We live in an era of constant change, where cultural shifts make a massive financial impact on sales, marketing and creative departments. Innovation is key, and survival increasingly rests on the whim of the consumer.

To identify what will or won’t work in tomorrow’s marketplace, brands need to get under the skin of their customers, to comprehend the ‘why’ as well as the ‘how’ of change. Only by understanding attitudinal change, can a brand successfully predict future demands and behaviours.

Today’s teens are hugely different to Generation X or the Baby Boomers. Like Saffy from Absolutely Fabulous, many are reacting against the hedonism and youthful ‘cool’ of their parents and older siblings, exhibiting more ‘adult’ traits than their elders.

They are increasingly drawn to moral certainties and the assurance of tradition. Contrary to tabloid headlines, they’re moving away from drink, drugs and casual sex, and towards community, principled life strategies and ‘old fashioned’ leisure pursuits. (Email for more details)

Jobs are increasingly sedentary and repetitive. We can find, buy and play anything with one button. Bored with the ease and sterility of 21st Century living, we seek opportunities to ‘feel’ something again.

Gonzo videos of new extreme sports are rife: from ghost riding to Tube surfing. Role-play and Nintendo Wii let us ’live’ extreme lives. We demand novelty: from furniture to food. Underground sex and violence abounds: happy slapping, dog fighting, anger bars, autopsy gaming, Burlesque. (Email for more details)

The need for ownership is declining, as consumers consider the advantages of impermanence and on-demand living. A growing experimentalism sees us grazing, trying on different styles with increasing frequency.

Renting and lodging are increasing. Role-play gamers ‘rent’ lives. We rent libraries of films and music from service providers. Sites like eBay make resale and trading up the new Fast Fashion. Apple TV and the Sony Reader herald the start of non-broadcast TV and ‘ebook-ers’. (Email for more details)

Communalising, Wiki World, Cry For Help and Niche Networking. Switching Off, Choice Fatigue and Future Fear. Braining Up, Expert Alert and Self-Diagnosis. Post Ravers, MPShes and The Punk Pound. Nu Rave, Gypsy Punk and Big ‘80s.

Connoisservice, New Dignity, Bonding, Unibrow and Micro-Sourcing. Home Sweet Home, Craft, Boomer Backlash and Nu Austerity. Local Heroes, Back to Nature and the Folk Revival. Nitrous Oxide, Serious Gaming, Misery Chic, Coasting, Re.Cycling, Metroviagrals, Blobjects, Art Attack and Masstige. (Email for more details)