Hi all,
Before we dive in, are you in London for SXSW in a week and a bit? GOOD DRINKS, Monday, June 2nd, 5pm somewhere in Shoreditch? RSVP here. Can’t wait to hang. And shout if you have a brilliant location recco. chris@weareingoodco.com
Now, the newness continues. As I mentioned, rather than a weekly companion podcast, we’re going to do a monthly round-up of 4 letters, looking at what’s bubbling up.
We’re not calling these trends. That’s way too heavy for a month’s worth of content. These are GOOD SIGNS. Signals, patterns, counter-trends. Stuff that’s emerging, continuing, sticking out, or simply, what we’re finding interesting in the last month.
Enjoy! And let us know what you think.
Hit the links to skip to the bits you fancy
1
03:31 — FRICTION FLEX // Friction is the new flex. This isn’t about limited-edition or scarcity. This is brands (and people) deliberately introducing slowness and effort. Making everything less greased for ease. Opting into harder, slower, more friction-filled experiences now signals care, taste, and, yep, luxury. It’s a pretty big flip on the last decade, where the definition of greatness was ‘frictionless’.
Places it’s showing up:
Pendulum Swing → Without a doubt, it’s AI. We are hurtling towards working with our eyes closed (or with no human eyes at all). But much like self-service kiosks and self-checkout have proven, it’s critical to think about what consumers want ‘eased’. There’s a lot. But it’s not everything. Sometimes frictionless causes friction.
2
17:07 — HARDCORE WELLNESS // We’ve moved past wellness meaning ‘spa’. We’re all-in on wellness to confront the un-fun stuff—death, grief, chronic stress, parenthood, aging, mental load, brain health, menopause, you name it. This isn’t the mental health conversation. It’s a conversation about what ‘caring for ourselves’ really means.
Places it’s showing up:
Pendulum Swing → There’s a growing rejection of the wellness industry as a whole. Meaning? Fewer supplements. Less optimization. For ‘leave me be’.
3
24:50 — INTELLIENT OR INTIMATE? // The ‘I’ in AI might need to change from ‘intelligence’ to ‘intimacy’. We’ve gone from not wanting Apple to track our data to offering a meal delivery business our biometric data and health history. And used ChatGPT to discuss our deepest concerns. Why? There’s value in the exchange. We’re also seeing consumers trust the logic of a bot over the bias of a body. Our comfort with AI's ‘wisdom’ is growing faster than most expected.
Places it’s showing up:
Pendulum Swing → A deep mistrust "tech bros" still lingers. And the conversation around he value of intuition and anti-patterning is growing louder every day.
4
31:39 — REAL ROMANCE // We’re seeking human experiences more than ever. And not just basic ones. Core-memory-worthy ones. Intimate-ones. We are completely in love with ‘real’. It’s all about the romance.
Places it’s showing up:
Pendulum Swing → Especially for post-Covid teens, online identities now feel more “real” than their physical presence. IRL is ‘fake’ and their online presence is a more ‘true’ expression of who they are.
5
39:59 — GREAT EXPECTATIONS // Maximalist mindsets and max expectations are everywhere. From travel to renting, everything is getting layered with extras. You could say ‘downtime must now do something’, but it’s more about wanting to get the max out of life. We’re squeezing the most out of everything.
Places it’s showing up:
Airbnb offering glam, training, and massage to supercharge travel.
In-building amenities as renter requirements (co-working, dog runs).
Pendulum Swing → The growing movement of anti-consumerism. Happenstance travel.
That’s all, folx.
-Chris
If you read this and liked it, that little heart is there for that. The algo and I appreciate it.
PS. If you prefer Apple, Spotify, or YouTube you can listen there too.
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