Create Tomorrow, The WGSN Podcast

In a special episode WGSN CEO Carla Buzasi and Senior Strategist for WGSN Insight Petah Marian unite to take a look at some of the  10 key trends in consumer behaviour and product development for 2021 and beyond. The trends reveal the future direction for business strategy, product and experience design for the fashion, beauty, lifestyle, interiors, food and drink industries.

In our final episode of the year the tables are turned as David Davies, Ascential's Chief Content Officer quizzes WGSN CEO Carla Buzasi on her high and lowlights of the year. They discuss the innovations Carla was most proud of and what kept her and the wider WGSN team going through the past 12 months.

The holiday season this year is going to be an incredibly complex one. People are dealing with restrictions on movement and gathering while still looking to find moments of joy and connection after an incredibly difficult year. It goes without saying that the holiday season this year will be fundamentally different and companies hoping to win in this season will be required to adapt their conventi...

Cities are locations which take up and outsized space in our imaginations. They are places that ambitious and creative young people aspire to go to in order to succeed and find their place in the world. Perceptions about cities in the wake of the pandemic have changed. The forecasts that deemphasize a physical presence in city offices are creating space for new visions of the city to emerge, ones...

This week WGSN CEO Carla Buzasi is joined by Andrea Bell, WGSN's Director of Insight. Over the course of the conversation they discuss the impact of the pandemic on consumer behaviour, both this year and into the future, what that means for brands and businesses and how the design industry has to change as a consequence.

One of the places where we have seen some of the largest shifts over the past year has been in the home. Once a place where we might have just slept, it's now the centre of our worlds, becoming a place where we live, educate, eat, work and if we're lucky, have a little bit of time left to play. While attitudes to space are changing, so too are the lifestyles around that space. This week Petah Mari...

This week WGSN CEO Carla Buzasi is joined by Director of Beauty Jenni Middleton. The pair discuss the immediate impact that the beauty industry has seen from the pandemic, from the impact of masks on makeup to at home salon treatments and much more.

The global shutdowns earlier this year and continued restrictions on movement have plunged much of the world into recession. As we operate through a difficult landscape for businesses, consumer behaviour is changing rapidly. Even for those that remain financially stable, the broader economic environment is making people feel more concerned about their financial circumstances. In this episode we ex...

This week, WGSN MD Carla Buzasi is joined by Director of WGSN Food and Drink Kara Nielsen. The pair discuss how the global pandemic has influenced not only what we eat, but how we think about food and drink as well. Carla and Kara also divulge some of their lockdown discoveries.

Prior to the pandemic, we were facing an intimacy recession. Coronavirus has accelerated this shift even further, with lockdowns putting physical distance between us, and as people start to come back out into the world, there is a fear of contamination or transmission. In this episode, we explore what the fear of touch looks like for consumers, and what it will mean for the beauty and retail indus...

This week, WGSN MD Carla Buzasi is joined by Director of Lifestyle and Interiors and leader of the Creative Forecast team, Lisa White. The pair discuss the acceleration of consumer trends for the interiors category, such as buying less but better, the importance of combining eCommerce with bricks and mortar showrooms, plant power, and the restorative effects of colour in your home.

Localism was emerging as a key trend before the pandemic, featuring in the Future Consumer 2022 Forecast, the Retail Forecast and the Shopper Forecast as well. It's a shift which has only accelerated through the pandemic period as lockdowns meant that we got to know our neighbours and shop from local stores as we weren't as able to travel. This episode we explore how the localism trend is emerging...

WGSN Managing Director Carla Buzasi is joined by Amiyra Perkins who as well as being one of the directors of WGSN's Mindset consulting business, also leads the Equality Vision team within the business. In an honest and personal exchange the pair speak about the Black Lives Matter movement and why, in the year of the pandemic, it is forcing us all to reassess how we think about diversity and inclus...

The events of the past six months have created a tremendous amount of anxiety, however, we are now seeing an opportunity to refocus on the positive experiences that we have had during lockdown and can continue to do so when we emerge from this crisis. While this is not to make light of the devastating and tragic losses that many of us are experiencing right now, this break from life as normal is p...

In light of the protests and demonstrations against police brutality and social injustice that we have seen across America and around the world this week, we are taking the opportunity to highlight an episode of a podcast published by our sister brand Cannes Lions. Last week their host Simon Cook had a frank and open conversation with Endeavor CMO Bozoma Saint John, which had such a clear and powe...

How we eat has changed tremendously over the first half of this year, as enforced lockdowns have led to increased food stockpiling and most of the world eating all of their meals at home. This is leading to new attitudes towards food. Today we explore the shifts that are taking place in the food & drink sector and and what will be the winning strategies for success in a post-coronavirus world.

This episode explores what the shift to the home will mean for broader design trends in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. As people continue to spend more time at home, businesses will have to create a sense of the stability and security to convince them to come back out into the world. The WGSN team dives into some of the key strategies that businesses will need to adopt to tap into the home...

Our topic this episode is the future of the beauty industry in a post-COVID-19 world. Despite the quickly-shifting landscape, the beauty industry will play a big role as we begin on the road to recovery.  It is an industry that is likely to have increasing resonance as it evolves to meet a changing consumer and support their wellness needs in a very anxious and uncertain time.