Create Tomorrow, The WGSN Podcast

The virtual influencer market is booming. In fact, virtual influencers are set to yield three times more engagement than human influencers. They’re ushering in a whole new world of sponsorship potential and dynamic multi-platform entertainment possibilities for brands to be a part of over the next decade, as these characters and the technology supporting them mature. It’s anticipated that they will transform everything from pop-culture and online shopping to education and work. In 2030 the digital human market is set to be worth about $530 billion globally, which is up from just $10 billion in 2020. In this episode Senior Strategist at WGSN Cassandra Napoli, speaks to Christopher Travers, an entrepreneur focused on the area of pseudonymity and various forms of online identity, to break down this incredibly complex and layered topic and to share his expert commentary on the constantly evolving world of virtual influencers.

In January WGSN walked the halls of Maison & Objet in Paris, one of the most important trade shows in the world for home interiors and products. We analysed the product design trends from bouclé to paper maché, sustainability to scentscaping. Today we kick off by discussing the central theme of the show this year, which was all about Care, whether that means people or the environment,  indoors or outdoors.

This week our host Bethan Ryder is joined by WGSN’s head of Colour Urangoo Samba and Caroline Guilbert, Creative Content Lead at Coloro to discuss this year's colour of the year, Digital Lavender. Tune in to find out why are we seeing it everywhere, from consumer tech and fashion to the colour palettes in TV dramas?  Every year WGSN produces colour forecasts for our clients in collaboration with our partner business Coloro. In this episode the team chats about what Digital Lavender signifies and why it's so popular right now, whilst touching on a few other colours that we’ve forecast as key for this year.

As we roll into 2023, we decided to discuss one of our most popular reports with the team that put it together; WGSN's "Cities to Watch 2023". The cities we highlight are always creative hubs, but they also tend to reflect some of the bigger consumer trends we’re seeing around the world, and so this year’s choices are perhaps less obvious than usual and truly testament to the rise of digital nomads – people who have relocated out of big cities following the pandemic, or who have simply chosen to work remotely in livable, less hectic cities.

2023 is just around the corner. In this episode, we divulge some of the top trends we are forecasting for next year. So, what can you expect in tech, interiors and what we’ll eat and drink next year and beyond? Get the answers here. Carla Buzasi is the host of this end-of-the-year show and her guests in this episode are Andrea Bell, VP of Consumer Insights, and Lisa White, Creative Director of WGSN.

Andy Cato is an arable and livestock farmer and co-founder of WildFarmed. In this episode we hear about Andy’s journey from grammy-nominated musician, as one half of Groove Armada, to award-winning farmer and all round trailblazer trying to establish a more restorative and sustainable food system. Not just through actually farming, but also by creating a community of fellow farmers like him and by working with schools to educate the next generation. Tune in to hear all about WildFarmed and what Andy calls “the long road to Greggs” as he spills the beans to our Director of Food and Drink Jen Creevy.

In this episode Bethan Ryder is joined by Director of Beauty Clare Varga, Head of Food and Drink Claire Lancaster and Director of Consumer Insight Joe McDonnell to address changing consumer behaviour in the light of the cost of living crisis and what brands can do to reassure and retain consumers in the months ahead. If you’re a WGSN subscriber you’ll find many reports covering the cost of living on our Consumer Insight platform and across all the products from fashion to food & drink. If you want to find out how to subscribe, head over to WGSN.com to discover how you can get access to our service. We’re constantly publishing new content focussing on how we can design a brighter, better future for our industries – including food & drink, interiors, beauty, fashion and consumer tech.

This week WGSN Editorial Director Bethan Ryder is joined by Reiko Morrison WGSN's Head of CMF and Benjamin Hubert, founder of the London-based industrial design agency Layer Design. Layer recently launched a monograph, published by Phaidon, during the London Design Festival which coincided with an exhibition which ran as part of the inaugural Material Matters fair. The book covers the various stages of Benjamin Hubert’s career and the many products he’s designed for the likes of Bang  & Olufsen, Vitra, Moroso, Cappellini, Muuto and more.  Hubert had a design career in his sights while still at school and initially wanted to design cars, but went into product design instead and has designed a huge range of products from lighting to tech, and it’s tech in particular where Layer Design excels at creating incredibly tactile products though a combination of materials.  The three discuss how they see the future of Consumer tech evolving with less screens and a rich sense of materiality and haptic happiness.

In anticipation of the release of WGSN’s Home Lifestyles 2025 white paper, Carla Buzasi sat down with creative director and director of interiors Lisa White to talk about the product opportunities for your business in the home of 2025 as it further evolves into a multipurpose place to work, unwind, exercise, educate the kids, entertain friends and so much more. Listening for a taster about this insightful piece of WGSN research.

This week WGSN's Director of Food and Drink Jen Creevy talks to co-founder and CEO of WhatIF Foods Chris Langwallner. WhatIF foods is a trailblazing business attempting to fix a broken food system by making daily staples like noodles and milk from nutritional, previously overlooked ingredients such as the Bambara nut. These crops are grown using regenerative practices and value chains as opposed to supply chains that also empower farmers in regions around the world.