6 things to read this week (24.07.17)

Rewind my week to fast forward yours #31

Henry Mason
Jul 24, 2017 ¡ 3 min read

Emoji updates as a social mirror, mobile money in China, Instagrammable restaurants, a deep dive into AI, Chinese tourists and the death of US retail . Enjoy!


📸 We finally have an answer to what will come after the dark, distressed, ‘vintage’ (faux) industrial chic of hipster 2007–onwards. Drumroll please…bright, flamboyant, neon, pastels etc. are here to stay. And it’s all thanks to Instagram. Although as the authors note: the speed with which Insta-trends explode mean even the most original designs can quickly feel dated. The status race accelerates. Again ;)

😀 It was World Emoji Day recently, and on that momentous day, Apple announced details of its latest library updates, complete with beards and breastfeeding mothers. Perhaps future historians will write theses on our emoji use, and what it says about our societies.

🔮 HBR takes a look at where and how AI will transform processes, organizations and entire industries. Worth reading if you’re still not convinced that AI is going to be the driver behind the biggest trends of the next decade (just as mobile has been this last decade). And a great excuse to feature the epic muffin-dog image :)

💸 Still think that ‘emerging’ markets follow Western trends? Yet another article reminding us that tomorrow’s trends are happening in those ‘emerging’ markets, today. One interesting insight: because China’s mobile money is so embedded into the local social platforms, it’s getting harder for visitors to access them.

🇨🇳 From money within China, to the spending of Chinese abroad. Shock horror, the Chinese might not be that dissimilar to the rest of the world’s population: preferring experiences over material goods once a certain level of comfort and affluence is reached. Shopping dropped to third place as the motivation for China’s 122 million outbound tourists last year, behind sightseeing, recreation and entertainment (it was second placed in 2015).

🛍 Of course, it’s not as though the rest of the world remains static either. The impact of ecommerce might have played out a bit slower in the US than other markets, but many think it will hit in the next 12–18 months. Hard.

Will the death of US retail be the next big short?

(Note: FT paywall)

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Henry Mason

Written by

Managing Director @ TrendWatching

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