100 Things to Look Forward to in 2014

JWT, the world’s best-known marketing communications brand, today released its annual list of 100 Things to Watch for the year ahead.

 

“With the Winter Olympics in Sochi, FIFA World Cup in Brazil and first commercial space flight, 2014 promises a lot of things to watch. Our list spotlights developments around these major events and across sectors including technology, television, food and spirits, retail, health care and the arts,” says Ann Mack, director of trendspotting at JWT. “It also reflects broader shifts that we’re forecasting, including the end of anonymity, the movement toward mindful living and the remixing of tradition in an ‘everything goes’ age.”

 

Many of JWT’s Things to Watch are technology-centric, including the advent of beacons, Internet safety nets, robots for kids and techno-paranoia. The list also includes new foods and ƒfeabeverages to watch (savory yogurt, soju), new markets opening up (related to marijuana, privacy and Google Glass), new behaviors (contemplative computing, digital grieving) and ideas with the potential to ladder up to bigger trends.

 

JWT’s 100 Things to Watch in 2014, unranked and in alphabetical order (find descriptions of each in the agency's full report in the “2014 and beyond” section of JWTIntelligence.com).

 

1.    3D Printer Retail Hubs
2.    3D Printing Accessories
3.    Aerial Yoga 
4.    African Contemporary Art
5.    Algae
6.    Ambient Commerce
7.    Armchair Travel  
8.    Arrested IRL Development
9.    Art Incubators 
10.    AwesomenessTV
11.    Beacons
12.    Bitcoin Rivals
13.    Bitcoins Bust Out
14.    Branded Real Estate Development
15.    Brands Blur Gender Lines  
16.    Brands in Space
17.    Brazil as Debutante
18.    Brazilian Art
19.    Breath Analysis
20.    Catering to Chemical Sensitivities  
21.    Chinese Wines
22.    The Circular Economy
23.    Cocktails on Tap
24.    Community-Supported Everything 
25.    Contemplative Computing
26.    Couriers on Call
27.    Craft Mocktails
28.    Deconstructed Dinners
29.    Delivery Wars
30.    Demonizing Food Dyes
31.    Digital Art
32.    Digital Grieving
33.    Divorce Parties
34.    Drone Regulation
35.    E-Cigarette Regulation
36.    Edible Packaging
37.    Equal Rights for Men 
38.    Fashion for the Space Age
39.    Fast Food Tofu
40.    Feel-Good Fashion
41.    Glanceable UI
42.    Glassware
43.    Godless Congregations
44.    Google Glass Etiquette  
45.    Hacking’s New Frontier
46.    Haptic Technology
47.    Hashtag Fatigue
48.    Heads-Up Movement
49.    Homemade Baby Food Delivery 
50.    Human Touches
51.    Infused Ice Cubes 
52.    Internet Safety Nets 
53.    Jumia
54.    Kid-Bots
55.    Live Broadcasts 
56.    Makeup Salons
57.    The Marijuana Market
58.    mEmployment 
59.    Messaging Apps as Retail Channel
60.    Metadata
61.    Mindfulness in Classrooms
62.    Minimoons
63.    Minute to Read It
64.    Needle-Free Vaccines
65.    Oculus Rift
66.    OTT TV
67.    Photoshop for All
68.    Podcast One
69.    Privacy by Design
70.    Privacy Marketplace
71.    Regional Ethnic Cuisine
72.    Robotic Security Guards
73.    Role-Playing Adventures
74.    Savory Yogurt 
75.    Seamless Payments 
76.    Semiautonomous Cars
77.    Sensory Literacy as Core Curriculum
78.    Sight-Running
79.    Smart Vending Machines
80.    Snail Slime
81.    The Social Divide
82.    Sochi’s Third Coming
83.    Soju 
84.    Speaking Visually
85.    Sports Mashups
86.    Stealth Health
87.    Survival of the Focused
88.    Tablet-First TV 
89.    Techno-Paranoia
90.    Telediagnostics 
91.    Telepresence Robots
92.    Traditional Folk Clothing  
93.    Ugly Produce
94.    Unconventional Models
95.    Vaping Lounges
96.    Vegetable Co-Stars 
97.    Verified Reviewers
98.    Virtual Stickers Come to Life
99.    Xbox Programming
100.    Xiaomi

 

This is the eighth year JWT is publishing a Things to Watch list, a complement to JWT’s annual 10 Trends forecast. Things JWT has spotlighted in past lists include Drones, Gender-Blurred Toys, Instant-Erase Apps and Variable Pricing (in 2013); Crowdsourced Learning, Gen Z and Smart Clothing (in 2012); P-to-P Car Sharing, YouTube the Broadcaster and The Nail Polish Economy (in 2011); Mobile Money, Coconut Water and Bacon Everywhere (in 2010); Lady Gaga, Crowdfunding, WikiLeaks and Gluten-Free (in 2009); Radical Transparency and Staycations (in 2008); and Barack Obama, Jennifer Hudson and Companies Going Green (in 2007).