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In a world where we spend a lot of time worry about disruptions that we can’t see coming, this whole week should be a reminder that there are some disruptions we clearly know are coming. So when they do happen, being unprepared is no one’s fault but your own.
I really wish I was in the room when they presented the insight behind this campaign to Hasbro. It’s bold, clever and deep in a way you don’t expect marketing to be.
“Futurists labor over questions about the nature of Android consciousness and empathy. Afrofuturists ask how race might be wired into Android consciousness and whether the android world might be as divided as ours is.” I admit, before reading this article on Afrofuturism from WIRED, I hadn’t considered some of these questions related to the future — … Read more
For the past ten years I’ve been a collector of innovative ideas. When I write about them and interview the people behind them, I know they are far ahead of their industry. Over the past month as our entire culture has been upended by the arrival of the COVID-19 virus, one of positive side effects … Read more
Can a Super Bowl ad that costs nearly $6 million be worth it? That’s a question worth debating if you’re in marketing, so let’s take a look at some of the Super Bowl marketing strategies behind the ads from this year’s big game and see which ones were the biggest winners and losers. For longtime … Read more
This past weekend the Sunday Review from the New York Times declared the past ten years as the “Decade of Mistrust” and suggested that “Americans learned that they shouldn’t believe anyone or anything.” This rise in mistrust seems connected to the rise of bullshit too – and so it felt like a fitting theme for my first … Read more
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
There is a moment during a show at the Austin City Limits where Ed Sheeran finally starts to perform his biggest hit at the time: Shape of You. About 10 seconds into the performance, he breaks a guitar string. Watching what he does next is a master class in stage presence, preparation and perhaps the … Read more
Why do some branded April Fools Day jokes work while others fall flat?
There was a time when people used to think the waiting list for season tickets to Redskins games took decades to clear. Then the team finally admitted those numbers were inflated and made season tickets available again last year. The idea of a show/venue being “sold out” is one of the most basic marketing techniques in entertainment … … Read more
Non-Obvious is my #1 Wall Street Journal bestselling book about how to see what others miss and anticipate the future.
Rohit Bhargava is a trend curator, founder of the Non-Obvious Company and the 3-time Wall Street Journal bestselling author of eight books.
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Rohit is the author of 8 books on trends, the future of business, building a more human brand with storytelling and how to create a more diverse and inclusive world.
