With the government’s lockdown restrictions easing as the UK dives headfirst into the new year, 2022 is set to be the first or most ‘normal’ year to follow the pandemic. As 2022 lifts the veil on the underlying condition of the country, it reveals culture, people, and society in the UK, reborn as products of the pandemic.
The 2022 edition of the7stars’ Trends outlook uncovers 7 different macro trends that shape this picture. However, whether it be ‘The Virtual Gold Rush’ or ‘The Circular Economy’, at the heart of this new order lie two underlying themes that will flavour the year ahead: connection and change.
As innately social creatures, people gravitate towards their communities for support, togetherness, and companionship during times of distress and isolation. We see this manifest in trends such as ‘The Circular Economy’ where localism thrives and in ‘Seasonal Spectaculars’ where people bring celebration to togetherness. The same drive triggers ‘The Democratisation of Creativity,’ where creators leverage community platforms like Patreon and Shopify to monetise their creative abilities. Howsoever it may be found, human search for connection is palpable, and now more than ever.
2022 is also set to be a great year of change. From ‘The Gender Agenda’ (the revolution against gender binary) to ‘Shopping at the Speed of Culture’ (the evolution of consumers’ needs in an online marketplace), rapidly evolving trends are disrupting culture as we know it. Brands that adopt an approach sufficiently agile and proactive will pioneer in pushing the boundaries for brand activity. Already leading the curve are ‘direct-to-avatar’ marketing which aims to blend online and offline in the gaming world and the much talked about rise of NFT’s.
Moreover, trends newly thrown into the mainstream, such as sustainability and gender fluidity, have quickly matured from virtue-signalling ‘good-to-haves’ into minimum expectations and today’s criteria for success. Whilst we know that some of these may not gain full momentum until a few years down the line, there’s no doubt that brands should be prepared to play in a significantly contemporary, volatile, and future-facing arena.
Source: the7stars 7 Macro Trends Shaping Culture 2022
