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Category Archives: Sociocultural Trends
BANG! And they’re off!: An Update on Mobile Payment
The buzz about mobile payment is turning into a roar. Just a couple days ago, ISIS, the NFC-based mobile-payment venture founded by AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile, announced that it has teamed up with Coca-Cola, Foot Locker, Macy’s, and several other … Continue reading
The Future is Mobile Payment: Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love NFC
Want to make a purchase? Disappointed by our severely uncool current payment options? Debit and credit cards are so last year. Checks have all but crossed the line into social taboo. And cash is basically, like, archaic. Ugh, it’s like … Continue reading
Buy Milk and TP While Waiting on the Train? Sure, Why Not.
Last year, a virtual grocery store in a South Korea subway station debuted and let consumers scan a QR code to purchase hundreds of common items straight from their smartphones. With the ability to have orders delivered straight to consumers’ … Continue reading
Gender Bender and The Richer Sex
Call us geeks, but the trends team at Upshot can get pretty enthusiastic about demographic statistics. US Census Bureau, Roper GfK, Bureau of Labor Statistics, and don’t even get us started on our love of the Pew Research Center! We’re … Continue reading
Curators on Curation
When we introduced the idea of Collective Curation in our 2012 tends, we spoke about brands aggregating, consolidating, and communicating top-notch content in order to bring a focused theme to life. As swell as that sounds, most brands need a … Continue reading
How to Eat Like a Buddhist
When we released our 10 Trends for 2012 report we promised to bring you updates throughout the year which highlight new manifestations of these prescient prognostications, but never in a “we told you so” sort of way. Imagine our delight … Continue reading
Social Media Scores at Super Bowl
As crazy as it sounds, late night host Jimmy Fallon may have said it best when tweeting live through the Super Bowl last night—“Feels like hashtags are jumping the shark.” In the first set of commercials alone, Bud Light with … Continue reading
Intuitive Retail and the Journey to Purchase
Intuitive retail is rooted in human behavior. For it to be effective, it must fundamentally meet the expectations a person has created through life experience to deliver relevance, clarity and occasionally disruption in a split second. Manufacturers have spent millions … Continue reading
Pictures Speak Louder (Part 2)
As we mentioned in yesterday’s post, Instagram has proven to be an extremely simple, seamless technology for users and marketers alike. As a result, over 200 savvy brands have figured out how to use this app to solicit input into … Continue reading
Pictures Speak Louder
In our 10 trends for 2012, we introduced the idea that, while it’s currently fashionable to encourage every brand to become a media channel, not everyone has the resources (or the authority) to sustain a steady stream of unique content. … Continue reading