Greetings from İstanbul!

Welcome to our newest Trend Newsletter! We're excited to share some thought-provoking content tailored just for you. In this issue, you'll find out future consumers of the industry, innovative brand strategies, AI in marketing, trendiest colors for S/S 2026, and more!

So, why wait? Scroll down to discover the trends redefining the industry and how you can benefit them for success.

Enjoy your reading!

AI in Marketing: Blend Imagination
and Reality

From expanding the scope of storytelling to optimising SEO, using AI in your brand's marketing campaigns can improve efficiency or unlock new creative capabilities.

AI-driven Campaigns

Embrace innovative pragmatism by experimenting with AI tools like Midjourney and DALL-E to launch captivating and imaginative campaigns!

Opportunity: Marketers can harness the affordability and accessibility of AI tools to generate high-quality, imaginative content that inspires awe, evokes emotional responses, and fosters collective enthusiasm. This is the ideal moment for experimentation, though brands must be mindful of the potential risks surrounding ownership, intellectual property, and ethics.

Key strategies: As society transitions from the information age to the imagination era, AI tools will broaden the horizons of storytelling. Stay attuned to new features and offerings (for example, DALL-E’s Outpainting capability). Collaborate with AI artists or engage in co-creation with Gen Z, ensuring they are adequately compensated for their contributions. AI marketing should not be confined to digital environments; brands should integrate AI into real-life events as consumers are eager to re-engage physically.

Case study: McDonald’s and Burger King launched out-of-home advertisements simultaneously. McDonald’s led with an ad showcasing ChatGPT’s response to the Big Mac being the world’s most iconic burger. Seizing this opportunity, Burger King promoted its Whopper by asking ChatGPT to name the largest burger.

The AI internet

Integrate AI assistants into social search engines to improve user experiences and accelerate traffic and brand engagement.

Opportunity: AI tools can support consumers with menial tasks they are reluctant to complete, helping to build loyalty and boost engagement. 49% of US adults are interested in AI-powered search experiences.

Key strategies: Support consumers by embedding AI search tools into existing platforms to improve efficiency and create a seamless shopper journey. Time compression (losing perception of time) will cause great anxiety for consumers in 2024, but AI search tools can improve online experiences, making shopping more enjoyable while saving them time.

Case study: Replacing the travel agent, travel e-tailer Booking.com unveiled a ChatGPT trip-planning tool within its app to help users plan holidays

Source: WGSN

Gen Z Customers: Why Resale Matters to Them?

The global secondhand apparel market is set to grow three times faster than the global apparel market, with Gen Z leading adoption. Coupled with the cost-of-living crisis, Gen Z will continue to power the thrift movement in search of more affordable alternatives in the year ahead. 

But what’s driving Gen Z’s love for resale?

Nostalgia

Gen Z is driven by a feeling of nostalgia. It’s not about age, but mindset. Young consumers are nostalgic for a time they haven’t lived through, as a means to escape today’s harsh realities.

This generation is looking for clothes they can’t find in current collections: It is revealed that 40% of Gen Z buy pre-loved clothes because they can’t find the style anymore across traditional retailers. 

Searching for fun

Anxious about a multitude of factors, from economic instability to environmental distress, young consumers are re-evaluating their priorities and looking for products and experiences that comfort them, bringing moments of happiness into their lives. Therefore resale, due to its fun and authentic nature, has become one of Gen Z's preferred consumption habits.

Cost-of-living crisis

While shopping for preloved items is a rewarding experience, Gen Z is also facing financial hurdles due to the cost-of-living crisis. With 28% of USA Gen Z aged 18 to 25 unable to save money and 32% spending 50% of their monthly income on rent, recommerce is emerging as a more affordable option for this cohort and is also more sustainable, aligning with the group’s core values.

Gen Z consumers are accelerating the growth of resale platforms which allow them to access unique fashion options but can also provide them with an alternative income stream.

Many Gen Z have adopted a “shop to sell” mindset, having grown up on some of these platforms, exchanging goods and earning an income. According to WGSN, Gen Z are selling their own pre-loved clothes to declutter (50%), for sustainability (33%) and to get extra money (56%).

What’s next in the secondhand market?

This trend combines personal style and professional identity for a fresh, playful spin on nine-to-five dressing. The key to this look is mixing thrifted and new items via eclectic DIY styling and craft-led customisation, so the purchase can take them from client meetings to midweek drinks.

Source: WGSN

Maximize Your Brand's Potential with TikTok

Commerce on social media presents new opportunities and challenges for product discovery, inspiration and sales conversions. Here are new strategies to grow your brand's market share!

Make TikTok Shop work for your brand

TikTok sees 503% more fashion searches than Google, so discoverability will be key for winning new shoppers.

Strategies:

• Consider the financial incentive of TikTok Shop. While commission fees have jumped from 2 to 8% per transaction, TikTok Shop’s cut is still lower than Amazon.
  
  
• Ensure content feels authentic with a fast-paced social team that can engage with trends when they are relevant. Small, online-first brands can be particularly agile in experimenting with a variety of sounds, trends, and creators to see what content and advocacy strategies stick.
  
  
• Take advantage of TikTok’s new Star Creator team, a proprietary collection of dedicated social sellers (emulating the success of China’s lucrative key opinion leaders), to be matched to the right sales-minded creators, who will in turn be armed with tips for crafting top-notch content.
  
  
• Keep TikTok entertaining while expanding your TikTok Shop offer. Fine-tune content based on whether consumers want to be further educated on a given product or simply entertained and inspired. Ensure informational and inspirational content remains balanced to keep consumers coming back to posts.
   

In action:

The UK’s top-five beauty sales drivers on TikTok in 2023 were lesser-known brands, highlighting an opportunity for smaller labels to build community and get an equal chance at earning virality.

TikTok Shop subsidises certain deals, such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday discounts at up to 60% off.

Source: WGSN

Future Consumer Focus 2026: The Gleamers

Cultivate IRL (in real life) third-space interactions

Develop and nurture third-space experiences to help consumers feel less alone and forge deeper connections.

Strategy:

Curate places outside of homes, schools or workplaces to help consumers forge deeper connections, which is especially crucial following pandemic-era isolation and amid a loneliness epidemic. Help young people, in particular, to foster friendships and offer social spaces and events catering to Gen Z hobbies and interests.

Develop spaces and experiences that are designed to shelter and shield people from the pressures of modern life – think no-technology zones or wellness-focused places where they can explore their emotions or imaginations.

In action:

Sob Parlour offers wellness through crying, granting visitors accessible, safe spaces in pop-up spaces across New York City.

Rethink age-related stereotypes and celebrations

Commit to inclusion in marketing representation and develop opportunities to celebrate milestones both big and small.

Strategy:

Embrace Life-Stage Design and create products or experiences tailored to specific consumer needs to meet people at the full spectrum of life stages.

Celebrate minorstones; more realistic wins as traditional life milestones are becoming out of reach – or simply undesirable – for many as more consumers are pushing back on chrono-normativity. Lean into Glimmers and reduce milestone anxiety by demonstrating there is no single life path.

Actively work to dismantle stereotypes as more people live outside of antiquated timelines. Create a culture of inclusion and acceptance and showcase that age is just a number.

In action:

In 2023, Stanford PhD graduate Danielle Greene’s X post about the gift registry her best friend set up when she graduated demonstrated that marriage and having a baby are not the only things worth celebrating for women – plus, it received national news attention.

Source: WGSN

All Industry Experts Are Here: Register Now! 

We are thrilled to announce that online visitor registration for CBME Turkiye 2024 is NOW OPEN! 

Discover the trendiest product designs and sustainable breakthroughs at this must-attend B2B event. Ensure your business stays ahead by joining us at CBME Turkiye 2024.

Register now