Trends for 2022

It’s January and as is traditional for this time of year we have gazed into our crystal ball and pulled out the trends that we think will be driving a lot of conversations and thinking in 2022. 

While none of them are hold-the-front-page new news, we feel it is important that people have an opinion on them so they can make sure they are considering them in their strategies and products.  

You can download the trends debrief in full here 

However as a little teaser we have summaried it below

1 - Diversity and inclusivity. 

While the spectrum of humanity is beginning to be far better represented on screen, we think there is still some room to improve.  Specifically around the type of storylines that minorities appear in as well as better representation of different classes, particularly in the west where lower classes are not well represented in media.

2 - International content. 

Teens today are far more open to media from different cultures than they were before.  Global streaming platforms have normalised dubbing and brought things like Anime and Manga to the mainstream.

3 - Sustainability.

One of the key trends we spotted at the London Toy Fair this year was around sustainable products.  As well as the type of materials being used there has also been a rise in subscription models where you can send products back to be reused by someone else.  Finally, we have seen a lot of new content coming out where the environment and climate change are a key storyline.

4 - A move away from performance media. 

With the demise of the cookie and also the increasing skepticism about Facebook’s metrics we see a move away from these huge media giants.  Back to a more diverse portfolio of channels where a medium to long term brand building approach is the name of the game.

5 - Mental Health.

Brands need to consider how every aspect of what they do might affect the mental health of others and adjust and adapt accordingly.

6 - NFTs.

Currently NFTs are very much in the “technology trigger” phase of the hype cycle and 2022 will witness a rapidly approaching peak followed by the trough of despair.  However I do think we will also see the real, useful NFTs come out of the trough and begin to actually be useful and part of the web 3.0 ecosystem.

7 - the Metaverse.

2022 will see the mainstream begin to think about the metaverse differently and beyond it just being a “gaming world”.  We will see a few trends come and go but the core premise of the metaverse (and it’s role in web 3.0) is here to stay