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Canada Offers Third Gender Option Of “Intersex” For Passports

On August 24th the Canadian government approved a provisional measure to allow individuals who identify as neither male nor female to select a gender neutral “intersex” option on official documents. While the US government continues to head in the opposite direction by reducing gender inclusiveness, in Canada this measure will already take effect as of August … Read more

The Future of Elevators Could Go Sideways

What if elevators went sideways? They might soon thanks to a new system invented and being tested by German elevator producer ThyssenKrupp which aims to get rid of cables altogether and build elevators more like magnetic levitation trains, which are common in Japan and China. The idea would allow people in a tall tower to … Read more

Why Chief Marketing Officers Don’t Last

The tenure of most Chief Marketing Officers is woefully short, but this fact is often dismissed as a symptom of changing leadership or sometimes ineffective results. New research points to the fact that CMOs often suffer from vaguely defined job responsibilities and confusion between whether more strategic thinking or focus on commercialization (or a hybrid) … Read more

MIT Shares Theory On Why Some Neighborhoods Evolve

Why do some neighborhoods evolve and gentrify while others don’t? This fascinating story is about a joint research program between MIT and Harvard to identify what causes urban change. Tested with five American cities, this system quantifies the physical improvement or deterioration of neighborhoods. The early results are already surprising: “Contrary to popular belief, raw … Read more

Facebook Helps Make Politicians Care About You

It is a sad reality of politics just how often politicians seem to cater to the loudest of their constituents. Making noise may not be the only way for normal people to create clout anymore, thanks to Facebook’s announcement that it will allow users to easily tag their local and state politicians in a post. … Read more

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

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

Cocktail Flavored Detergent, How Drones Affect Ownership and The Neuroscience of Trump’s Victory

The US election is thankfully over, but it was hard to get past the coverage this week to find some truly interesting stories to share with you in this issue. I did include one piece about the neuromarketing lessons of the campaign this week, alongside the story of Coca-Cola’s latest brilliant bottle idea just in … Read more

Hermès Branded Film, Firefox’s Secret Browser & How Doritos Might Save America

Inspired by the Presidential Debate, the first story in this week’s newsletter features an amazingly smart “Rock The Vote” campaign from Doritos that could have wide ranging consequences. Also this week I feature an amazing branded film about silk from Hermes, how you can test Firefox’s most innovative new plans for creating the browser of the … Read more

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In addition to Non-Obvious Thinking, 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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