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100 Trends shaping 2021

100 Trends shaping 2021

30 Purpose Trends make up nearly one third of the top 100 in 2021, pushing purpose mainstream, driven by ethical consumers who continue to turn to businesses that reflect their values

Wunderman Thompson are a global communications agency and they publish all kinds of really useful data and information that relates specifically to what people are buying into, how to talk to people and thereby, get them to buy your stuff or your pitch. 

The top 100 trends shaping the future right now

One of the truly striking things about Wunderman Thompson 2021 trends report is how many trends are ethics, nature, environment and community related. I have given you the top 100 here, but urge you to read the report. It's 217 pages, but it's a really worthwhile investment of your time - especially considering its value.

The points highlighted in yellow - 30 of them, are all or in part environmentally and ethics focused. 


TECH & INNOVATION


11 Virtual athletics

12 Auto organisms

13 Data sustainability

14 Touchless travel

15 Mixed realities

16 Upending deepfakes

17 Stratospheric tech

18 Cloud gaming

19 Remaking Silicon Valley

20 Protecting generation

alpha 49 

TRAVEL & HOSPITALITY


21 Member-based services

22 Multigenerational travel

23 Hospitality redesigned

24 Incentivized travel

25 Decarbonized aviation

26 Subterranean resorts

27 Travel bubbles

28 Subscribed stays

29 Informed journeys

30 Isolationist travel

BRANDS & MARKETING

31 Branding together

32 The visual language of connectivity


33 TikTok ads

34 Big brands go circular

35 Ethical scoreboard

36 Flexperiences

37 Brand safety

38 Campaign: uplift

39 Fan fidelity

40 Brand academy 
 
CULTURE

01Outdoor redesigned

02 New gaming frontiers

03 Rooted reassurance

04 Animation resurgence

05 Rewilding

06 The future of live events

07 Mobilizing fandom

08 Nostalgic formats

09 Primetime game-tainment

10 Elevated drive-in experiences

 


FOOD & DRINK

41 Adventure dining

42 Climate-friendly diets

43 Antimicrobial packaging

44 Plane dining

45 Ghost kitchens

46 Breakfast upgraded

47 Asia goes plant-based

48 Dining redesigned

49 Intimate dining

50 Three hot food ingredients

 


BEAUTY

51 Unbound beauty

52 Foraged ingredients


53 Science-backed brands

54 Three hot beauty ingredients

55 Intersectional beauty

56 Haute haircare

57 Healthcare as selfcare

58 Skinfluencers

59 Brazen brows

60 Waste-free beauty

 
RETAIL



61 Escapist retail

62 Disrupting the dealership

63 Dark stores

64 Retail reset

65 Live commerce

66 Owning the delivery ecosystem

67 Anti-Amazon retail

68 Influencers become the store 150

69 The beauty-aisle bleed

70 Clicks and mortar


 
WORK


71 Micropreneurs

72 At-home empires

73 Workcations

74 Employee activists

75 The chief health officer joins the C-suite 164

76 Virtual-first HQs

77 Gen Z careers

78 Climate careers

79 On-demand offices


80 Preventing shecession 



HEALTH

81 Immunity wellness

82 The iconography of health

83 Digital nutrition

84 Concierge care

85 Fitness futures

86 Data wellbeing

87 Virus-proof fabrics

88 Hyperpurification

89 Grief therapy

90 Calmtainment


FINANCE

91 Unbiased banking

92 Insurtech

93 Finfluencers

94 Universal income experiments

95 China fintech

96 Impact investments

97 Social media credit

98 Crisis savings

99 Ewallet wars

100 The new financial advisor


From the Trends Report



  • "While brands may not have had a moral or ethical responsibility in the past, they absolutely do now"
  • "The reseale market grew 25 times faster than the overall retail market in 2019"
  • 2020 “was the year that ‘purpose’ went mainstream” 
  • The concept of healthy eating is expanding to encompass foods that

    nourish the planet alongside the consumer. 
  • 74% of young people say they refuse to work for a company that goes against their values

 

All data and images: Wunderman Thompson
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