Future Map For Consumer Brands

Overview

My goal as a futurist, also called a foresight expert, is twofold: (1) predict where the proverbial hockey puck is going to be; (2) put a plan in place that gets me there so that I can take maximum advantage of it.

My background as a leading-edge technologist, business model innovator, and exponential growth strategist has always kept me focused on the future. However, it wasn’t until 2017 that I began to formalize my work as a futurist. I felt the need to try and make sense of the increasing chaos around us and wanted to be more intentional about where I direct my time, energy, and resources.

Summary

Groundbreaking research has emerged from pioneering futurists and other subject-matter experts that has given us unmatched insight into the unfolding tapestry of the future, thereby allowing us to position ourselves and our businesses to survive and thrive.

We are currently in the final gasps of the “Old Normal” that has existed since 1945 along with its antiquated systems and structures.

We face a challenging transition I call “The Reckoning,” a period of profound restructuring and economic readjustment not seen since the 1930s Great Depression and WWII.

After this lies the “Resurgence” and “New Normal” in the 2030s and beyond, a period with great potential for growth and prosperity in the U.S.

I am using my futurist work to help position me, my family,  my career and skills, and my businesses to not just survive through the The Reckoning, but also be setup to thrive in The Resurgence that follows.

I publish my predictions and action plans for consumer brands on this page.  Scroll down to access those tools.

How To Future-Proof

My goal is to help DTC/B2C/B2B2C/consumer brands transition from the Old Normal, through The Reckoning and into the New Normal.  I offer the following.

1. Start future-proofing right now

We’re all experiencing the stresses of an uncertain future that seem to be compounding on each other with no end in sight. How does all this play out? When can we return to a sense of normal where we can rest in greater certainty about our futures with much less fear?

I try to answer these questions through a significant body of work I’ve published that contains a treasure trove of revelations along with a roadmap for how we can navigate the future.

Start future-proofing yourself, your family, your career and skills, and your company immediately with the open source docs published further down this page.

2. I run a closed email list for consumer product industry practitioners.

I send out emails periodically updating subscribers with the latest changes to my futurist predictions, action plans and forward guidance. My list is for DTC/B2C/B2B2C/consumer product industry professionals.

Contact me if you wish to be added to this list.

3. I run webinars, present at events and speak to C-suite leadership groups

I am an experienced speaker and bring my futurist work to life via in-person presentations and webinars for groups/associations, at DTC/B2C/B2B2C/consumer product industry events and for C-suite teams. I do not charge any fees for my talks.

Book me to help your organization understand the landscape of the future and strategies to thrive in it.

4. Let me unleash your company’s full potential

I create competitively defensible, disruption-proof strategies that can equip your business to thrive in the years ahead. I help you transition from the Old Normal to the New Normal.

I answer questions, like:

• What products to develop that will be successful and which to avoid;
• The markets, whether domestic and foreign, and distribution channels to focus on and which ones to avoid;
• What sustainable technologies and practices to adopt;
• How business models are changing and which new ones to adopt;
• Where to locate manufacturing in a deglobalizing world, optimized for labor/automation, government regs, access to resources, proximity to customers and risk management;
• What are the Achilles heels, “unknown unknowns” and deep, hidden risks that make a company fragile;
• What are future government policies (regulations and taxation) and how to prepare for them;
• What are major consumer shifts that could upend brands and how to prevent this disruption;
• Which brands are already on the New Normal track that we should model and emulate and why;
• What are risks you have not heard off and which ones that pose a threat to you.

Please contact me to help you future-proof your organization from the seismic changes that are approaching.

Questions and Feedback

Please use any form embedded throughout this website.

Published Documents And Resources

I group my futurist content into four areas: upcoming business cycles, exponential technologies, emerging business models and consumer shifts.  Core slideshare include the following:

• Upcoming Business Cycles:  to understand the future and what we can expect,  start with this slideshare.  I dive deep into the The Reckoning and Resurgence periods and how they will play out.
• Reckoning & Resurgence Summary:  How things will play out: this is an important narrative in document form where I consider all the information in my Business Cycle slideshare and lay out how I think the next 10-20 years plays out for the U.S., considering all of our challenges but also all of our strengths.  This document lays out the future in raw detail.  If you don’t read anything else, at least cover this document so you understand what to expect and why.
• Exponential Technologies & Emerging Business Models: I grouped these two together because new technologies tend to drive new business models.
• Consumer shifts: they are not the same as trends, which when identified are already here. Consumer shifts are bigger and can run many years, if not decades. I avoid covering trends because they emerge and fade quickly, making it nearly futile to strategically position oneself to capitalize on them.

Additional content as follows:

• Outdoor and Active Lifestyle Industry 10-Year Outlook: this slideshare reveals what the industry should expect through The Reckoning period.
• New Normal For Consumer Brands:  this slideshare provides a roadmap to help brands transition away from the “Old Normal” we have now that is no longer working and dying, through the The Reckoning, and into the New Normal for the 2030’s and beyond. This slideshare is tailored to the outdoor and active lifestyle industry, but much of what is published here can also work for other consumer product categories.
• Skill Sets And Jobs Of The Future For Consumer Product Professionals:  I put this together to help outline key skill sets to successfully navigate the future.
• Crowdsourced Survey.  These are a great list of questions that I like to ask others and answer for myself.  I have turned them into a survey so that we can tap into the collective wisdom of the consumer product industry.

I have licensed the content on this page under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International. which allows anyone to freely share, adapt, and build upon my creative work as long as they credit me, the creator, and share any changes they make under the same license.