As Featured In:
Webby
AdAge
HBR
WSJ
Last week Netflix announced that they would be stopping their long standing policy of asking customers to vote on early pilots for programs to see if they have enough critical mass and audience to continue. In the same week, at a television industry event a Netflix executive shared that Netflix finds demographics to be useless … Read more
Cadbury is the first symbolic advertiser to have ads banned, but the real target may be sugary processed foods that pretend to be healthy snacks.
This week AirFrance became one of the first airlines to experiment with subscription pricing by announcing a new pre-paid travel product called Le Pass which allows frequent travelers to purchase pre-paid coupons to lock in pricing. A few days later, Mercedes-Benz followed BMW, Porsche and Cadillac by launching their own monthly all-inclusive subscription model, at … Read more
Recently Google engineers tested a Maps feature that equated the distance you walk to a number of mini-cupcakes you would burn off in equivalent calories. The only problem is, their fun little cupcake idea was a trigger for some people with eating disorders and others were just annoyed at the unsolicited suggestion. The feature and … Read more
To combat early sexism, the co-Founders of ecommerce art site Witchsy invented a fake co-founder aptly named Keith Mann and started communicating with developers and partners through his virtual personality. To their surprise, the ruse was sadly successful. Keith would often be treated with far more respect by men and women in the tech industry alike. … Read more
Apparently the shift towards swear words in book titles and content has not gone unnoticed by researchers. As Cory Doctorow notes in this article: “books are getting swearier and [researchers concluded] that this is a bellwether for a growth in the value of individualism.” I have definitely noticed this shift in non-fiction books (The Subtle … Read more
Sometimes art is the best way to shine a lens on how our culture may be changing for better … or worse, as is the case with a hypothetical near-future product called the “NuturePod” created by artist and experimental futurist Stuart Candy. The installation on exhibit at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Antwerp, Belgium … Read more
One of the side effects of social awareness among millennials is how many young brides are coming to embrace lab grown diamonds as equally beautiful but more ethically sourced alternatives to “blood” diamonds. It doesn’t hurt that the Gemological Institute of America qualifies these synthetic diamonds as “real diamonds” – but the significant discount may … Read more
Trying to reverse its declining market share, Yoplait’s new campaign skips competing on health to focus on taste instead. The ad brings to life all the things moms are often criticized for – like breastfeeding in public or having kids later in life – and invites moms to “Do What Tastes Right” and forget about … Read more
How do you get attention for a sleepy little Swiss ski resort town that few people have ever heard of? Ban photos and promise to fine tourists for sharing them online. That’s the genius strategy behind this move from the town of Bergün, but the explanation of why is even better. “We don’t want to … Read more
Non-Obvious Thinking is my upcoming book about the 4 secrets of becoming a non-obvious thinker - coming 09/24!
Rohit Bhargava is a trend curator, founder of the Non-Obvious Company and the 3-time Wall Street Journal bestselling author of ten books.
Skip the obvious and anticipate the future with our weekly newsletter. Join over 25,000 subscribers and start receiving the stories (and insights) you’ve been missing.
Rohit is the author of 10 books on trends, the future of business, building a more human brand with storytelling and how to create a more diverse and inclusive world.
