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In our eighth annual forecast of trends for the near future, new technology continues to take center stage. Many of our trends reflect how businesses are driving, leveraging or counteracting its omnipresence in our lives, and how consumers are responding to its pull. We also put a spotlight on health, examining, in two separate trends, the rising awareness around the impact of stress and happiness on our overall well-being and how businesses are addressing it.

JWT’s 10 Trends for 2013 report is the result of quantitative, qualitative and desk research conducted by JWTIntelligence throughout the year and specifically for this report.

Trends don’t happen in isolation. They tend to intersect and work in tandem with each other. And many are extensions or outgrowths of trends we formerly spotted; after all, trends with real significance can’t be assigned to just one calendar year. The trends explored here, which we believe have significant weight and momentum, indicate shifts that are likely to be with us for a while.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

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EXAMPLE: Spacious, an organization in Washington, D.C., champions the idea of adult play and has sponsored events such as an “adult recess.”

Adults will increasingly adopt for themselves the revitalized idea that kids should have plenty of unstructured play to balance out today’s plethora of organized and tech-based activities. In an age when people feel they can’t spare time for pursuits that don’t have specific goals attached, there will be a growing realization that unstructured time begets more imagination, creativity and innovation—all competitive advantages.

PLAY AS A COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE1

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EXAMPLE: Recognizing that the drive to succeed for white-collar workers in Chinese megacities has led to intense pressure, The North Face created a campaign urging people to escape—if only for a weekend—to nature.

While life has always been filled with stressors big and small, these are mounting and multiplying: We’re entering the era of super stress. And as stress gets more widely recognized as both a serious medical concern and rising cost issue, governments, employers and brands alike will need to ramp up efforts to help prevent and reduce it.

THE SUPER STRESS ERA2

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EXAMPLE: Designed for skiers and snowboarders, Oakley’s new Airwave goggles use GPS sensors, Bluetooth and a display so that skiers can see their speed, location, altitude and distance traveled, and also read text messages or emails on the screen.

Everyday objects are evolving into tech-infused smart devices with augmented functionality. As more ordinary items become interactive, intelligent objects, our interactions with them will get more interesting, enjoyable and useful.

INTELLIGENT OBJECTS3

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EXAMPLE: As a part of its “Know Me” program, British Airways relies on a database of passenger info it gathered from many sources over several years to give highly personalized service to its VIP frequent flyers.

As data analysis becomes more cost efficient, the science gets more sophisticated and consumers generate more measurable data than ever, brands will increasingly be able to predict customer behavior, needs or wants—and tailor offers and communications very precisely.

PREDICTIVE PERSONALIZATION4

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EXAMPLE: A commercial from Indian telecom Idea Cellular reflects the notion that a mobile number can serve not only as an identifier but as an equalizer: A group of men having an argument approach the head of their town council, who declares that to end name-calling and fighting over caste status, people will be identified by their mobile number.

Our smartphones are evolving to become wallets, keys, health consultants and more. Soon they’ll become de facto fingerprints, our identity all in one place.

THE MOBILE FINGERPRINT5

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EXAMPLE: Dunkin’ Donuts installed a technology in buses around Seoul that released coffee aromas whenever the brand’s jingle was played.

In a digital world, where more of life is virtual and online, we’ll place a premium on sensory stimulation. Marketers will look for more ways to engage the senses—and as they amp up the stimuli, consumers will come to expect ever more potent products and experiences.

SENSORY EXPLOSION6

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EXAMPLE: During the 2012 holiday shopping period, Mattel and Walmart Canada created a “virtual pop-up toy store” in Toronto’s underground walkway, featuring two walls of 3D toy images with QR codes that consumers could scan with their phones to purchase.

Shopping is shifting from an activity that takes place in physical stores or online to a value exchange that can play out in multiple new and novel ways. Since almost anything can be a retail channel, thanks largely to mobile technology, brands must get increasingly creative in where and how they sell their goods.

EVERYTHING IS RETAIL7

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EXAMPLE: Peer-to-peer lodging companies, such as Airbnb, Wimdu and 9flats, are challenging traditional hotels by enabling consumers to host travelers in a wide variety of often unique and affordable accommodations, from couches to rooms to full homes.

As the peer-to-peer marketplace expands in size and scope—moving beyond goods to a wide range of services—it will increasingly upend major industries, from hospitality and education to tourism and transportation.

PEER POWER8

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EXAMPLE: Argentina’s Norte Beer distributed the Photoblocker beer cooler to local bars: When it detects a photo flash, the cooler emits a bright light, making potentially incriminating images unusable.

In an era when living publicly is becoming the default, people are coming up with creative ways to carve out private spaces in their lives. Rather than rejecting today’s ubiquitous social media and sharing tools outright, we’re reaping all the benefits of maintaining a vibrant digital identity while gradually defining and managing a new notion of privacy for the 21st century.

GOING PRIVATE IN PUBLIC9

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EXAMPLE: In Australia, Nestlé’s “Happily Healthy Project” is a bid to educate consumers about the health-happiness link. The campaign’s website lets users take a test to measure their HHQ, or Happily Healthy Quotient, which asks about lifestyle, behaviors and attitudes.

Happiness is coming to be seen as a core component of health and wellness, with the rising notion that a happier person is a healthier person—and, in turn, a healthier person is a happier person.

10 HEALTH & HAPPINESS: HAND IN HAND

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