From mass shootings to rise of ISIS, 2015 was a year of anxiety, fear and stress. What lies ahead in 2016? Faith Popcorn reveals a shocking vision of Tomorrow in which consumers seek new ways to escape the chaos swirling around them. Find out how we’ll cope, commune and create joy as a mega-challenging year unfolds.

1. FA I T H P O P C O R N ’ S B R A I N R E S E RV E
PREDICTIONS 2016COPYRIGHT © 2016

2. How we’ll cope, cOMMUNE,
& create joy as a MEGA-challenging
year unfolds
CHAOS
CONTROL

3. BUNKERINGOur Cocooning Trend (b. 1981) gets extreme

4. NOW
suicide veSts, grenades, & global
travel alerts: Welcome to A
wartime WORLD where leaving home
IS a life-or-death decision
• Paris tourism -57% post-terror attacks
• 74% of Americans worried ISIS will strike
in US
• Mass shootings in the US are, on average,
a daily event
• Panic rooms are the new NYC status symbol

5. FUTURE
Tiny chips: Ones that detect
explosives and dirty bombs are
embedded in our Fitbits, fingers
or mobile devices
Armored communities:
Privacy is swapped for safety.
Residents’ activities and emails
are scanned constantly, ensuring
terrorist-free towns
Virtual travel replaces real:
Tours via Oculus Rift and Google
Cardboard satisfy our wanderlust
when the world feels too
threatening

6. THE DIGITAL COCOONWe retreat into carefully curated Echo Chambers that reinforce our
beliefs and buffer us from anxiety

7. NOW
Originally created to connect
people, the Internet now shelters us
in a PLU (People Like Us) pod
• SameGrain (voted Best Social App of 2015)
allows users to connect with “people like
you—around the corner or around the world”
• Facebook reveals who among our friends has
“liked” Donald Trump, and you decide if that’s
a good or bad thing
• Niche dating sites: Disney fans, farmers, salad
lovers, snake owners and more

8. FUTURE
The Rise of Micro-Clans: Squads of
friends become the new social unit.
“Bestie Rows” = streets where pals live
next to each other
The Un-News: As social media replaces
old-school reporting, consumers get their
updates from filtered feeds that are
sponsored and biased

9. AngstingEmbracing our sadness is the new stress relief

10. NOW
Consumers HUNGER FOR REAL
emotions–even sad ones–in our
isolated-by-technology ERA
• Adele’s heart-wrenching 25 tops the charts,
revealing people’s desire to feel. “Netflix and
chill” gets replaced by “Adele and cry”
• Affluent women join the Sad Girl Movement
and cultivate a despondent look; gain
hundreds of thousands of followers
• The Museum of Feelings in NYC: Visitors’
moods are channeled by social media to
become artwork in real time

11. FUTURE
Working through sadness is seen as the
key to a richer life; people flock to Grief
Curators to untangle their emotions
From drop-in CryPods to
Misery Parties, businesses help
consumers purge the pain

12. CHASING THE HIGHEscape to altered states, far from our stress-shattered daily lives

13. NOW
IN TENSE TIMES, WE DESIRE TO RETREAT
AND EXPLORE OUR MIND’S INNER
LANDSCAPE
• Entrepreneurs and techies micro-dose with
LSD to stimulate on-the-job creativity
• Soaring drug use & heavy drinking across US
• America’s first Ayahuasca retreat takes guests
on shamanistic journeys into their psyche
• CanopyBoulder–the first US cannabis-centric
start-up accelerator–grooms companies for
investment

14. FUTURE
A new leaf: The first marijuana
brand will be publicly traded on
Wall Street
Mind-quaking OTC products:
Laced with hallucinogens, they
become key creativity tools at work
Visioning: A new field emerges
with licensed practitioners
guiding clients through drug trips

15. What this means to the Marketplace:
• In uncertain times, consumers turn to what they
can trust. Brands that are ultra-dependable–and
communicate this through all channels–will thrive
• In an ever-more automated future, we want the
responsiveness of real live people wherever robot
voices and touch-pads now reign. Companies with
impeccably trained, 100% human customer service
will win
• Marketers must recognize their consumers struggle
and enhance her emotional life with services that
support and uplift
ANXIETY
FEAR
A DANGEROUS WORLD
BUNKERING
THE DIGITAL COCOON
ANGSTING
CHASING THE HIGH

16. What will you do differently today?
tomorrow
Now that you know everything about
Faith Popcorn’s BrainReserve
55 East 59th St, 18th Floor
New York, NY 10022
212.772.7778
Faith Popcorn
@faithpopcorn
@faithpopcorn
Faith Popcorn
FaithPopcorn.com