25 Jan
Trendswatch | New Business Insight From The Past Week
It was a historic week, with the 46th President of the United States being sworn in, along with the first-ever female Vice President, and as we near the end of January, the trends are really starting to hot up!
This week I will be delving into millennial co-living, VIP platforms and the key takeaways from the 2021 CES show. If you’re after trends, you’ve come to the right place…
The Co-living Movement
Now of all the trends that I look at on a daily basis, I would say this is the one that has excited me the most! The co-living movement has been up and coming for a couple of years now, but due to the coronavirus pandemic, it is really starting to see huge growth!
But what is co-living I hear you ask? Well, the movement aims to create communal living spaces, centred around a borderless and effortless living experience, and it is set to become ‘the big disrupter’ of ‘generation rent.’
According to the co-living start up Gravity, which operates three shared rentals in London, we are currently in a new era of shared living. People are done with the ‘hustle harder’ culture, and the pandemic has made us realise there’s more to life than just work.
Gravity predicts that we are about to see a co-living boom, and a wave of renters moving towards a product that adds value to their lives.
It is predicted that in 2021, we will increasingly work and socialise in connected local communities. These groups of people will become the magnets for life’s activities, as opposed to constructed developments that require people to travel to and from segregated activities. This is a trend to be keeping an eye on!
Clubhouse
You might’ve heard of Clubhouse, but it’s unlikely you’ve joined Clubhouse. That’s because the new social media platform has built its reputation, in part, on exclusivity. You must secure an invite by an existing member to gain access to the app, although that might soon change.
Here’s what you need to know about Clubhouse in case you soon find yourself using it. Basically, it is an audio-based social media app. The company describes itself as “a new type of social product based on voice, which allows people everywhere to talk, tell stories, develop ideas, deepen friendships, and meet interesting new people around the world.” You can jump in and out of different chats, on different subjects, in something akin to a live, free-flowing podcast. You can share your own thoughts or simply choose to just listen. Imagine a cocktail party or, clubhouse.
Vogue described the app’s experience as “a dizzying bringing together of live podcast-style conversations, panel discussions, networking opportunities (some savvy people are already swapping ‘influencer’ for ‘moderator’) and advantageous multiple-room use (locked and private options are available so you can talk to pals too), the social-media app mimics real-life interactions.”
Clubhouse is big with celebrities. Float around the app and you might hear folks like Oprah, Kevin Hart, Drake, Chris Rock, or Ashton Kutcher. They might even host chats. In some ways, that’s part of Clubhouse’s appeal. You get the chance to hear, and even participate in, unvarnished conversations with famous and powerful people.
CES 2021
Every year the crème de la crème of the tech world gets together to showcase their shiny new innovations from Silicon Valley! Of course, this year the event had a digital spin but there was still plenty of interesting tech among the 2000+ showcasing companies.
Here are just a couple of my favourite trends – but check out our WBW platform for a full rundown of all the latest techy trends that are coming in 2021. Firstly, our screens are about to get even more ridiculous. Besides unveiling an array of new 4K and 8K Ultra HD TVs, LG also announced a new AI processor to help upscale content and even automatically adjust for content/genre. The highlight, however, was a fully transparent display that rises from the foot of a bed!
Secondly, health was a HUGE theme at CES this year (unsurprisingly!), and it seems it is going to remain at the forefront of all of our minds, and our devices…
This might be the first year where room and air sanitizing made tech headlines. We saw air purification devises, smart clear masks, disinfection robots and the world’s smallest air purification mask, all of which are now dubbed ‘Covid-tech.’
Finally, fliphones? Are they ever going to make a comeback (I actually really miss my Motorola V3 Pink!)? TCL says it plans to launch a foldable or rollable phone in 2021, and LG confirmed that the LG Rollable will go on sale this year. None of this is to say that the traditional single-screen phone experience is going away anytime soon. After all, research shows that people still buy old-school flip phones today…
More insights and trends to be shared next week