Polar vortex: Trend Briefing Preview Network Evening

London – Guests at last night’s Network Evening Trend Briefing Preview were confronted with The Polarity Paradox. Speakers explored the three macrotrends of our forthcoming Trend Briefing – The Polarity Paradox, the Flat Age Society and the Convergence Economy – and offered insights on the seismic shifts that LS:N Global has been tracking.

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Steve Callanan, co-founder of WireWAX, an agency that creates taggable content into videos on the web, spoke to guests about how WireWAX can make shoppable and interactive videos, blurring the line between content and commerce. ‘It’s about driving people to content, but also about intrigue and an immersive, interactive experience,’ said Callanan.

Style and grace

Kate Percival, co-founder of Grace Belgravia, the UK’s first health, wellbeing and lifestyle club for women, spoke about how her holistic approach to wellbeing is important to Flat Agers. ‘For women aged 50-plus, just because we are 50-plus doesn’t mean we feel 50-plus,’ she explained. ‘We care about fitness, feeling sexy and confident. We feel 20-plus.’

Visualised self

Also known by his nom de guerre The Luxury of Protest, computational artist Peter Crnokrak spoke to guests about his current project, a kind of data selfie, which turns data into a three-dimensional visual structure that enables people to produce emotional meaning out of data.

The forgotten demographic

Imogen Matthews, beauty editor, consultant, and publisher of the comprehensive report on beauty for 50-plus women called Older Women: The Forgotten Demographic. ‘£1.9bn [$3.2bn, €2.3bn] worth of beauty products are bought by women over 45, [according to The Premium Market Report 2012/2013],’ she told the audience, ‘but the industry focuses on youth.’ She also explained the importance of the focus on positive language on age.

Austere age

‘They are sidelined, ignored and not a sexy sector to market to, but that is a myopic view,’ said Marie Stafford, planning foresight director at communications agency JWT. She was speaking about pensioners and the discoveries made in JWT’s Austerity Index. Unlike all other sectors, older consumers have been the least affected demographic in terms of austerity. ‘They are optimistic and resilient, because they have been through it before,’ she said.

Polar views

Peter Firth, senior journalist and author of our macrotrend The Polarity Paradox, explained to guests exactly what the trend means and how it will affect brands and consumers. ‘Moderation is dying,’ said Firth, ‘and people are looking to temporary extremes such as Flexitarianism and the 5:2 lifestyle.’

For more information on forthcoming LS:N Global events, contact Alena Joyette. To book tickets for The Polarity Paradox Trend Briefing, visit our Eventbrite page.