
at thousands of these online conservations
across a range of themes such as
corporations, governments and people, and
forecasts emerging trends and value
systems across culture, and across specific
verticals (from Healthcare to Automotive
and even Quick Service Restaurants).
To achieve this, Sonic Boom leverages an exclusive partnership with
reddit.com - the most influential online community existing today, with over 7.5 Million
Canadian visitors - made up of artists, technologists, early adopters, geeks and culture
creators. reddit.com is so persuasive in our culture that in an attempt to influence public
opinion, it has attracted people such as Bill Gates, Barack Obama and Chris Hadfield, to
engage the community in meaningful discourse.
Trends defined by the internet’s culture creators 5
Source: kagey_b