Hybridization

Trend - Established food brands are partnering with candle companies to venture into the home goods space. Offering decadent scents and premium ingredients, these collaborations aim to inject the brand's identity into everyday life, providing consumers with a new way to experience its products.

Insight - Consumers often seek novelty in their purchases, gravitating to exclusivity and the opportunity to engage with brands in a fresh, unique way. Brands are responding by teaming up with leaders in adjacent industries, leveraging their shared reputations to attract consumers drawn to their designs or signature scents. Leveraging partnerships allows brands to expand into unconventional sectors, connecting them with consumers who may not typically interact with their products in the grocery store.

Trend - Brands in the more designer end of the tech spectrum are releasing products with stretchable and malleable displays. These use AMOLED technology and are built in such a way that they can be twisted and bent without breaking or stopping the image from being displayed.

Insight - Businesses and startups with more niche product ideas often run into barriers when trying to bring a concept product to reality. These barriers can include cost, scale, or simply the feasibility of the product in general. Many such products in the technology space are limited due to physical limitations regarding battery sizes or screen sizes, amongst other potential issues. In order to address these concerns, designer tech brands are creating malleable displays for unique product ideas.

Trend - Retailers and grocers are testing fully automated locations to lower costs. By saving on the many complications associated with labor, these retailers are able to offer reduced prices for the benefit of the consumer. These often begin as solo test locations before expanding based on demand.

Insight - Lower-income consumers are the most affected by the continued rise in grocery prices year-over-year. However, even middle class consumers are feeling a notable impact to their finances caused by rising prices. In turn, retailers are facing leftover stock, particularly in the produce and perishables sections, leading to brands investing in ways to bring costs down for consumers. One such way is through the use of AI-based employee-free store locations.

Trend - Cookbook stores now operate as community-centric “third spaces” to help consumers bond over the culinary arts through events like cooking classes and book signings. This speaks to a deepening interest in food as more than sustenance; it is now a means of social engagement and personal expression.

Insight - Many consumers face challenges finding spaces to build friendships and meaningful connections outside their professional and digital networks. Transforming cookbook stores into collaborative hubs creates a welcoming, offline environment where food enthusiasts can connect and share their love of the culinary arts in an intimate space. Businesses that tap into the demand for community can foster lasting loyalty by creating spaces where consumers feel free to express their authentic selves.

Trend - Gaming furniture brands are releasing desks with built-in custom computer cases. These compartments reduce cable clutter, improve aesthetics, and further protect the computer from external damage, as they cannot be knocked over or dented.

Insight - While building a custom computer was a hobby previously attributed to the gaming community, it has now become the norm for many more types of consumers, such as content creators, celebrities, professional editors, and more. With such a large market of consumers into DIY computers, brands are looking to innovate products to stand out from competitors. One such innovation targets the traditional custom computer case, instead merging both the case and desk in one with unique designs.

Trend - Brands from various industries, including non-gaming related ones, are collaborating with gaming hardware manufacturers on co-branded controllers. These controllers offer mutually-beneficial advertising for brands, while the unique designs function as statement pieces for the consumers.

Insight - Individuality and self-expression is a core priority for humans in general. Consumers do not want to have exactly what everyone else has, and instead are more likely to purchase products that reflect their own values or interests. This can materialize in the form of clothing and home decor, but also in terms of accessory and technology choices, with even earphones being a form of self-expression. To offer more expression options for gamers, brands are releasing co-branded game controllers.

Trend - Industry-leading gaming brands are releasing game consoles devoid of disc drives in favor of all-digital downloads. By foregoing the disc drive, brands can offer consoles at reduced prices, while game prices themselves can be lowered by not needing to mass-produce and distribute physical copies.

Insight - One of the largest reasons why a modern gamer may gravitate toward a console rather than a computer is due to convenience and simplicity. Game consoles are plug-and-play experiences that require no tinkering. Additionally, these consumers are drawn to the cost-effectiveness of consoles. Gaming brands are taking into account the priorities of convenience and cost-effectiveness and offering devices with lower prices and free of disc drives to provide savings and simplicity.

Trend - Software companies in the gaming space are launching marketplaces designed for game developers. These marketplaces offer assets, such as 3D character models, audio tracks, or maps, to be purchased and licensed for use by other developers, aiming to streamline and decentralize game development.

Insight - Novice game developers could encounter any number of issues when entering the space based on their prior expertise. For example, those with an artistic background may have no trouble drawing their character models and maps, but may struggle with music or 3D animations, while the inverse may be true for another developer. In order to appeal to these developers and alleviate stress where it may arise, gaming software brands are launching marketplaces with licensable assets.

Trend - Restaurants are offering Halloween-themed meals and items with unique appeal. These items often come at discounted prices to help parents and children, while they feature items with spooky-themed designs to enhance Halloween celebrations. These meals are designed to be positive experiences for fans.

Insight - In North America, Halloween is one of children's favorite holidays due to fun decorations, costumes, and free candy. However, Halloween has evolved to be more than simply a day-of trick-or-treating celebration, with many businesses offering celebratory items as early as a month before the day itself. Consumers who enjoy Halloween celebrations gravitate toward businesses that offer such items to engage with the holiday, build excitement, and save money for their families.

Trend - Audio hardware manufacturers are designing high-end turntables that blend modern conveniences with the analog audio quality of turntables. These premium devices are also designed with unique aesthetics to serve as a design piece as much as a functional piece of audio technology.

Insight - Audio professionals and audiophile hobbyists alike typically have higher standards than the norm when it comes to selecting technology. Important factors often include frequency ranges of the audio, compatibility with different forms of media, the overall quality of the components, and more. In order to appeal to these consumers, while offering devices that are an experience as much as a functional piece of technology, brands are launching premium turntables for higher-income consumers.