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How To Build Trust In An Era Of Desperate Truth Seeking Consumers

It is hard to get away from the feeling that we are being manipulated all the time. This week there were plenty of new stories of divisive characters losing their audience, brands trying new ways to be more truthful, and talk show host John Oliver trying to define reality itself. The theme this week is the … Read more

LinkedIn Redesign, Whole Food’s Big Idea and Tech That’s Always Listening

As you know, this weekly post is a collection of interesting stories, but today I was inspired to try something different. Rather than sharing individual stories, I’m going to make connections and instead share three themes with multiple stories, along with a collection of links to stories that caught my attention this week. In the … Read more

Starbucks’ Mobile Crisis, Lego’s New Social Network, Realtor.com Invests In AR and How To Name Your Brand

Fascinating stories from the world of business this week included Lego’s bold move to finally create a safe social network online for kids, Starbucks’ growing pains from its mobile app that perhaps works too well, a new startup that will pay business travelers to skip the hotel mini bar to save money, and how augmented … Read more

Professional Ghosting, Why We Prefer Serious Robots and the Secret Genius Of Trump’s Paid Applauders

A tequila maker cashing in on the craft drink phenomenon, the surprising reasons why vending machines are so popular in Japan, how drones are evolving to offer unexpected solutions and what Trump’s fake audiences should teach us about media consumption.   Those stories and a highly entertaining ad that will show you everything you need … Read more

15 Non-Obvious Business Trends Shaping 2017 (Retail, Consumer, Tech, Marketing, and Media)

Are you a member of the media? Visit our media kit to download a trend summary and more information about requesting an interview with Rohit >> This week I launched the seventh edition of my annual trend report featuring all of my research from throughout the year on trends. Many of you have already picked … Read more

Yoga Backlash, IMAX Announces VR Centers & How To Get Verified On Twitter

The past week featured no escape from the 24/7 US election commentary and it’s clearly going to get worse over the next several weeks, but the weekly ritual of curating stories for this email gave me a much-needed escape from all that hype, and yielded some great stories about a powerful new documentary about educating … Read more

How Netflix Predicts Watching Habits, Awful Magazine Covers & The World’s Spiciest Tortilla Chip

This week the Internet went crazy talking about how Brangelina split. Despite how important that “news” might be – it’s clearly not the kind of “non-obvious” story I have to share today. Instead, this week’s underappreciated marketing stories feature YouTube’s desperate plan to fix their longtime problem with comments, a glimpse into what Netflix might do … Read more

Strange Korean Video Trends, How Fabergé Sells Luxury and Ikea’s Unexpected Ecommerce Experiment

I am deep in the midst of writing the next edition of Non-Obvious and identifying new trends for 2017. The research has been leading me down some interesting paths as I curate this weekly email for you. You’ll see some of those emerge this week, in stories that take you inside the strange Korean social … Read more

B2B Screenwriters, Instagram Travel Guides And The Most Annoying Sound You Can Never Unhear

Content featured big this week as new initiatives from GoPro and IBM both received a lot of coverage and discussion. Brands moving into content is nothing new, but the depth and importance of these forays into content are clearly getting bigger and bolder. In other news, the “Millennial Whoop” was sadly unavoidable as a consequence … Read more

What Whole Foods New Brand Says About You (And Other Non-Obvious Insights)

In my quest for interesting ideas to share with you this week, I found several stories that really got me thinking. Dos Equis’ new search for a campaign spokesperson to replace Jonathan Goldsmith, the “Most Interesting Man In the World,” reminded me of just how beautiful and rare it was for brand to have a … Read more

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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.

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