Future Consumer 2028 – The Awakened Ascendants

The Assendants have made optimisation emotional, that's what they've been, they've made it really different. And I think when we think about the emotions and the sentiments that are going to be shaping what consumers want, one of the consumer emotions we identified that this consumer is aligned with is flourishing. Instantly, when you start thinking about I want products that are going to help me flourish, you get it. And I think that's how they're going to look at brands. You know, how can you help me progress? How can you help me flourish? How can you help me grow? So, this is Clevverga, vice-president of Consumer Insight at WGSN. As you probably know at WGSN every year, we publish our future consumer forecast, one of our most eagerly anticipated forecasts. This year is no different. We are currently three out of four podcasts in to discussing the four major cohorts that are going to be important across all industries come at 2028. And today, we're going to be talking all about the Assendants and help me with that. I've got Claire, who runs our Consumer Insight Division. Thank you for coming on the podcast again. No, I love it. To select so it's anytime I get to see you and this time it's in person. This time it's in person, this time it's person. Okay, so let's dive straight in, tell me who are the Assendants, what do we need to know about them and why they're important in 2028? The Assendants are, they're all about progress with play. Progress with play. They are very joyful optimizers, they're very curious, they're very energized by discovery. Okay, now when we talk about the descendants within the other four personas, they're always seen as the slightly techy one. Okay. And I think it would be really, really easy to sort of stereotype this particular consumer as that sort of Brian Johnson-esque tech bro. Oh, really? I want to live forever type person. They are not that at all. Okay. They are, they're much more about, they don't want to live forever. They just want to live better. And it's not that they want to change the future or they're in denial about the future. They just want, they're in training for the future, you know, that it's about resilience, it's not about perfection, it's not about living forever. So they are early adopters, you know, they are, as I say, they're very curious and just finding something new is really what sort of drives them. Yes, tech comes into it, but it can be something that's just beautifully designed, might have used tech in the process. It's not all about digital things, but really, they're just optimizing their lives. It's, optimization is probably the key word I would have to show with this one. So we can't get through a podcast moment without talking about AI. In fact, I don't think I get through a day at the moment without talking about AI in some capacity. Is this the cohort that are more open to how AI might benefit them? Yeah, absolutely. To them, AI is not a tool, AI is infrastructure. Okay. It's just part of their lives. So they'll be using it already? Yes, absolutely. You know, and they're using it in terms of discovery. So how that shopping, it's changing, how they're discovering things, they're using it as search engines. I think, you know, we're looking at the way consumers are discovering products anymore, you know, I think we're at 70% of sort of younger consumers and now switching to Gen AI to discover products, you know, they're not going and saying what's trending, you know, they're going to look for sort of the Gen AI to sort of, you know, aggregate everything that the search engines knew, they're going and saying they're not going and saying, oh, you know, what products trending? They're saying, what's the product that's going to optimize me? This is where I'm going. What's going to be best for me? So that's kind of interesting avenue to explore for a moment. Is this the group, therefore, that are going to be less swayed by what influences or content creators might be suggesting? And are they being more thoughtful about the investigation or the research that they do into products before just taking a recommendation? They are. And I think one thing that I didn't mention about the, the, the, the ascendance is, they're making optimization emotional, okay? So they do look at recommendations, they do look at performance because they want, they want performance, they want progress, they want evolution, but they're not as much as necessarily swayed by an influencer and the likes. They, they do want to have a connection with it. It's not newness for the sake of newness, it's not innovation for the sake of innovation. They're looking for, they're looking for small wins as much as big wins, you know, so they are influenced by, you know, influencers, but there is more likely to look on something like Reddit and get that sort of group feel about things as well. Yeah. I mean, just look at, I mean, looking, I saw some data stats, which I'm not going to remember now. Unfortunately, I don't have them on my Q card, but about, you know, the increase in usage and Reddit over the past few years. Now we were tracking this a couple of years ago, but it's really accelerated recently. And I find that quite fascinating in a world where we think so much about the visual and, you know, beautiful imagery that that might sway us to make a decision. And yet these are people who are going down, you know, not beautifully designed threads of data and words to discover new things or to do their research. And they're offering very human problems that are solving, you know, they're, they're very everyday things. Like I say, they're not, they're not looking to, you know, find the fountain of view things that sometimes it's just like, you know, what's the best supplement that's going to get me through the next day, or, you know, you know, which you and I have been stopping. So, you know, and they're looking, they're just, you know, say they're talking about being very human, very empathetic. They're, they're looking for, for, for real solutions to real problems, real problems. Okay, I really like that. Now, question always has to come up at some stage. Does this group skew towards any particular age group? No. And I think this is an interesting and again, you would tend to think it was. And I think, you know, this is where the way we approach our personas really comes into this for because we're not looking at a demographic and ascendant can be 25 or 55. And I think, you know, if you, if you're looking at them purely from an age point of view, you're going to miss them. Yeah. You're going to miss them. Okay. If you're designing products for the ascendants that are building agency, giving them control, you've got them. So, you know, that you are seeing it at all ages. And I think it's because that there is, you know, lots of, they're very small problems. And we all just feature, you know, we're all dealing with these problems. Yeah. They stay. So what have been the drivers then? Where have the ascendants come from? I think, you know, there's always been a sort of an ascendant consumer around. There's always been the early adopter. There's always been that very aspirational and consumer. But at the moment, I think, you know, is the state of the world at the moment, you know, the ascendants, they're looking for control. They're looking for agency. No, they can't control the climate. They can't control the geopolitical landscape. But what they can control is their biology. Their life. Their energy. And also their learning. And that's their drivers. It really is about agency and preparing themselves, you know, talking to somebody about them the other day. And I said, you know, it's not vanity. It's not even, you know, that they just want to be the first. It's actually, it's about resilience. You know, that's what this optimization comes from. That's where I like to make the difference, but they're not that sort of tech bro. You know, it's about resilience and training for the life. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So it's taken control in a world that feels very out of control at the moment. And then maybe positioning themselves for a positive future in whatever aspect that might mean to them. What, which industries should be really focused on preparing themselves for descendants? Pretty much all industries, you know, this is touching everything. And, you know, we're already seeing those early signals of industries talking to this consumer beauty wellness is sort of a given almost food and drink, you know, as well some of the things that happening around food. The other thing I really need to stress about this particular persona is they're really playful. They're fun as well. They, they enjoy tech. And, and I guess in a way they are, you know, I said, they're, they're purpose with play. They're quite joyful. They, they almost gamify everything. Which is quite nice because some of the other thoughts are less playful and more serious and more concerned about the world. Yeah, feels like this one's of using a sort of positive path to navigate through it. Yeah, these are the kidults then. Is there a sort of kiddo aspect to these? I think possibly, you know, the, I think one of the examples that stood out was from our sports and our daughter and you were like this as well because it's about an exercise bike. A really new gen exercise bike and I know you love that. But this one is sort of like, they've sort of gamified the participation in the, as you progress, you would lock features on the bike. So it changes it. So, and I think, you know, that's, I do like that. That's another way to engage with them. You know, I think they want to be part of an ecosystem. Yeah, they want to sort of participate. They're not really going to be that sort of person who's going to collect points on their card and perks. They're not really into that. But if you can you know, you can link their progress to something that's sort of fun as well, you know, and that's when you really get them, but they are very playful and I think, you know, again, the food and drink team talked about, I think it was Shake Shack had worked with an AI company to sort of create, I think it was a custard or an ice cream that was egg free dairy free, but I still had the exact texture. And, you know, this idea that, you know, they're going to go for that, they make, you know, eating sort of an ice cream or something or a cake that's been formulated, so it's perfectly balanced. They're actually making that into sort of a biohacking sort of improvement. But they still on cake or ice cream. We still on cake or ice cream. Okay, all right, so this is not the kind of maniacal, like longevity, you know, and either they're on, okay, what as brands are thinking about meeting the ascendant as this group is kind of emerging quite strongly as we look to future years. What are the things that they should be prioritising? I think when you look at them, one of the first things I would say is like sort of audit your temperature. As in, are you warm? Okay, how are you? No, actually physical temperature. They want emotional connection. So, if your tech is a bit mechanical, if your service is just a bit dry, they just won't connect with it. There is your algorithm or just how you interact with people, you know, they want that. We're always talking about performance, you know, they want high performance to be emotional and warm and connected. So, you've got to have that if you need to connect with this consumer. That's something I would absolutely prioritise. Okay, little pause, quick fire questions. You've done these quite a few times now, so you're really, really good at it. Okay, this is a new one for this. Which consumer persona do you align with most? You know, I am an ascendant. You're an ascendant with a bit of restore arising. I think to be a forecast, you have to have. You've got to have some positive stimulus to talk about that. And I think it is very a work thing, but I am the person, even when I'm going around the supermarket, I'm trying to do it in the most efficient way, you know, I am absolutely an ascendant. And I did actually download an app last week to try and decide if I needed to get bangs or not. I'm so like, I'm being served lots of those ads on Instagram at the moment. And someone who doesn't cut her hair very often, I think, twice in the last six years, because I just don't really find the time to do it. I think maybe it's time for a fringe. Well, it wasn't time for a fringe. I can tell you having seen it. But then, you know, I just talked about the fact that, you know, ascendant's quite playful as well. And then spent another half hour seeing what I looked like with every hair style, every hair colour in the distance. And what was the conclusion you came to? I am just an angular Bob person and I should stop messing around with my hair. Stink with what you know. Stay with what you know. Okay. Which is the book you're recommending most at the moment? You know, I'm terrible. I don't read a lot of books. And again, this is why I'm ascendant. I listen to books. I am. I use my commute and my bedtime. Yeah. I love to say it was something very weighty and meaningful. I love a trashy book. I, yeah, I'm. I tend to read a lot of history. Okay. My history novels and things. I think looking, you know, again, I think it's a forecaster. Yeah. And understanding what went before. So I do look at a lot of stuff like that. Currently, I'm machining my way through. I make her in the slow horses. Excellent. Excellent. Okay. It's good to know. Favorite AI tool. Well, it's got to be the hair wrap, hasn't it? Now, it has to be the hair wrap. No. I mean, any, any assistant that. Makes the complexity easy, anything that like augments my thinking, but doesn't replace it is I'm drawn to, but. Augmenting hair. Definitely. What's the song you've currently got on repeat? Oh, at the moment. Oh, having a bit of a retro. And then my son has got me into a K pop. Alt K pop band called Barmatiger. Who are they sort of collective? And they're just joyous. And I highly recommend a song called Big Butt. If you just need to dance around, it's not rude or anything. It's just joyous. Big, but K pop. Right. Okay. I might try that on the way home. And what was the last thing you ticked off your bucket list? I don't have a bucket list. And I don't think I believe in them. I think. They just feel very definitive. And I do have a lot of. It doesn't really. We send in. And how can they actually, you know, send the planning for. You know, around forever. So I won't, I won't need to take anything off. Okay, all right. So let's think about the future. If you are in design or marketing, right now, or even kind of in innovation. What would you or how should you be thinking about the ascendant consumer? It's how you can. Humanize and bring warmth to technology and progress and evolution. So on that. Is this a. Let's take, you know, there's a lot of discussion at the moment. Not new. We've been having this for a while about say AI imagery as an example. Is this sort of group that will. Accept AI imagery and marketing campaigns. If it feels like it has some warmth to it. Or would they be put off by that? Yeah, I think they, they will accept it. But it's, it's got to connect with them. It's got to be the right sort of imagery. It's got to have the right sort of feel about it. I think. There's not humans in the images. Absolutely. And they still want humans and everything. You know, it's, it's not an either or for them. You know, I think they, they similar to how I think about it. You know, they want. It doesn't have to be a technical digital AI product. There might be either it might be a product, you know, that's formulated using AI or enhanced using AI. But the actual product might be something quite analog, quite, quite basic. And again, they, they just think of it as infrastructure. It's just, I don't even think they have to sort of. No, think about it. No, it's just the world that they live in. Yeah, and they've accepted it and they just sort of. Okay. How does kind of family and community fit in with this group? Even though the ascendant is very, quite aspirational. They like to feel special. They're not date keepers actually. So they, you know, they're very, they'll share everything. They want to share all their discoveries. And they, again, back to that sort of idea that, you know, I'd, I'd be saying to business as well. I think rethink about your sort of loyalty systems. They want things like closed community. They want invites. They want products in beta unit phases. Yeah. Glow recipe who are a really interesting beauty brand. Like last year, they did some amazing activations where. They actually just sent out to some of their key community people. And just little bottles of their latest serum that were labeled as lap, lap samples. And they just sent them out. Everybody knew they were coming. The imprints and reach that it had was absolutely amazing. And that was because they were just sharing it, sharing it, sharing it. So they, they, they would, they do want that sort of community. Like, say, then they're not date keepers. Once they found a solution for something, you know, they, they want to share it. And they're going to, you know, they're like, you've got to have this supplement. You've got to do that. Yeah. Yeah. You definitely fit in that. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. They do like things that are beautifully designed. Okay. I know it is a form and function are still very important to them. They do want to see, you know, the same way they want to see sort of progress. It, you know, micro progress and evolution. They do want to see things that are beautifully designed. And I think, you know, I think we talked a lot about design to disappear. You know, when you think about their home. You know, there's some beautiful sort of counters or bedside tables that if you can imagine that they're wireless charging points. But you don't know them. They're sort of designed for the future. You can just put any device down and it will charge. So, you know, how they live. They want things that are integrated. Even when you look at some of the sports equipment and the home equipment that they're using, you know, they're just absolutely beautiful, but, you know, they're so expensive. I want some really beautiful dumbbells. They do, they're not. And these are home ones. I have absolutely that whole collection. Yeah. Gorgeous. Yeah. Absolutely. And I've been told categorically I'm not allowed to get rid of the weights. We've got a home replacement because they're home ones. But I can also imagine, you know, some of this stuff that's happening around travel as well. I think that's where you are seeing some of the really interesting tech coming through. There's a brand called Harman who have created this in car. It's like an AI avatar. And it's designed to be very warm and very human. It will pick up on your voice cues, your body. And then it will try and adapt the environment of the car so that you feel, you know, you're optimized for driving. But I think when I was looking at the ascendance, you know, they are professionals. They are parents. They are athletes. They are people in mid life that say they're very different. And it was one particular product that I really liked, which again, the sports now dovetime, which was a little trike for it. year old and it was like a self balancing trike. So it basically helped with motor skills and you know, so an ascendant parent, they're already optimizing their children before they can even, you know, tie their shoelaces. It's just, it's, it's, it's just part of the infrastructure of life. Okay, let's talk a little bit about the kind of longevity theme. I don't even call it a trend. It's more of a movement because you're saying that this group and not the ones who are like biohacking everything and living sort of, kind of tailed lives because they want to live longer. But I imagine that this is a movement that crosses over quite a lot with the ascendants. Absolutely. What, what are you and your team forecasting at the moment as we look two years ahead or two years out in that space that's of interest? Like a personal question as much as they're looking at. I mean, actually, this is where I love the bioengineering stuff is happening and, you know, in beauty and wellness, you're seeing a lot more products that are, you know, working at a cellular level and that's definitely where we're seeing that going and, you know, actually taking charge of your biology, whether that's through what you're eating or how you're working out, that's definitely where we're seeing, you know, that sort of longevity conversation going. And I think it's not necessarily about living longer. We talked a lot about health spans rather than life spans. Yeah. It's about trying to stay as healthy as long as you can so that, you know, when you do finally get to retire, you can enjoy that time. Enjoy your age. Yeah. Again, it's resilient. It's about resilience. It's about being sort of future fit. Okay. So we talked about what's important when this cohort sort of emerges. They're beginning to emerge already, but when we feel that there's more kind of a, you know, a mass who are behaving this way, but what's the one thing you were tell brands to do right now to be prepared for? Is that about products? Sounds like it might be about product or. It's not. It's about, it's the emotion side of things would be because you can, you can design the most amazing product, but if people don't connect with it, they're not going to do it. It's a, the, the, a sentence of made optimization emotional. That's what they've been. They made it really different. Okay. I love it. It's so positive and I think, you know, instantly when you start thinking about, I want products that are going to help me flourish, you get it. And I think it's such a positive emotion. Very nice thinking about it. And I think, you know, in the world at the moment, flourishing is, it's hard, it's hard to find those sort of green shoots of where you can grow yourself. So it's thinking about how you can help people flourish. Yeah. That's a really nice one. I probably know the answer given sort of where we're going with this because we've always got to ask it, but with all of that said, do you feel more hopeful or as an ascendant, as an ascendant, would you feel more positive or anxious about the future? I am absolutely optimistic and positive, you know, again, as a forecaster and an ascendant. And an ascendant. You have to be. But no, I am. And, you know, when I look at the innovations that are out there, the way we are problem solving, actually that people are looking to each other much more. And, you know, that we have words like flourishing coming through. Yeah. Yeah. I think I am, I am, I am very optimistic at heart. To Clevverga's optimistic and the ascendants are optimistic. It is, I think there's something lovely about this said we're kind of, you know, with three of the four major cohorts through in this sort of mini series within the pod past. And, you know, there's a lot of anxiety out there, which you're seeing coming out in these particular consumer groups. And it feels that this one, the anxiety is there. The world is the same that they're living in, but they're chanting a more positive attitude. Yeah, they're absolutely not in denial about it. They are, you know, actively, again, it's a form of resistance as well, isn't it? It's resilience and its resistance. It's like this is what I can call control. This is what I can take care of. Yeah. Do you have any case studies in terms of the playful aspect? Are there any brands that are doing that really well at the moment? I think that's the opportunity. I think there's probably more opportunity for more playful sort of products and services. I mean, playful joy as well. I mean, the food stuff is really interesting. Even in supplements, you know, there's some really interesting things sort of coming through, you know, there's, I think there are a brand out of Singapore and they do performance gummies like creatine gummies. I think they call foul play, you know, and their gummies are pink. They're actually targeted at men, but they've decided to sort of have this very different brand identity and their tagline is, you know, performance you can taste. You know, but again, there's sort of the ice creams coming through food is very, I think some of the stuff that's happening in sort of food and drink is just really, really interesting. I think there's a fascinating industry at the moment because there's a lot of innovation happening, you know, cool things that aren't about sort of taking away, but not about denying yourself. No. This group that sounds right on that. Yeah. And thank you all for tuning in. So as I said already, we are three of our four future consumer profiles in in this mini series. I'll be back in two weeks time with the last future consumer forecast for 2028. Thank you to Klaaf, being on podcast again. Thank you all for listening. I'm Colin Bizarchi, CEO of WGSN, and I'll see you next time.