Trends

Subversion Tactics

“Can you hear me now?” is an all-timer of a tagline. It ranks up there with the greats, like “Just do it” and “Think different.” Hearing it immediately brings to mind a campaign, a product and, most importantly, how that product outdoes its competitors. It’s a rhetorical question, a statement of differentiation, of preeminence. It … Continued

Trends

Ephemeral

Sepia photographs passed down from generation to generation are a thing of the past. We live in the age of Snapchat, where our recorded experiences are fleeting, made to disappear after just several seconds. So it follows naturally that the world we live in itself becomes more ephemeral. Experiences, advertisements, even buildings themselves are intentionally … Continued

Trends

Safety Nets

There is no shortage of doom and gloom when it comes to technology. The robots might revolt; the singularity could render humans irrelevant; the self-driving cars will ferry us into the ocean, one by one. But for every theory of technology going bad in the future, there are a dozen real-life examples of technology being … Continued

Trends

Better Business

There are many competing theories as to what a day-to-day office culture should look like. Some espouse a rigid, no frills atmosphere where work is king and everything else—conversation, coffee, camaraderie—takes a strict backseat. Others believe in a familial workplace. They prefer that employees are more than just 9 to 5 acquaintances, but, dare I … Continued

Trends

Contextual Omnipresence

Some brands are prone to bombardment. They buy up massive amounts of advertising space with zero strategic underpinning. Quite simply, it’s quantity over quality. For the biggest brands, this approach can work—ubiquity isn’t a bad thing, because they can afford it. For the great majority of brands, however, a system like this is both unwise … Continued

Trends

Beneficial Intelligence

Isaac Asimov gave robots three laws. Like so many both before and after him, he expected the very worst from artificial intelligence. AI would be the downfall of humanity. Humans, hubristic to the very last, would create robots in their own image—only too much so. Designed to help, these creations would ultimately destroy their architects. … Continued

Trends

Perspective Shifts

You’ve been there before. We all have. That nice pair of shoes beckons to you from the end of the rack. These might be the ones. They’ll be as perfect for work as they will for a night out. You approach them, pick the left one up. This is it. This is the pair. You … Continued

Trends

Virtual Actualization

Oculus Rift, the new great hope for the future of virtual reality, shipped its first batch of headsets to consumers on Monday. I, along with millions of others, am excited to finally have this thrilling, near-boundless technology at my fingertips. (Though I haven’t yet ordered my Rift—the price tag sits just a bit too high … Continued

Trends

Two-Way Transparency

Several times a week, I stop by Pret A Manger for a pre-work cup of coffee. I’ve been doing this for a year now, so I know Nico, Roxana, James and Erin all pretty well. And they know me, too. We’re at that level of familiarity that’s past just talking about the weather but still … Continued

Trends

Crowd-Express

Few phrases are filled with such contention as the customer is always right. The customer may be right, yes, but it’s also possible that the customer is completely wrong. And for a brand to suspend disbelief and pretend that the customer is always right does little good to anyone. But we’re looking at it all … Continued