From everlasting love to love-of-the-moment: Long-term customer loyalty will be substituted by a series of short-term customer delight moments as more and more consumers will embrace the here and now. With a plethora of options to choose from, consumers will move away from being committed to a single brand to trying out the next new one.

Segmentation will be archaic: Customer segmentation will give way to consumer personas emanating from real time experiential data. Businesses will use these fresh-off-the-oven insights to offer customised solutions to consumers. In addition, personalities will be more important than demographics. And personas will no longer be just about stable characteristics, but also about one’s behaviour, mood and feeling in the current context, with respect to a specific category.

It works great, but does it look great? Quality and standards will be expected as hygiene factors from brands, irrespective of the category. The differentiation will emanate from design and aesthetics. Consumers today don’t just want products and services that work, but want them beautifully packaged, presented in an environment that attracts, and rendered in a way that leaves the senses refreshed, even surprised.

Unlocking value will be an ongoing business rhythm: New funding mechanisms and business models, digital innovations and new perceptions of value will be making pricing very fluid and amorphous. Brands will have to constantly re-position their offerings to unlock new surplus and shift perception of value.

Content-hungry consumer here to stay: Content will get commoditised as the consumer’s need for voracious appetite for information will only grow. Consumer decision making will be based on discovering, reading, checking, comparing, questioning, more than ever before. Brands will have to make every detail available to make decision-making transparent/informed.

Goodbye to dull company: Boring brands and business will be shunned by consumers. The two most desirable virtues will be playful and helpful brands and businesses. Consumers will no longer be okay with boring brands for company. They would be attracted to brands that entertain, are light-hearted and mischievous. Or brands that add real value, help them achieve their goals, whims and fancies, give them solutions that they themselves can’t/don’t have the time for.

Future has a new equation: The future core of business will be derived from the amalgamation of Design + Tech+ Real time data algorithms + Insights. Consumers will demand that the combination of the four is used to create powerful and smart products and services for pockets, wallets, mailboxes, and more.

Say hello to the internet of services: The ‘online marketplace’ model will shift from ‘products’ to ‘services’. The consumer will embrace the most traditional of services coming from the web. All kinds of services, from beauty, health and finance to plumbers and shoe-repairers will aggregate in the ‘internet of services’ model.

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