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5 Non-Obvious Megatrends Changing Our World In 2020

For the past ten years I have gone through an annual ritual of publishing a book about trends that describe our shifting culture and business environment. Over the past decade, my team and I have identified and written about well over 100 trends covering everything from the rise of the #metoo movement (a trend we … Read more

Can Kellogg’s Reinvent Froot Loops As A Lifestyle Brand?

Fruit Loops

I remember last year I was walking past some trendy retail stores in NY and I saw a few handbags with the Pan Am logo. Apparently there is a whole historical foundation and store featuring all kinds of retro products like t-shirts and travel kits. The airline may have died but the brand is alive. I … Read more

Why Netflix Uses Taste Communities Instead of Demographics

netflix

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

Why The NFL’s Newest Stadium Will Have $2 Hot Dogs and $5 Beer

In a league often defined by greed, with unscrupulous owners who are sometimes hated by their entire fan populations (like Daniel Snyder of the Redskins), it may come as a surprise that there are some who do care about more than the bottom line. Instead of requiring vendors to buy expensive sponsorships and then subsidize them with … Read more

IKEA Creates 72 Regional Versions Of Its Iconic Catalog … Here’s Why

This week IKEA will release its new 2018 catalog, and this timely piece looks at how a small internal army of hundreds of photographers, art directors, copywriters, proofreaders, prop masters, carpenters, photo retouchers, programmers and CGI specialists make the catalog globally relevant. From zooming in on kitchen photos (because Chinese kitchens are smaller than American … 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

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

Hasbro Saves Families, Amazon’s Uber Idea, CES 2017 and Marketing Lessons From Hatchimals

Given it is the end of the year, this week’s stories include several holiday themes, including an inside look at the PR strategy behind Hatchimals, a great strategic idea from Hasbro UK and an app designed to reduce food wastage. Other stories I selected this week include Amazon revealing its bold ambitions to transform the … 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

How Bernie Sanders Could Replace Trump, Nike’s Big Experiment and Why The Watch Industry Needs Women

The most hopeful news this week was the many new efforts to fight back against the disturbing rise of fake news sites and disreputable sources of information. Apart from this fight, there were stories this week about the bold economic policy of Indian Prime Minister Modi, Nike’s biggest retail experiment and the latest and greatest displays … Read more

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#1 WSJ & USA Today Bestselling Author

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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