The Latest Trends

Written by Marian Salzman Written by Markus Spiske

Marian Salzman, one of the world’s leading trend spotters and Senior Vice President for Global Communications at Philip Morris International, shares her insights into three major trends that will steal the limelight throughout the next year. The Internet of Things will widen its reach (a fact corroborated just recently by CES 2020’s show of self-driving cars and intruderspotting home robots), plastic-free solutions will exponentially increase and the power of today’s youth will continue to inspire and impress.

The constant in the years during which I have been spotting and compiling trends is the seemingly inexorable push in the direction of fundamental change and even chaos. Chaos is most definitely feeling like the new normal.

Has every generation felt so wholly unmoored and jittery about what’s next? Looking back over history, one can certainly imagine the huge uncertainty that would have been kicked up by the Industrial Revolution – not to mention two world wars – but the chaos of today seems somehow more pervasive. Maybe that’s because we’re dealing with the increasing consequences of climate change. Or the fact that we’re simply far more aware of every horror and hiccup taking place across the globe.

To mark the new decade, I delved into 20 global, human trends, three of which are touched on here, which I believe will characterise the coming months and years.

Firstly, the Internet of Things will pervade more and more of daily life. Humans are predisposed to anthropomorphise objects – especially interactive ones that perform a task. So, when tech comes up with responsive gadgets that people can relate to, they’re tapping into basic human nature. With more than 100 million Alexa devices sold, along with competitors such as Apple’s HomePod and Google Assistant, it’s no exaggeration to say there are already people who interact more with their smart speakers than with family members.

We’re in the early days of a new stage in our relationships with artificial intelligence. As developers figure out how to make our smart devices ever more personable, it doesn’t take a soothsayer to recognise that a global population increasingly suffering from loneliness and disconnectedness will find solutions of a sort in these gadgets. How will those solutions affect our social fabric and human-to-human relationships? Will the eventual perfection of AI make us less willing to accept human imperfections? Stay tuned.

Secondly, as consumers clamour for accountability when it comes to plastic, businesses are starting to listen. Earlier this year, Marks & Spencer launched a plasticfree packaging approach for fruits and vegetables to give consumers the option to reduce their waste. Taking the concept even further are companies that are creating biodegradable, natural packaging solutions from vegetables themselves. In Southern California, a cannabis company is creating packaging from plastics recoveredfrom the ocean. In India, a start-up is building bricks from plastic waste. Big brands are taking action too: Colgate has released a recyclable toothpaste tube, and Heineken UK is ditching the plastic rings from its multi-packs. More brands will tap into technology and are developing science to meet consumer demand for better sustainability in both products and packaging.

And thirdly, we will continue to see the powerful impact of the new generation. Greta Thunberg, at 17 years old, is a media and political giant. Barely a year after starting her lone strike for the climate in Stockholm, she was giving world political leaders in Davos a stern dressing down. Thunberg is emblematic of a new generation – and a new form – of cause activists who have grown up in a world where bullies feel free to intimidate people of any age both online and offline. These young activists have grown far thicker skin thanmost adults possess, and they’ve shown time and again that they won’t be shut up or shut down.

Greta, Malala Yousafzai and students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in the US are amongst a crop of prominent young activists advocating for causes ranging from human rights to climate action, water access and deforestation. What is notable about them, aside from their youth and courage, is the way they are choosing to fight. They have proved masterful in their use of social media. And – unlike most of their adult counterparts – they understand the value of humour, reason and even gentleness over anger and finger-pointing. They recognise that progress relies on dialogue and shared understanding and that neither is fostered by shouting.

The calm and collaborative approach we’re seeing from Thunberg, Yousafzai and other young activists fills me with optimism. They’re showing older generations that it’s possible and preferable to be committed, focused and powerful without losing sight of their own humanity or anyone else’s. In this age of chaos and rage, that’s a hopeful lesson to learn from the rising generation.

Marian Salzman

Marian Salzman is Senior Vice President, Global Communications at Philip Morris International. She is forging alliances with NGOs, advocacy groups and regulators as PMI embarks on its journey to a smoke-free future. Before joining PMI in 2018, Marian was CEO of Havas PR North America for nearly a decade, CMO at both Porter Novelli and JWT Worldwide and CSO at Euro RSCG Worldwide (Havas Creative). She is one of the world’s top five trend spotters, was named as one of Business Insider’s 25 Most Powerful PR People and is author of Chaos: The New Normal, her annual trends report for 2020.