Ford Trend Report 2014

Ford’s 10 trends expected to influence consumers and brands in the coming year include:

   1.    Innovation’s Quiet Riot: Fast-paced and disruptive innovation is becoming increasingly institutionalized and ubiquitous – fundamentally changing the way consumers work, play and communicate

   2.    Old School: Consumers are romanticizing how things used to be, finding comfort and connection in products, brands and experiences that evoke nostalgia

   3.    Meaningful vs. the Middle Man: Seeking more intimate connections with retailers and service providers, consumers are hunting for stories of identity and meaning in their products and services

   4.    Statusphere: Across the globe, consumers are broadening the ways they display their wealth – sometimes it screams, sometimes it whispers – upending traditional expressions of status and influence

   5.    Vying for Validation: In a world of hyper-self-expression, chronic public journaling and other forms of digital expression, consumers are creating a public self that may need validation even more than their authentic self

   6.    Fear of Missing Out/Joy of Missing Out: A tug of war is emerging as the traditional FOMO is challenged by the JOMO. On one end, consumers are persevering to take advantage of everything at their disposal. On the other, they are mindful of the need to focus on, and enjoy, what matters most

   7.    Micro Moments: With so much information at our fingertips, downtime has given way to filling every moment with bite-sized chunks of information, education and entertainment – seemingly packing our lives with productivity

   8.    Myth of Multitasking: In an increasingly screen-saturated, multitasking modern world, more and more evidence is emerging to suggest that when we do everything at once, we sacrifice the quality – and often safety – of each thing we do

   9.    Female Frontier: Profiles of women have reached new prominence; demographic shifts are changing household dynamics and definitions. Together, women and men will redefine roles and responsibilities in 2014

   10.    Sustainability Blues: The world has been fixated on going green, and now the attention is shifting beyond recycling and eco-chic living to a growing concern for the power and preciousness of the planet’s water

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