Today’s leading global brands are coming
under threat from competitors in all directions. Disruption has become a new
buzz word signaling the end to business and consumer behavior as we know it. New
opportunities, stemming from changes in consumer behavior, are increasingly
being met by fast-growing insurgent brands, or even local businesses with a
closer connection to their customers.
The best disruptive
strategies do not spring from thin air. In fact, the most astute companies
watch a set of key signals in order to identify opportunities for renovation,
innovation, and disruption. These
industry leaders seek to understand what is changing, what is driving these
changes, and how they can be proactive in the face of an evolving environment.
Euromonitor has
identified five key macro drivers that shape tomorrow’s opportunities: shifting
economic power, technology, population change, environmental shifts and
pressures, and changing values. These drivers (and their foreseeable evolution)
represent undeniable truths about the world in which we will live and operate
tomorrow.
What will happen tomorrow?
Flowing from the key
macro drivers are megatrends: consumer reactions to the changes in the world
around them. They provide a framework to answer the
question, “What is happening?,” and more importantly, “What will happen
tomorrow?”. A megatrend is not a short-term fad, rather it represents a long-term,
fundamental shift in behavior that defines consumer markets. These long-term signals provide insight into
what consumers will want and need in the years ahead – from the macro level
down to the micro. For example, as we see environmental pressures rapidly impacting
availability of natural resources, consumers are choosing more sustainable
footprints and demanding more ethical practices from companies. Identifying, analyzing and acting on megatrends is essential for
success in consumer markets.
Megatrend analysis allows companies to build
a long-term strategy that is proactive, rather than reactive, making sense of
where they stand today, but also ensuring they have a plan to remain relevant
moving forward. Leaders harness these megatrends to identify pain points and react by
offering the right solution at the right time through renovation, innovation
and disruption.
Euromonitor International’s global
footprint, cross-industry view and internal expertise enables us to identify
and track megatrends. Through our own megatrend analysis, we have identified a comprehensive list of the 20 most influential megatrends set to
shape the world through 2030. From this list, we isolated the eight that
will have the furthest-reaching impact on industries and consumers through 2030.
These megatrends are:
- Experience
More: People are prioritiszing experiences over things in the pursuit
of happiness. Brands are leveraging the latest technology to be authentic,
local and immersive to find a key differentiator from their competitors. - Middle
Class Retreat: Middle class consumers are an important segment, so it is vital
for businesses to understand how the retreat of the middle class has brought
around long-lasting changes in behavior, values and priorities of the consumers
and what opportunities it could bring in the future. - Premiumization:
Consumers everywhere are spending more on the products and services that matter
most. As volume growth flattens (or even declines) in ageing developed markets,
premiumization will be a vital part of strategy for all brands. - Ethical
Living: Climate change and plastic pollution have grabbed the world’s
attention, raising consumers’ ethical standards and driving demand for
sustainable products. Meeting these standards is no longer optional for
companies and brands. - Shopping
Reinvented: Economic and technological shifts have rewritten the shopper
journey holistically. Today, shopping is a journey, the purpose of which is not
just buying, but relationship-building. - Connected
Consumers: Consumers are becoming increasingly connected. While connectivity
first spread through developed markets, the growth of affordable mobile
technology has enabled consumers in the developing world to come online as
well. - Healthy
Living: The adoption of a more holistic and preventative approach to
wellness encompassing spiritual and mental balance—alongside physical
health—means businesses can harness a wider spectrum of opportunities to help
consumers achieve their health and wellbeing goals. - Shifting
Market Frontiers: Changes in the global economy, population, technology and the
environment are all influencing global shifts, shaking up consumer markets and
opening new niches for companies to expand. In a
rapidly changing global environment, megatrend analysis is critical for
companies seeking to drive sustainable growth and remain relevant as competition
increases and new ideas disrupt entire industries.
To learn more about Euromonitor International’s megatrend
framework and the eight most influential megatrends for tomorrow, download our
free white paper “Megatrend
Analysis: Putting the Consumer at the Heart of Business.”
In addition to our megatrend framework and
content, Euromonitor International partners directly with clients to help to
quantify the current and forecasted impact of megatrends, prioritize which
megatrends and industry/category level trends will create the greatest
opportunities for disruption, and ideate the next steps towards growth.