Trends for 2019: Offers need sustainable benefits, otherwise they risk being discarded
Consumers, politicians and interest groups are more critical than ever of products and services. The data scandals, environmental damage and other events of 2018 are partly responsible for this. Offers that promise hardly any sustainable benefit are threatened with being discarded.
Offers without sustainable benefits are in danger of being swept away: This is what Accenture and Fjord, the innovation and design consultancy of Accenture Interactive, describe in the "Fjord Trends 2019" report. By this, the study authors mean the fact that people are increasingly beginning to question things that have come into being in the course of rapid digitization. Particularly under criticism are resource guzzlers - offerings whose production and use demand a high degree of time, attention, personal data and natural goods. "For years, we've surrounded ourselves with more and more new services and devices," says Christoph Loeffler, Fjord's managing director for German-speaking countries. "Now the shine of the new is fading and some of the negative consequences of digitalization are becoming visible. People and companies have developed different ideas of real benefits and added value. We are in for a spring cleaning where consumers will decide what actually benefits themselves, society and the environment. The new challenge for companies, designers and developers is to put people back at the center of innovations."
Trends for 2019: Sustainability is the trump card
The search for sustainable value and long-term relevance of offerings is reflected in seven innovation, design and digital trends:
- Silence is golden. People are increasingly resisting the flood of digital messages. Politicians and employers are recognizing the increasing health risks of social media and constant accessibility. Some technology companies already offer mindfulness apps for their own products. Companies need to respect the growing group of consumers who are erecting barriers between themselves and the digital world. They should send fewer and more relevant messages, and design products and services that better manage their users' attention.
- Sustainability? Non-negotiable. Crop losses and low water levels have also drastically demonstrated the consequences of climate change to people in this country. Microplastics have become a global problem, and in many countries politicians are taking action against the throwaway culture. Individuals feel they have a greater duty than ever to take countermeasures. Companies need to focus their business on circular economy and integrate sustainability into their products and services. Consumers are moving from the end of the supply chain to the middle. To do this, companies must make refilling or returning products a similar experience to buying them.
- Data minimalism. The debate about the use and misuse of data has resulted in people valuing their personal data more highly than companies. They have increasingly strong reservations about sharing their data with companies. Companies should therefore create offers that make do with a minimum amount of data. They also need to educate consumers in the simplest possible way about what data they collect, what they do with it, and what is in it for the individual.
- From car to "A to B". Inadequate regulation and a lack of planning have led to rampant traffic and transportation services in cities. Public and private providers bustle about, the volume of traffic increases, and individuals lack an overview. Transport providers should think less in terms of means of transport and more in terms of the best way to get people and things from point A to point B. Companies from outside the industry will create their own mobility offerings for customers in their core business. Both require an ecosystem that connects all offerings and is aligned with people's mobility needs.
- The personalization trap. Today, more people than ever are making their voices heard in public. Companies are already taking many of these voices into account in their offerings. But with the increasingly individualized approach, consumers' expectations of personalized offers are rising. As a result, companies increasingly run the risk of not meeting needs precisely and thus unintentionally excluding certain groups. Companies will solve this dilemma in the medium term with artificial intelligence (AI). In order not to lose any consumers until then, they should use behavioral research methods and so-called mindsets, and not rely solely on demographic data.
- The vastness of space. Digitization is changing spaces. Retail stores will get a second, digital layer that makes it as easy for customers to pick out, try out and buy as it is in online retail. Companies will adapt workspaces to the agile, more flexible way of working that digitization brings, which many people now expect.
- Synthetic Realities. Deepfakes and deceptively real voice simulators are challenging our understanding of truth and authenticity. That something is authentic will be more important than ever to consumers in 2019. Companies need to prepare themselves in case they fall victim to a fake. At the same time, they should explore where they can profitably use synthetic realities, for example in entertainment and for simulating medical problems.
Work collaboratively
"Technologies like VR or AI will soon make our everyday lives noticeably easier," says Hartmut Heinrich, Group Director Switzerland at Fjord. "To truly position themselves for the future, companies must work collaboratively across their silos and create new cultures that allow them to think from the customer. This is the only way to turn complex systems into simple and elegant services."
