In a market of rising instability and change, T garage Insights & Strategy + Dig Agency has launched CultureCast – a program that will help brands and businesses go beyond trends, to become part of the meaningful and lasting changes that shape our culture.
2022 has already been a year of big cultural shifts; a crossroad between climate crises, dwindling resources, cultural dysphoria, a global pandemic, rising cost of living, and geopolitical instability have all drastically changed the lives of consumers.
As a progressive and future-minded consumer insights and creative agencies, T garage + Dig found that traditional trend reports could no longer capture the breadth and depth of these cultural shifts. Our response was to create CultureCast – an ongoing program that goes beyond trends to capture the big ideas that shape the culture of tomorrow.
Paul Lamble (pictured), CEO T garage, said: “Understanding the cultural landscape is critically important for our clients particularly when we are in a heightened state of flux. Unlike trends, Culture shifts evolve, shaping
values, aspirations, and behaviours. By paying attention, brands and businesses can go beyond ‘trends’ and be part of lasting changes: the things that make tomorrow meaningful. Our aim is to bring you these insights across everything we do – to ask, ‘what are the bigger human needs and values that underpin what we’re seeing, and how will they impact the way people live their lives?’”
The effectiveness of CultureCast stems from how it was created. Tgarage researchers reviewed over 50 of the latest trends reports across a range of categories, synthesised and mapped them into over-arching macro-themes, and then pressure-tested them against a carefully crafted motivational matrix.
The first iteration of CultureCast resulted in 9 macro themes or cultural shifts that capture not only what we’re doing as a society, but also how we’re thinking, what we feel, and what we value, now and into the future.
Each week T garage + Dig will give B&T readers a peak into the world of CultureCast with a discussion of one of these 9 key themes. This week’s kick-off theme is HOGO: The Hassle of Going Out.
Why negotiate the hassle of going out – HOGO – when so much is now delivered to our homes and it’s easier to just stay put? The ante has been well and truly upped, with products, services, brands and experiences now delivered into the homes in an exemplar fashion.
First there was 2004’s FOMO: the ‘fear of missing out’, thanks in part to the advent of social media. A decade later there was JOMO: the ‘joy of missing out’, thanks in part to the advent of streaming services.
COVID-19 took JOMO’s move towards home-centricity to the next level. Lockdowns and pandemics meant we became more physically and emotionally tied to our homes than ever before. The result is HOGO: is going out even worth the effort?
Two key elements are underpinning this cultural shift:
- So much of what we need is coming into our homes… we are being increasingly catered for in multiple ways…… we barely have the need to leave our homes
- And secondly, the frictions of life are something we are less keen to tolerate……. traveling, waiting in line, finding space at the gym, engaging with people…….
The challenge for business is to become front + centre of the new ‘staying in’, or create experiences that eradicate the frictions of going out.
How some brands are already adapting: this drastic shift has seen many brands and even entire categories shrink or die out completely. Meanwhile, others adapted to HOGO by removing frictions, and catering to the at-home experience.
Below are some case studies in HOGO success:
- Rise of the table menu apps: Mr Yum’s Table App revolution
- Out-of-hours shopping: Wheelys – 24/7 unmanned convenience store
- At-home try on services: Czech fashion e-shop Zoot’s new Zoot Taxi service
- Virtual Whisky Tasting: Talisker Alexa Collab
- Augmented Reality makeup try-ons: L’oreal’s Modiface
- Augmented sneaker customisation: Nike’s A1’s
