Here’s a recap of our Trendspotters’ 10 favorite finds of the past year that reflect emerging cultural currents. Stops include: Ad Age Next, Line Friends Store, Impossible Burger, and more.

1. Ten Things We Saw
This Year That Point
To Tomorrow👀

2. 2017: It’s a Wrap
Here’s a recap of our Trendspotters’ 10 favorite finds
of the past year that reflect emerging cultural currents.

3. This vegan burger, served only at a few restaurants
right now, “bleeds” like real beef. The secret lies in
an ingredient called “heme” which is plant-derived
and gives raw meat its pinkish hue. The next step
for this burger is mimicking the complex variety of
textures that animal fat provides to a burger.
Impossible Burger
# 1
KEY TAKEAWAY
The burger has not been approved
by the FDA but is “GRAS”: Generally
Recognized As Safe. Consumer interest in
spite of this speaks to how experimental our
tastes have become. As we say in our current
prediction, meat is on Tobacco Road.
More evidence of the shift away from meat: Sonic
launched a part beef, part mushroom burger this year,
to appease rising interest in going semi-meatless.

4. Whitney Biennial
This highly anticipated art exhibition spoke to
a collective desire to take action: A testament
to the relevance of trends like Save Our Society,
Vigilante Consumer, and Icon Toppling.
Works encouraged student debtors to organize and
used the Biennial to fund community projects.
Other work was focused on police brutality, the
US-Mexico Border, and class stratification.
KEY TAKEAWAY
Politics isn’t working! The ethos of the day
is transformation and actions that catalyze
metamorphosis. As Faith says, Values are the
new value. Which brands will be “woke” first?
# 2

5. Jump Into the Light
And VR Bar
These spaces are experimenting with how to
provide VR.
VR Bar had more of an arcade vibe, charging by the
minute, and hosting children’s birthday parties.
Jump Into the Light positions itself as a VR theater
and had the atmosphere of an art space, with clinics,
exhibits and community events.
KEY TAKEAWAY
There still hasn’t been a blockbuster
VR experience. Can advertising get there
before entertainment or art?
# 3

6. Line Friends Store
Line is a messaging app like Whatsapp or WeChat.
The Line Friends are a group of characters based
off of stickers (think emoji) that can be used in the
Line app.
They star in a cartoon series and on merchandise.
Line has opened a flagship store in Times Square
with the hope of sharing these characters and
their app with international tourists.
The entire store is Instagrammable, with a wide
variety of scenery for customers to pose in.
KEY TAKEAWAY
Consumers need brands to contribute
something human and joyful. Cutesy
anthropomorphs are just the beginning.
# 4

7. Wired Business
Conference 2017
Visa predicted that cash and credit card will be replaced
with biometrics and demonstrated how this might work.
The CEO of Numerai, a hedge fund run by AI,
explained that he pays his anonymous employees in
cryptocurrency and offers Cryonics as a benefit.
The Rt Hon. Lord Foster of Thames Bank shared designs
for a Mars base to be 3D-printed.
Yasmin Green discussed Jigsaw’s projects aimed at
moderating hate speech and keeping ISIS from recruiting
on the internet.
Jennifer Doudna, co-inventor of CRISPR, explained
“gene drive” and stressed the importance of public
discussion around the technology since it’s unlikely
that there will be international agreement on constraints.
KEY TAKEAWAY:
With so much changing so quickly, brands need to
educate consumers and consider their feedback.
TOP 5 MOMENTS FROM WIRED BIZ CON
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
# 5

8. Cactus Store
A summer pop-up from an LA-based cactus store
served cocktails and let visitors see a curated
collection of plants. A gathering spot to hear
lectures, swap info, and shop a shirt collection
by Guess Jeans. This is a new way for Clanning to
unite us, powered by the AtmosFear Trend as we
try to salvage our dying planet.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
1. Succulents and Cacti are enjoying a moment
as Millennials seek low-maintenance
reminders of the natural world.
2. Retailers thrive by creating community
and surprising new connections.
# 6

9. Reform
Reform takes Ikea’s cabinet systems and works with
high-end designers to create upgrades for them.
An example of Egonomics and a mass-class hybrid.
We want to put our personal stamp and aesthetics
on our one-size-fits-all world.
KEY TAKEAWAY
More mash-ups, bootlegs, and collaborations.
Consumers hunger for surprise and
hyper-personalization accelerates.
# 7

10. Coup
This anti-Trump bar donated all profits to
charities funding causes that the current
administration has targeted.
With each drink, customers are given a token
to choose which charity their money will go to.
Coup has announced plans to go “on the road”
with the concept.
KEY TAKEAWAY
Create opportunities for customers
to participate in action. The bolder, the better.
# 8

11. Baba Cool
Baba Cool’s Boozy Dragon Bowl is a typical
acai bowl with some rosé added to it. As the
divisions between work and play dissolve and
we adopt a digital nomadic lifestyle, dosing
ourselves – with nutrition, nootropics and
mood-morphing ingredients—becomes the
norm. This also reveals the way alcohol is
being reinvented as a part of the plate, not
just something served in a glass.
KEY TAKEAWAY
As we live in the blur, food, booze, and
mood management hybridize.
Increasingly, nutrition alone isn’t enough.
# 9

12. Ad Age Next 2017
Burger King’s Head of Brand Marketing, Fernando
Machado, explained that less than 2 billion social media
impressions is just “background noise”. The only way to
break through that barrier? Do something terrifying.
Isobar presented their emotional surveillance system.
It aims to quantify the impact of VR experiences by
measuring the physical and mental response of users.
Darren Brelesky and Matthew Evans of Nickelodeon
predicted fans will soon have realistic conversations
with a SpongeBob AI.
Wendy Olson Killion, Global Senior Director of Expedia
Media Solutions, shared a case study about using facial
recognition to customize Hawaiian travel.
Marc Pritchard, P+G CBO, reminded us that when P+G
reduced their ad spend by $100 m, they saw no negative
impact on sales at all.
JWTIntelligence’s Lucie Greene introduced Xennials
concept, those born on the cusp of Millennials & Gen X.
KEY TAKEAWAY
Advertising has taken on so many forms that quantifying its
impact and measuring its value has become impossible.
Emotional surveillance will transform this.
Top 6 moments from Ad age next
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
# 10
6.

13. 🤔
Take action, not positions.
To win fans and keep their
loyalty, brands must constantly
take decisive and daring
action to transform the world.
What does it all mean?
Add meaning. Be it in
retail or VR, brands need
to create something that
gets users to show up
and come back for more.
In an era of high novelty,
mashups and collaboration
can’t lose. Consumers crave
the novelty of an unexpected
combination.
OFFER ESCAPEENGAGEACT

14. Tell us what you think of our Top 10 – and share your
favorite observations with us here:
info@faithpopcorn.com
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