And looking ahead to 2024… What?

This is a recurring question that some of our clients ask us... How do you see 2024? What do you think will happen in terms of technologies and impact on consumers?

And of course... this is like being asked to use the "crystal ball" or the "tarot" and play the fortune teller... 🔮 easy peasy and safe, for sure... i'ts not! 🤣

But well, we have to say that there are always some indicators pointing to trends. 🤔🤔

And looking ahead to 2024… What?

First of all, beyond whether this technology or that one, is a discussion about the context in which we as a society are immersed.

And this environment is by no means simple:

1-We have a tense economy- with open armed conflicts and a global balance in question.

2-Consumers are being pushed to the limits of our possibilities- prices skyrocketing, economic uncertainty, and an increase in the cost of accessing financing.

3-On top of all this, we are getting used to living with job insecurity - we talk about unemployment rates, but not about the quality of the generated employment. Even workers with "considered stable jobs" struggle to make ends meet.

4-All of this is associated with a consequence: the radicalization of ideas - positions that inject more social tension and global unrest.

5-Falsehood prevails- we live in a "fake" society, portrayed as idyllic through social media, but that illusion fades when we hit the streets. This creates a divergent effect for consumers - those living in the "dream" and those who feel "permanently frustrated".

6-Consumers live with heightened emotions- there is extreme sensitivity, leading consumers to seek "solid," "traditional" references. The volume of young people turning to religious faith increases, and scrutiny of brands based on values becomes more significant - consumers want transcendent brands.

The Technology

And with all this, we have three major lines of technological transformation on the table:

A- Obviously, Generative AI - which continues to evolve at breakneck speed, with no one quite sure of its impact and how to use it beyond solving mechanical tasks. Speaking of Generative AI, the challenges ahead include its own "growth," "governance," and "ethics" and how we can integrate it into everyday life. Here, we will see a clear evolution in established solutions that will incorporate it for certain functions - invisible technology and then the big "Boom" of personal virtual assistants.

B- Hybrid reality- we have experienced an attempt at a second boom of virtual worlds (metaverses), but where we can really see a difference is in what is known as hybrid reality, where we mix environments (without isolating ourselves) and combine them with 3D projections. We will live in a reality full of touches of virtual visions that enrich our firsthand experiences.

C- Web3- The decentralized web is the big paradigm. A digital environment not dependent on large corporations, where control is in the hands of consumers. We will apply Blockchain technology that will allow us to have decentralized financial systems (DEFI) and digital assets that should generate transactions for us. All of this with security and avoiding economic pressures from markets. It sounds utopian, and it probably is. But there are clear applications in product traceability to provide transparency, corporate virtual environments, etc.

Impact on the Consumer

And this... in the short term… how will it impact consumers?

1- Content creation becomes super "commoditized"- if it has been said that the consumer is a content creator... now we will have machines (algorithms) that are super creators. This will lead us to the paradigm of "risk of error," the boom of "co-creation".

2- Knowledge acquisition transforms- the concept of "learn on the flow" appears, micro-learning pills just when they are needed. It's not cumulative knowledge, but a solution for needs right now.

3- The difficulty of discerning between true and false- and a clear example is the "catastrophic" growth of FOOH (fake out of home), sold to us as a great advertising innovation. "Digital humans" will grow, avatars difficult to differentiate from a human, and with all this, a need to establish foundations of "digital ethics".

4- The industry becomes "humanless"-  there will be a clear impact on mechanical jobs; we will have to get used to H2A (human-to-avatar) interactions, and AI will challenge the limits of our brains.

5- Brand boundaries blur- brands that do and do not say... Brands move from their natural positioning environments, the role of influencers will be redefined, and brands cannot put their value proposition in their hands. Brands need to connect on a values level with consumers - they must stop being "interruptive," "disruptive," and "irreverent" and move towards being transcendent.

In conclusion... many assumptions... and as I said at the beginning, nothing is certain... ✨🧙‍♀️  but we are indeed in a tense society, and this, combined with three technologies that have tremendous disruptive potential, is a cocktail that can be explosive 💥💥...