This trend is often linked to the growing overlap between different fields, which calls for more interdisciplinary research - as noted in Boston Consulting Group’s latest report (BCG, 2025).
In an innovation report by the World Economic Forum, however, what stood out to me was the concept of collaborative sensing - a system where machines and devices share what they sense in real time. This allows ecosystems - or systems, if you prefer - to become more internally connected, resulting in smoother, more “organic” operation.
What’s interesting - and ties back to my argument of this entire text -
is that the same idea shows up in psychology and even spirituality. There’s growing conversation around the unity of consciousness -
the belief that all minds, experiences, and even physical matter are interconnected within a larger shared field. As the poet John Donne wrote, “No man is an island.”
This is now a 'new' approach to understanding one’s role in society - it’s becoming an important reference point for consumers, residents, users, and other roles within the social fabric.
People are starting to see themselves less as fixed roles in a system and more as active participants in a constantly moving network. The question is gradually shifting from “Who am I in society?” to “How do I engage with it, moment by moment?”
This fluid positioning is becoming a kind of cultural literacy - challenging fixed categories. And again, this brings us back to the idea of fluid identities - Bauman’s point that I introduced at the very beginning
of this article.
And that’s how we come full circle in these trend observations, because pieces in culture are always interconnected, never isolated :)
In an innovation report by the World Economic Forum, however, what stood out to me was the concept of collaborative sensing - a system where machines and devices share what they sense in real time. This allows ecosystems - or systems, if you prefer - to become more internally connected, resulting in smoother, more “organic” operation.
What’s interesting - and ties back to my argument of this entire text -
is that the same idea shows up in psychology and even spirituality. There’s growing conversation around the unity of consciousness -
the belief that all minds, experiences, and even physical matter are interconnected within a larger shared field. As the poet John Donne wrote, “No man is an island.”
This is now a 'new' approach to understanding one’s role in society - it’s becoming an important reference point for consumers, residents, users, and other roles within the social fabric.
People are starting to see themselves less as fixed roles in a system and more as active participants in a constantly moving network. The question is gradually shifting from “Who am I in society?” to “How do I engage with it, moment by moment?”
This fluid positioning is becoming a kind of cultural literacy - challenging fixed categories. And again, this brings us back to the idea of fluid identities - Bauman’s point that I introduced at the very beginning
of this article.
And that’s how we come full circle in these trend observations, because pieces in culture are always interconnected, never isolated :)
3. Interconnectedness
This is probably the one I feel most strongly around me. I see it as a uniquely distinct trend - for many reasons. While every trend spreads quickly (that’s part of what defines a trend), this one has settled in especially casually.
Leaving some details aside, “wasteful time” feels innately human, while motion and effort are often shaped by external demands. This trend reflects natural principles like equilibrium, as well as psychological ideas such as Carl Jung’s concept of enantiodromia - the tendency for extreme forces to transform into their opposites. As hyper-productivity reaches its peak, the pendulum swings back toward a craving for slow, unstructured time.
I’ve looked at different takes on this. Journalist Emma Burleigh sees it as part of a generational shift in how we define luxury - “luxury that can’t be bought,” as she puts it.
Brand strategist Eugene Healey, too, connects it to luxury, discussing it as part of effortless living, describing a “new leisure class” that stands in contrast to the old idea of an “idle class.”
I, however, prefer not to tie this trend as belonging to any specific class or narrative. It’s an independent enough phenomenon to be discussed and applied to different perspectives.
I do believe it opens up angles to notions we haven’t yet touched,even the aforementioned equilibrium or Jung’s enantiodromia.
Leaving some details aside, “wasteful time” feels innately human, while motion and effort are often shaped by external demands. This trend reflects natural principles like equilibrium, as well as psychological ideas such as Carl Jung’s concept of enantiodromia - the tendency for extreme forces to transform into their opposites. As hyper-productivity reaches its peak, the pendulum swings back toward a craving for slow, unstructured time.
I’ve looked at different takes on this. Journalist Emma Burleigh sees it as part of a generational shift in how we define luxury - “luxury that can’t be bought,” as she puts it.
Brand strategist Eugene Healey, too, connects it to luxury, discussing it as part of effortless living, describing a “new leisure class” that stands in contrast to the old idea of an “idle class.”
I, however, prefer not to tie this trend as belonging to any specific class or narrative. It’s an independent enough phenomenon to be discussed and applied to different perspectives.
I do believe it opens up angles to notions we haven’t yet touched,even the aforementioned equilibrium or Jung’s enantiodromia.
2. Wasteful time / effortless living
People are increasingly embracing contrasts within themselves and their surroundings.
That, of course, starts with contradictions in consumer data. In this context, contradictions often mean confusing or opposing pieces of information - and naturally, research tends to approach this as a problem to solve. But solving the problem is always secondary.What comes first is defining the problem - or, more importantly, deciding whether we even see it as a problem at all.
The same applies to broader contradictions. What should come first - adapting our research methods to suit the new norm by introducing even more interdisciplinary, deep research? Or adapting our idea of “truth” to allow contradictions to coexist, forming an organic, coherent, and complete picture?
Zygmunt Bauman’s Liquid Modernity began exploring this back in 1999, showing how fixed categories no longer hold in the modern world. Identities are not fixed - they are a task rather than an inherited given.
Bauman acknowledges contradictions but doesn’t try to resolve them - he sees them as the essence of life. So, returning to the earlier question - whether we should adapt our methods or the “truth” that research aims to fit - the answer likely leans toward the latter.
That, of course, starts with contradictions in consumer data. In this context, contradictions often mean confusing or opposing pieces of information - and naturally, research tends to approach this as a problem to solve. But solving the problem is always secondary.What comes first is defining the problem - or, more importantly, deciding whether we even see it as a problem at all.
The same applies to broader contradictions. What should come first - adapting our research methods to suit the new norm by introducing even more interdisciplinary, deep research? Or adapting our idea of “truth” to allow contradictions to coexist, forming an organic, coherent, and complete picture?
Zygmunt Bauman’s Liquid Modernity began exploring this back in 1999, showing how fixed categories no longer hold in the modern world. Identities are not fixed - they are a task rather than an inherited given.
Bauman acknowledges contradictions but doesn’t try to resolve them - he sees them as the essence of life. So, returning to the earlier question - whether we should adapt our methods or the “truth” that research aims to fit - the answer likely leans toward the latter.
- Contradictions within ourselves
We won’t start with “it’s been an especially interesting time in culture” - it always is, especially for brand strategists, given how interdisciplinary the field already is.
The past year had, however, its own unique angles - from rapid technological leaps to a renewed focus on spiritual and psychological exploration. Together, they’ve cast both questions and answers in a new light.
This summary is a broad stroke - but it helps frame the polarities we’re witnessing and gives context to what’s starting to unfold.
Now more than ever, binary thinking is losing its edge, making room for a view of opposites as parts of a larger whole. The trends I will discuss here flow from that.
The past year had, however, its own unique angles - from rapid technological leaps to a renewed focus on spiritual and psychological exploration. Together, they’ve cast both questions and answers in a new light.
This summary is a broad stroke - but it helps frame the polarities we’re witnessing and gives context to what’s starting to unfold.
Now more than ever, binary thinking is losing its edge, making room for a view of opposites as parts of a larger whole. The trends I will discuss here flow from that.
The New Norms in Brand Strategy: Three Shifts
in Self and Society
in Self and Society
