Commoditisation of care
What’s trending? We are starting to see an increased number of situations where care is being monetised. There’s a demand for services that one previously did oneself – and without a price-tag. One service on offer in the US is rent-a-mom, where parents hire surrogate mothers for their children who are away at college. For […]
Hidden fees
This observation is a follow-on from Hide-and-seek Pricing. What’s trending? Retailers have not fully recovered financially from the pandemic so there are efforts to maximise profits without raising the prices of goods and services. Some of them achieve this through hidden costs, where the advertised costs are not what the consumer ends up paying. Hotels […]
Why Your Business Needs a Doula Right Now?
A Flux Trends briefing by Dion Chang Death, be it of a dream, a career or a business, is one of the most traumatic things we face as a species. They say the only certainties in life are death and taxes. Irrespective of your background, social or economic status – you will, at some point, […]
A Roadmap to Rescue Our Republic : Radical collaborative ideas for a hopeful future
SPECIAL LAUNCH OFFER : Book this Trend Briefing in Keynote or Salon format and get 50 FREE copies of the Rescuing Our Republic book, autographed by Bronwyn, perfect as a year-end corporate gift for your team and clients. South Africa stands at the edge of a precipice. Almost thirty years after its first democratic election, […]
Great Expectations
Our expectations, that is, our beliefs, shape our thoughts, which in turn direct our actions and shape our reality. In a very literal sense, we get what we believe. Or, to put it another way, we are responsible for the consequences of the beliefs we instil in others. In this Flux Trends briefing, we look at […]
Restrictions on Cultural and Religious Diversity
What’s trending? Some governments are banning citizens or employees from wearing items of clothing that they deem to be inappropriate. Over the past decade, France has imposed limitations on the religious dress of some French people. In 2004, Muslim headscarves were banned at French public schools. Burkinis (full-body swimsuits) were banned from beaches in 2016 […]
Community-centric retail
What’s trending? Encouraging a sense of community is emerging as an increasingly important part of a successful physical retail strategy. The pandemic precipitated a large-scale adoption of ecommerce which led to a sharp decline in foot traffic at brick and mortar shops. Since then, consumers have been returning to stores. A key element of this […]
Ethical Hacking
What’s trending? In ethical hacking, hackers are authorised to test the robustness of a company’s IT system. It’s been around for a while but a new type of hacking has emerged whereby the hackers use textual prompts instead of code to try to manipulate generative AI chatbots into inappropriate behaviour. In August, thousands of hackers […]
Worker data rights
What’s trending? Calls for worker data rights are growing. Workers lack proper protection for the data that employers collect about them. The range collected is wide, depending on the type of industry involved, company policies and legal regulations. These include HR information, time and motion data, geo-location data, shift and scheduling data, personal payroll data […]
Overtourism Pushback
What’s trending? Tourist spots around the world are beginning to introduce measures to counter overtourism – the phenomenon whereby places are inundated by tourists, causing undesirable side effects. Bali is a textbook example of a destination plagued by overtourism. The island of 4.3 million people saw 6.3 million visitors in 2019, the year before the […]