Self-Actualization
SETTING THE SCENE
The search for a more fulfilled life. It’s something we can all understand. And it’s showing up across various sectors and surroundings.
There has been an explosive growth of markets that improve physical, mental and emotional wellbeing. Demand for wellness lifestyle real estate and communities is accelerating, health has expanded into retail and culture, and across the board we are seeing new concepts popping up on the borders between body, brain and being.
When an experience becomes in some way transformative — and by this we mean enhancing our physical, mental and emotional states — then it becomes all the more desirable. This is the ‘Transformation Economy’, where we’re seeing consumer demands shift beyond the experience, towards personal optimisation and assertion.
Age of Self Actualization
Through digital innovations, the human race is transforming. Opportunities presented by technology expand with each new development, creating new, previously unknown needs. People seem to be, on one hand, optimistic and determined to prosper, and on the other, overwhelmed by a vortex of possibility and choice.
Transparency of information, and the accumulation of vast stores of knowledge, mean that once stable structures — societal, economical and political — are being challenged.
It is no wonder that people are increasingly looking for new ways to find stability and belonging.
Thriving in the future calls for qualities that cannot be digitalised — such as creativity, the ability to envision and the collaborative spirit. In other words: our humanity. These essential human traits most strongly show up when we are intrinsically motivated and hold a sense of purpose. For this reason, we predict that brands and organisations that manage to leverage human strengths, will continue to gain ground. Supporting us to be engaged, motivated and passionate.
Beyond Wellbeing
The Health & Wellness industry has boomed. The Global Wellness industry grew to reach a value of $3.7 trillion in 2015 (according to statistics by GWI). But the opportunity for brands lays beyond what used to constitute health, wellness and well-being. This new movement is a pursuit of purpose and a fulfilled life.
“In a world of unwell acts, aim to be well.” — GRIND LDN Unveils Its “Wellness” SS18 Lookbook
In a society seeking greater health and balance, brands have a lot to offer to help improve our states. Designed environments, experiences and services can connect us to a greater purpose, a creative outlet, a healthy social setting — fostering moods such as belonging and motivation. Ultimately, these positive states can improve our emotional and mental wellbeing as well as our physical health. It is no longer enough for brands to immerse audiences in jaw-dropping happenings that are over in an instant, just for the sake of blowing our minds. Today, we expect our brains to be challenged and informed, as we seek content that is sustainable, considered and grown from long-term thinking.
Long-term thinking
During a talk at SXSW entitled ‘How Astronauts Make Us Healthy’, a panel of scientists and visionaries discussed how long-term thinking and innovation are being used to create “health in a tin” for 2–3 year space exploration missions, without access to healthcare or communication to Earth. On the panel was Esther Dyson, founder of Wellville, who emphasised the importance of long-term thinking: Health is very mental. The ability to not eat bad food, to not get addicted, to go to sleep and not play on your phone all night. A lot of it has to do with long-term thinking. Short-term thinking is addiction and instant gratification, and the kinds of behaviours that come from insecurity. Long-term thinking is purpose, a sense of agency.
In the marketing worlds, this movement towards long-term thinking is evident in the growing demand for ‘Purpose-driven Branding’, ‘Meaningful Marketing’, and other emerging definitions relating to ‘doing good’ (or better at least) and pursuing a greater purpose.
Liquid Living
Zygmunt Bauman (1925–2017), a prominent philosopher who thought and wrote extensively about the modern era, coined the term ‘Liquid Modernity’.
“Change is the only permanence, and uncertainty the only certainty.” — Zygmunt Bauman, ‘Liquid Modernity’
According to Zygmunt, there are two crucial values without which human life is simply inconceivable:
1. Security — a feeling of safety
2. Freedom — an ability to self-assert, to do what you would really like to do.
Studying these two components has helped us understand new consumer needs and desires. We are faced with enormous freedom and boundless opportunities, but this is coupled with resistance and a fear of the unknown — leading to a sense of insecurity.
Aside from dwindling trust in social and economical structures, we constantly gaze into a vortex of infinite possibilities. There are no limits to our accumulation of things, our access to knowledge, and the ways in which new technologies are advancing human nature. Most writing around trend analysis and foresight starts off by setting a highly dramatic tone for today’s realities and the possibilities of tomorrow. Descriptions such as hyperconnected, hyper-individual and fluid lifestyles, makes it clear that a lot of us are doing what we can to remain constantly agile and make sense of all the shifting.
