Future Imagined

This week, we're revisiting one of our favorite episodes from Season 2 of the show, in which Jo Lepore, Global Foresight Lead for North America, helps us explore youth values, behaviors, and tensions that will likely shape our future. What are the challenges and drivers of Gen Z, and how do they differ from previous generations?

Climate change, social issues, mental health, and real action to create change are common themes that are important to today’s youth. In this episode, Mark Adams (SVP, VICE) talks about the impact-driven optimism, or “willfulness” of Gen Z. MaryLeigh Bliss (VP Content, YPulse) shares research on a new kind of activism of our youth, and Katy Guan (Group Planning Director, BBDO Shanghai) tells us how youth in China engage in online movements to support or boycott brands due to their increasing social responsibility to support local and rural areas.

So how should brands weigh in on social issues that Gen Z cares about? Join us as we look past the hype to get closer to understanding what’s truly motivating this impactful generation.

———

All views are those of the podcast hosts and guests only and do not necessarily reflect the views of their employer(s).

With more than half of the world’s population living in cities like New Delhi, Mexico City, Beijing, São Paulo, and Kuala Lumpur, we’re taking a look at what’s driving the future of food in emerging markets.

Taking us on a journey of future food trends is our host, Sandeep Das, Global Foresight Lead, Emerging Markets at Mars Wrigley. Joining him are Blas Maquivar, President, Global Emerging Markets at Mars Wrigley, Food Futurist Tony Hunter, and Alki Manias, Executive Vice President of the VR simulations provider StoreLab.

In this episode, we discuss how emerging markets will explode in the next few decades and what that means for FMCG. To do that, we explore current consumer behaviors, the recent growth in e-commerce, and issues like sustainability that are increasingly important to younger generations.

What will the food industry look like in 2050? How will retailers provide a more experiential approach to the shopping experience as economies begin to boom and technology advances? Join us as we get curious about the future nuances and opportunities for this massive area of the world.

———

All views are those of the podcast hosts and guests only and do not necessarily reflect the views of their employer(s).

Today, we’re taking you higher, up to the macro themes influencing our world.

Join our host, global foresight leader Jo Lepore as she explores higher-level contextual themes through the cultural, technological and political macro forces.

Joining her are two respected experts in futurism: renowned futurist for the Fortune 200 and highly regarded original thinker Faith Popcorn – founder and CEO of BrainReserve. Alongside history, geo-politics and disruptive technology thought leader Jake Sotiriadis – CEO at Global Futures Advisory Group and Director of Operations and Engagement for the National Intelligence University.

Together, they take us from history to parallel universes, and everything in between that’s going to disrupt modern-day businesses. In better understanding the macro futures likely to play out in all our futures, we must make room to think critically, to consider uncomfortable alternatives and to embrace complexity.

———

All views are those of the podcast hosts and guests only and do not necessarily reflect the views of their employer(s).

When you’re bored or frustrated, do you grab a snack? Scroll through your phone? In this episode, we discuss the foundational drivers of our human needs, the digital retail evolution, and how both of those things are changing our impulse behavior.

Co-hosts Jo Lepore and Sophie Briercliffe, Global Foresight Leads for North America and Europe, explore the future of impulse purchases and consumption with two experts on the topic - Hunter Thurman, President of neuroscience led research firm Alpha-Diver, and James Mills, Global VP of Sales for impulse leaders Mars Wrigley.

As change in our world accelerates, how can we better understand those core human motivations around immediate satisfaction that remain the same? Join us as we get curious about how retailers, brands and researchers are adapting to new impulse opportunities.

———

All views are those of the podcast hosts and guests only and do not necessarily reflect the views of their employer(s).

As we close out Season 2 of the podcast, we’re diving into how technology has shaped the way brands acknowledge and cater to the uniqueness of each customer journey through immersive experiences.

Join our host Jo Lepore, Global Foresight Lead for North America, as she explores how brands might be telling stories in the future while connecting with our imaginations at the same time.

She’s invited top experts Adam Walker, Executive Director, Consumer Foresight & Market Exploration at The Walt Disney Company, Will Hall, Chief Creative Officer at RAIN, and Matt Klein, Director of Strategy at sparks & honey to discuss trends, challenges and possibilities for brands to emotionally connect with consumers.

How do brands create what people can only imagine? Get curious with us about the uses of tech to enhance, detract or motivate our experiences in the future.

———

All views are those of the podcast hosts and guests only and do not necessarily reflect the views of their employer(s).