Marketing Trends: Top 3 Culture trends to look out for in 2017

(marketingmagazine.com.my) – By: Malati Siniah

In a blink of an eye, another year has gone by and we have 26 more days to go till we usher in the New Year.

Counting down to 2017 we are highlighting the top trends marketers should look out for in 2017, based on J. Walter Thompson Innovation Group’s third annual Future 100 report.

This week highlight the top 3 trends in culture predicted by the group:

• ‘AI Art’– While the report assures that in no way will we see AI replacing artist, with more campaigns touching on Artificial Intelligence or AI the technology is one thing not to be overlooked.

An example of a campaign using this is The Next Rembrandt,” a project that scanned the artist’s existing work and used AI and 3D printing to create an entirely new “Rembrandt” painting in the spirit of the artist’s work. The campaign done for Insurance brand ING by JWT Amsterdam won accolades at the Cannes Lions Festival this year.

Check out how they managed to create a painting out of Data from the video below:

Google is also keeping AI on its radar. In June 2016, the company announced Magenta, a “research project to advance the state of the art in machine intelligence for the music and art generation” that also aims to build a community of artists around the technology.

Tate Britain, an art museum based in London, chose AI as the 2016 theme for its annual award competition, IK Prize.

The winning entry, “Recognition” by Fabrica, matched paintings in the museum’s collection with daily news photographs supplied by Reuters, drawing revealing connections between past and present that human curators would likely have missed.

According to the report, the possibilities and parameters of AI in art are only beginning to be defined. As Google and others work to expand the community of artists using these tools, we can expect surprises in 2017 and we can expect AI to go beyond just being a buzzword.

• ‘Vagina-nomics’– An astute observation by the report is how the female genitalia is often euphemized or not discussed at all.

This, however, is changing as more parties are no longer beating around the bush and are taking a more active role in ongoing un-tabooing of womanhood.

Arts platform Club Clitoris regularly posts illustrations on Instagram “encouraging others to love their natural bodies—vaginas, labia, body hair, and periods included.” (You can purchase prints for your apartment.)

There is also the ongoing work by artist Sophie Wallace, who made headlines in 2012 for her “Clitoracy” art project, more recently staging “Over and Over and Over,” an installation on a similar theme. “I think more women of all ages, and particularly young women, are beginning to increase their sense of sexual entitlement,” she explains.

The anti-aging market is making room for wellness and beauty products for female genitalia. Products are marketed as “intimate skincare,” with design, packaging and language codes borrowed from premium skincare brands—familiar and comfortable territory for generation X and millennial consumers.

Gynaecological health is also coming to the forefront. The Lady Garden Campaign, fronted by Cara Delevingne, aims to increase awareness of gynaecological cancers and is an example of the increased visibility of gynaecological wellbeing. The campaign, launched in 2015, urges women to talk more openly about gyne health, without stigma or embarrassment.

Topshop is supporting the cause with its Lady Garden collection, giving 30% of sales proceeds to the Gynecological Cancer Fund.

This trend the report highlights how Taboos are breaking down as women demand not only empowerment but also education and understanding of their bodies and health. Meanwhile, the culture of connected modern feminism is creating new platforms and forums for exploring women’s sexual fulfilment and celebrating all aspects of their bodies.

• ‘Diverse Hollywood’– The ongoing debate on representation and diversity in Hollywood is one that is constantly being debated on.

The report suggests how the industry may finally be taking steps to address its shortcomings and become more relevant to the women and minority groups that also buy tickets.

2016, brought critical acclaim for a line-up of minority-directed movies including Moonlight, a coming-of-age story about a young African-American man, and Fences, starring Denzel Washington. In January, Birth of a Nation, the story of the Nat Turner rebellion, smashed Sundance records when it was bought by Fox Searchlight for $17.5 million.

The year also led to advances for women in lead roles. There was a female-led Ghostbusters reboot and women fronted the Ocean’s 11 remake, while 2017’s Wonder Woman and 2019’s Captain Marvel with Brie Larson will bring much-needed female leads to the superhero blockbuster genre.

The report also showcased industry data which showed how minority moviegoers were buying more tickets per capita than the average consumer.

Statistical analytics blog FiveThirtyEight found that films that passed the feminist Bechdel test had a higher return on investment than the median (a film passes if it contains dialogue between two women about something other than a man). The same trends play out at Wonder Woman 2017 and the female-fronted Star Wars: The Force Awakens was 2015’s highest-grossing movie, taking in more than $2 billion worldwide.

This move according to the report was interesting as it showed that the industry was waking up to the power of its increasingly diverse and vocal consumers.

JWT Intelligence’s Future 100 report looks at the emerging trends for 2017, with a focus on culture, tech and innovation, travel and hospitality, brands and marketing, food and drink, beauty, retail, health, lifestyle, and luxury.

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