The Trendwatching seminar held on August 27, 2015, at the Sydney Museum of Contemporary Art focused on 10 macro trends influencing consumer behavior in Australia, emphasizing the need for businesses to adapt to rising consumer expectations. Key insights highlighted trends like beneficial intelligence, the internet of shared things, and instant skills, showcasing how brands can utilize technology and consumer insights to innovate and enhance their offerings. The seminar underscored the importance of aligning brand values with customer expectations to foster deeper consumer connections and drive success.

1. Trendwatching Seminar Highlights
Sydney Museum of Contemporary Art
August 2015

2. 2
Trendwatching Seminar Highlights
Conference Details
2015 Trendwatching Seminar
27 August 2015
Sydney Museum of Contempory Arts
http://live.trendwatching.com/sydney/
Trends are about unlocking new ways to serve basic human needs. The world
changes, humans don’t. ” – Henry Mason, Managing Director, Trendwatching
Members of the ACRS attended the all-day event which spoke about 10 macro trends that were now influencing
consumer behaviour across multiple industries in Australia. The seminar addressed rapidly rising consumer
expectations, how the trends were reshaping consumers expectations and how these successful trends were simply
satisfying basic human needs. Insight was given on how retailers and businesses could interpret the macro trends to
apply and innovate their own their own vision, products or services, marketing or campaigns, and business models.
The following pages highlight the key insights with examples where relevant.
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Conference Details

3. 3
10 Trends for Now
Consumers will embrace digital services that use
contextual understanding and intelligent decisions to
make their lives easier, faster and more fun.
“65% of consumers say brands should take a leading
role in supporting individual happiness.” Edelman, April
2015
This trend is about digital services making intelligent
decisions and contextual understanding to solve real
human problems.
1. Beneficial Intelligence

4. 4
10 Trends for Now
The Internet of Things meets the Sharing Economy.
That means smart devices and digital services that help
users share physical resources.
“36% of consumers cite ‘lack of perceived value’ as the
main barrier to purchase for in-home IoT devices.”
AcquityGroup, August 2014
The internet of things is unlocking new ways for the
sharing economy to operate. This is unlocking the
promise of the Sharing Economy: a truly revolutionised
relationship with the physical resources around us.
This is the internet of shared things.
2. Internet of Shared Things

5. 5
10 Trends for Now
In 2016, enlightened consumers – fresh from Uber and
Airbnb – will embrace brands and organizations that
want to rate them.
Turn the tables back on consumers and cause them to
submit to being rated and reviewed. Yes, this is about
rating customers for their behaviour, demeanour,
reliability, etc. P2P services such as Uber, where
customers are rated by their drivers, have primed
consumers to realize that when they are rated this can
result in a better experience for everyone.
3. Two-Way Transparency

6. 6
10 Trends for Now
One powerful way to show customers that your brand’s
values align with theirs? Go public with your internal
culture. But first, make sure you’re proud of it!
Customers want to feel served and thought about. They
also want to feel good about themselves as people.
That means consuming from brands whose values align
with their own. That’s what this trend is about.
4. Insider Trading

7. 7
10 Trends for Now
In a world in which power has shifted decisively to the
consumer, one counter-intuitive status play in 2016?
Public, loud, even theatrical displays of devotion to a
chosen brand.
But in an environment where the latest and highest in
consumer status is about a rejection of consumerism,
we’re seeing that some consumers are pushing beyond
this by embracing brand fandom in a playful way. These
are BRAND FANATICS.
5. Brand Fanatics

8. 8
10 Trends for Now
Smart brands are finding new ways to leverage armies
of connected customers to supercharge their customer
service.
Where is the opportunity in all this for you as brands and
businesses? We’re seeing brand bringing together and
using networks of peers – often their superfan
customers – to supercharge customer service.
6. Peer Armies

9. 9
10 Trends for Now
There are two Asia-specific consumer trends around
digital and social.
MESSAGING CONTROL: Brands are reaching the
masses through messaging apps, going beyond
superficial engagement and instead providing real,
meaningful lifestyle solutions.
SOCIAL PASSPORTS: Consumers are demanding to
get more value out of their social networks – from
getting deals based on social following to using social
media profiles to manage bank accounts.
7. Asian Futures

10. 10
10 Trends for Now
In a consumer arena in which status is ever-more about
‘who I am’ rather than ‘what I have’, customers will
embrace services that remove all barriers to producing
amazing output.
Instant skills is about making it easier, or effortless, for
consumers to gain a new skill, to produce expert-level
output.
8. Instant Skills

11. 11
10 Trends for Now
Consumers are embracing services – digital and
physical – that make it effortless to do good in the world.
“63% of consumers feel guilty when they do something
that’s not environmentally friendly.” GfK, April 2015
Consumers want to feel good about themselves – and
that means consuming from brands that align with their
values. What’s next in 2016? Consumers will embrace
services that allow them to do good, effortlessly.
9. Lazy Virtue

12. 12
10 Trends for Now
The (only?) future for big brands? They should embrace
their scale, resources and reach and seek
REDEMPTION by doing the things no one else can.
Big brands have big capabilities. They have global scale
and reach, and vast resources. They should use these
to do things that no startup can do. Vast resources and
global reach and scale mean the capacity to have a
massive positive impact, if big brands would only step
up and play that role.
10. Big Brand Redemption

13. ACRS
Department of Marketing
Faculty of Business & Economics
Monash University
Level 6, Building S
26 Sir John Monash Drive
Caulfield East, VIC 3145
T. +61 3 9903 2455
E. acrs@monash.edu
buseco.monash.edu/centres/acrs

14. Presentation summaries are sourced from
http://live.trendwatching.com/sydney/
Cover image is personally sourced.