Sears Global - Consumer Insight Report: Au/Wi 2020
STRATEGIC FORECAST
Client: CFO, CMO, VP teams and Global teams - Sears
Location: Global offices in San Francisco, CA + New York, NY + Hoffman Estates, ILL, USA + Hong Kong, China
Season: 2019 to 2020
Brief: Trend Forecasing, Womens, Mens, Kids, Baby, Active, Swim, Sleep, Home
Role: Research, Design, Presentation
2020 WAS A ROLLER-COASTER.
Facing the aftermath of the novel, global coronavirus pandemic finds us disillusioned and overwhelmed. How can we find center? How can we connect with carefully guarded, modern consumers? Shouting gets us nowhere. Time to listen.
Signals & Research: Trend Forecasting from 178 leading competitive retailers, from Contemporary to Mass apparel, influenced and tracked-back-to-Luxury / digital & technology trends / WGSN reports both custom designed / social trends / retail trends / food & culture trends
Inputs: Macro trends repeating through all research categories, specifically echoing in product from Mass-to-Luxury
The-Roll-Through: Comparing sales & Sears 47 Brand identities against Inputs = arriving at the resulting trends for 2020 & 2021
Quiet the noise.
After months of separation, intimacy and authenticity hold intense meaning. Relationships are powerful. Personal communication is cherished. Brands with a clear and definitive voice will stand apart. Adaptation is the key to thriving in our new, shared world.
The dichotomous tug between fast-paced, technological survival and replanting into the natural world bears on us all. The delivery of a definitive direction and confident message is most valuable. Clarity offers lasting meaning in a year marred with fearful irregularity.
//
THE
LAND
SCAPE
The struggle between nature and city is not new: the economy drives modern life forward, but there is a collective yearn for escape. Dreams of simpler times, weekend hikes, forest baths, or digging sun-starved hands into wet dirt are common.
In the midst of a terrifying global pandemic, the push and pull was amplified. After months spent stuck indoors, Autumn winds cool tensions. The ramifications of isolation come in waves of symptoms. Reaction to and mitigation of these symptoms will come to define the remainder of 2020, continuing well into 2021.
Momentous impacts, like these, have lead to an extreme divergence of thought. The outcome is two macro sociocultural polarities:
The ADVENTURER and the SURVIVALIST.
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The ADVENTURER
The Adventurer craves haptic encounters rather than things.
Accumulation of experiences makes a person of value. Hungry to escape cities and exploration. Reconnection to the essence of humanity is made through the body, in all it's fragility. In opposition, nature is dangerously ragged and immense. After sheltering-in-place, freedom in the wild outdoors feels like an invigorating cold shower. But nothing is gained without the wise perspectives of the past. Pushing the body to the limits is a reflection on human strength. Heritage, history, craftsmanship, and longevity build the core of the human experience.
//
The
SURVIVALIST
The Survivalist seeks utility, clarity, practicality, and the calming safety of technologically-supported longevity.
This macro movement had been slowly gaining momentum through artistic reactions and interpretations of the siloed urban experience. Technological advancements in AI, AR, biotech, and bioengineering led to existential conversations of human-computer interaction and competition. The recent global pandemic launched a new meaning of surviving differently into the mainstream. Children in medical masks popped the perceived safety bubble. Adaptability gains influence. The new, modern life is more contained, efficient, and self-sufficient.
Outcome: Single-source-of-truth cohesive Trend direction for the first time in the company’s 120+ year history
From CFO to home decor buying & sourcing team to sleep apparel design team: all voices are levelling up to the same place
Excerpt from: Strategic Forecast Consumer Insight Report Autumn/Winter 2020.
You can mourn something,
but if you don't let go of it,
you lose what you are doing.
Betsy Johnson, Fashion Designer & Entrepreneur