We help brands prepare for the future

Find out how we can help you:

New technological, social, and financial innovations typically create new consumer and citizen demands, and these need new commercial strategies. The importance of drivers like community, convenience and social awareness, for instance, have blossomed in the last five years. There is increasing demand for everything from slower lifestyles and better sleep to increased protection and shareable facilities.

Will predicts such demands long before they hit the mainstream, guiding client organisations to:
  • Pick winners. Discover which new behaviours, audiences and investments offer the biggest opportunity.
  • Foster champions. Develop more successful new products, services and communications campaigns.
  • Build loyalty. Improve customer experiences across platforms and encourage allegiance.
  • Save money. Capitalise on cost-effective new production, distribution and funding models.
To find out more, check out our Consultancy services or email us to hear more .

Businesses and govts are living with a disruptive present, and heading to a SciFi future. In the next 10 years, businesses will face a new wave of disruptors: AI  and IOT to new financial and funding models. Tomorrow’s customers and citizens will have very different expectations. To identify successful strategies, organisations need to understand the future. But today’s challenges rarely leave time to think about tomorrow.

Will removes this problem. He gives clients a clear vision of the future, helping them:
  • Understand tomorrow What will life be like in the shopping malls and workplaces of the future?
  • Predict demand. Reliably anticipate customers’ expectations, media platforms and purchase drivers.
  • Future-proof strategy. Answer key questions e.g. Will shops survive? How will tech impact supply chains?
  • Embed innovation. Develop innovation culture, agile approach to change, and effective foresight pipeline.
To discover the ways we can help, check our Consultancy page or email us.

Without experienced guidance and data-driven foresight, organisations can make dangerous assumptions: about who their future customers will be, or what they’ll want. These can lead to costly mistakes, from failed products to loss-making acquisitions.

Will provides robust, insightful futures data that helps his clients avoid:
  • Failed products. Ensure NPD is informed by what tomorrow’s customers will actually want.
  • Falling behind. Be more aware of potential challenges from inside and outside the client sector.
  • Losing credibility. Safeguard brand values against changing market attitudes.
To find out how we can future-proof your company, check our Consultancy page or email us.

The ability to innovate quickly and constantly is key to future proofing the organisation. In fact, according to PwC, innovation now ranks as the most pressing CEO concern. This means getting the right people on board, the right systems in place and developing a resilient, experimental workplace culture.

Will supports clients to:
  • Embed innovation. Develop an innovation culture, agile approach and effective foresight pipeline.
  • Improve efficiency. Capitalise on cost-effective new production, distribution and funding models.
  • Develop skills. Ensure the workforce has the right abilities to thrive in the future.
  • Avoid me-too strategies. Innovating, not following, is becoming the key to profitability.
  • Outpace competition.Implement innovative new strategies ahead of industry competitors.
To find out what we can do, email us - or check our Consultancy page.

Consulting

Will's consultancy Next Big Thing offers a complete Futures and Strategy service, providing benefits across functions:

  • providing data to support and inform commercial strategy
  • inspiring more successful new product development
  • predicting future sales and consumption demand
  • identifying the most effective comms and sales platforms 
  • supporting investment and diversification decisions
  • informing recruitment, comms, marketing and sales strategy

Our popular future-proofing tools are designed to answer our clients' biggest strategic concerns:

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How do we predict the future?

Behavioural changes are typically triggered by attitude changes, which themselves are triggered by specific (environmental) events. By identifying an attitude change – or, better yet, identifying an event that’s likely to trigger an attitude change – we can confidently predict a behaviour change …

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Next Big Thing Quiz #1. Take a guess.

In 2005 25% of Brits said they like to be first to try something. What's the figure now?

35%

What proportion of Chinese consumers now view slowing down as a luxury?

82%

What percentage marketshare did Nokia lose in just one year in the early '90s?

93%

What proportion more products globally used the word ’ancient’ from 2011-2016?

269%

How much did Britons spend at festivals from 2010-2014?

£1 billion

“Will really stands out from other future specialists.
He translates trends into commercial opportunities.”

Alex Owens, Head of Insight, Sainsbury’s

Speaking

Will Higham is one of the UK’s most popular and trusted speakers on Futures and Strategy.

Will combines passion with usability and strategic inspiration with reliable insights. He paints practical pictures of tomorrow’s business and consumer landscapes, and explores the implications.

He delivers keynotes, seminars and lectures; moderates and appears on panels; and chairs conferences for a wide range of industries: from finance to fashion, luxury to leisure.

To book Will to give a talk, or find out more, click here

Will’s inspiring talks:
  • help audiences make friends with change: identifying the commercial opportunities disruption offers
  • act as a powerful wake-up call: alerting audiences to unexpected threats, disruption and competition
  • offer insights and examples from multiple industries and 15 years of trends experience
They address key concerns:
  • price vs privacy vs convenience
  • skills needs and shortages
  • online vs offline vs omnichannel retail
  • ownership vs access-ship
  • new luxury and premium drivers
  • how to appeal to new consumers

Make friends with change.

Will’s talks explain how:
  • to take advantage of new opportunities
  • to avoid getting left behind
  • to embed innovation into the enterprise
  • to anticipate and fend off outlier competitors
  • new trends will impact specific industry sectors

Showreel

Audiences come away from Will's talks:

  • more informed about the future
  • with practical, forward-facing ideas they can action immediately
  • feeling confident they won’t get left behind
  • excited, inspired … and ready to innovate

“Will got the brief exactly and delivered just the kind of speech we wanted.”

Laura Kozasvili, Head of Events, British
Property Federation

Talks for all occasions

Will chairs, moderates and speaks at a wide variety of events,
run by global brands, industry bodies and media leaders: from 
Barclaycard and ABTA to The Financial Times and Retail Week.
Events this year took Will from Manila to Austin TX.

Below are four of Will’s most popular keynotes.
To book him to give one tailored to you, click here.

Businesses today are experiencing unprecedented levels of change. No industries today are immune from disruption. No audiences can be relied upon. Traditional business models, revenue streams and routes to market are becoming outdated. But change can offer profitable opportunities as well as dangerous threats.

This talk helps business leaders adapt their strategies to new consumer trends:
  1. Understand the importance of innovation to performance, longevity, brand and infrastructure.
  2. Learn about the biggest emerging consumer trends and the threats and opportunities they pose.
  3. Discover practical ways to utilise them to create appealing new products, services and marketing campaigns.
To ask for more information, click here

Consumers are becoming more empowered, technologically and socially. But their trust levels are falling. As a result, they seek greater control over the purchase and consumption journey. And they’re developing a new set of attitudes, expectations and behaviours accordingly.

This talk helps audiences anticipate and appeal to tomorrow’s new ‘Smart Consumer’:
  1. Discover what will motivate and appeal to your customers in future.
  2. Learn how to create products, services and strategies which they will want.
  3. Gain actionable insights to implement into marketing, communications and strategy.
To ask for more information, click here

Employee attitudes to work environments, schedules, hierarchies and rewards are shifting radically, especially among the young. New technology is driving employee empowerment and disrupting traditional ways of attracting and retaining staff.

This talk provides practical insights into hiring, motivating and retaining the new ‘smart employee’.
  1. Better comprehend the future wants, needs and drivers of your workforce
  2. Obtain a practical roadmap to improved employee motivation and efficiency
  3. Discover how to future-proof your hiring, retention and rewards policy.
To ask for more information, click here

Companies with a traditionalist culture find it difficult to innovate.

Don’t be distracted by success. Success today is no guarantee of success tomorrow.

Clients

We've been fortunate to work with some of our favourite global brands

We've inspired and informed effective strategy decisions in a variety of sectors:

  • we identified behaviour trends that convinced a Top 10 global telecoms provider to create a global broadcast strategy
  • we inspired one of the world’s biggest banks to create a successful new pensions product based around Baby Boomer trends
  • our research on early ‘hipster’ culture helped a Top 3 global beer manufacturer switch to a more successful brand image
  • we created a luxury trends report for a global media agency which they used as a successful sales tool for almost two years
  • our research on changing Youth attitudes helped an international media company significantly boost their advertising revenue

Testimonials

What Our Clients Say

Natalie Malevsky

Head of Insights and Future Communications / Telefonica (O2, Movistar)
William helped us understand the macro and consumer trends set to influence future communication behaviour. His practical insights and in-depth analysis helped us kick off strategic decisions in several key areas.

Chad Wollen

Director of Insight, Foresight & Innovation / AOL
William really understand trends: what's happening around us and how businesses need to respond. His work helping AOL prepared the ground for our targeting and gave us a sense of creative direction. It was great work.

Michaela Ridgeway

Senior Content Editor / Financial Times Global Conferences
William gave the audience great insights into how consumer attitudes are changing, and all the ways they'll need to adapt to anticipate and appeal to tomorrow’s new ‘smart shopper'. 

Alex Owens

Head of Insight / Sainsbury’s
Will has a deep understanding of consumers. He identifies those trends which are most important, and translates them into a commercial opportunity for your business, one that's both consumer-focused and economically viable.

Helene Venge

Head of Digital / Levis Europe
Will's really proficient in understanding changing patterns and tendencies in youth culture. He helped us develop a successful cross-media program for Levis based on youth trends.

You can view change as a threat or an opportunity.
Successful companies view it as an opportunity.

Next Big Thing Quiz #2. Give it a go.

What proportion of citizens globally distrust their governments, businesses, or both?

80%

How much money has been pledged to projects on Kickstarter so far?

$2 billion

What percentage of Spanish consumers typically sleep holding their handsets?

60%

Which company could have bought Netflix for just $50 million in 2000

Blockbuster

What percentage of US Millennials self-identify as “foodies”?

50%

About

Will Higham is one of the world’s most respected consumer futurists.

He’s informed 1000s of business leaders via his talks, his consultancy, his articles and his book ‘The Next Big Thing’.

He’s spent almost 30,000 hours over the last 15 years analysing consumer trends and their implications for business.

Will’s first trends role was at seminal consultancy Breaking Trends, helping clients from British Telecom to Levis.

He was later appointed MD of research agency OnePoll, running campaigns for clients like Kelloggs, Findus and Hilton Hotels.

He wrote the first UK handbook for trend strategists: ‘The Next Big Thing’ in 2008.

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Blog

  • Sep 05 2017

    A good day out of the office, dear?

    Article by Will on the workplace in The Economist. "The traditional office environment, where a set number of salaried employees work 9-5 in fixed silos, feels increasingly at odds with the contemporary world ..."
  • Apr 05 2016

    Old is the new young

    Article by Will in Ad Week on demographics. "Standard age-related targeting can't be relied on any more. Today many adolescents act like they're 'middle-aged', while older consumers maintain 'adolescent' interests, outlooks and behaviours ..."
  • Mar 13 2016

    Will Prog Rock be the new Folk?

    Article by Will on trends in Huffington Post. Today's youngest generation happily embraces the 'uncool', swords and sorcery are no longer dirty words and technical skills are being lauded. Is Prog Rock due a revival?
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"The brain is the most rational thing in the universe.
But the way it solves problems is ad hoc and very local."

Nick Chater, Professor of Behavioural Science, Warwick Business School

Next Big Thing Quiz #3. Try your luck.

What proportion of CEOs expect major disruption in their sector in the next 3 years?

48%

What proportion admit their organisation doesn’t have the means to respond?

50%

How many requests per week does Apple’s voice-activated service Siri get?

One billion.       ** Voice activated assistance is a huge growth area **

How many Germans think social justice more important than the economy?

52%

How many Americans say their ‘family’ now includes friends who aren’t relatives? 


75%

Media

  • Apr 10 2016

    Second Life Crisis?

    An interview with Will in The Daily Mail. "Trends analyst William Higham says life's becoming more complicated today. 'We begin one life, but we're increasingly starting a second, through choice or accident...'"
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FAQs

What actually is a consumer futurist?

Consumer futurists study evolving consumer attitudes and the influences on them, and predict how consumers’ behaviours, expectations and needs are likely to change in future.

Can anyone predict the future?

Everybody forecasts the future to an extent. Predicting whether an event will be worth going to, a shopping mall will be busy or a supplier will deliver what we need. We make judgement calls based on the facts we have, our knowledge of human nature and our previous experience. Futurists take a similar approach. And like all skills, the best in class tend to (a) have a natural affinity for it and (b) spend a lot of time honing their craft.

How do we predict the future?

We analyse available data (from research reports to box office receipts), combine it with an understanding of social psychology and consumer behaviour and explore how similar situations have played out in the past, to build potential future scenarios of how consumers are likely to respond to changing environments, technologies and economic situations.

Have we ever got it wrong?

When Will first started, he’d sometimes get over-excited and expect trends to hit the mainstream more quickly than they did. But he soon learned that the leap from Early Adopter to Early Mainstream can take a long time. The trends we predict today have typically already begun somewhere: the skill is to tell our clients how quickly – and how widely – they’ll spread.

Do all our predictions come true?

No-one can guarantee the future. But we only highlight trends that are likely to occur. And to enable clients to manage risk, we base each of my predictions on most likely outcomes, and give a percentage chance of if/when/how strongly each trend might happen.

Will you get the same advice as everyone else?

No. Every client has different needs. So every project or presentation is at least partially tailored towards a client’s individual needs. Workshops, audits etc are almost entirely bespoke.

Will you be able to deal with Will Higham directly?

Yes. Will only takes on projects he has the time and knowledge to fulfil himself. When you hire him, you get him. But the team provides him with all the data, analysis and/or administrative assistance he needs. Scouts scan news, reports and other media to help identify trends.

Can your company afford to use Next Big Thing?

Probably. We offer a broad range of futures services, and are able to offer strategic benefits to suit most budgets.

Contact

To learn more, get a quick costing, or book Will to speak:

+44 (0) 20 3542 1900
info@next-big-thing.net


The Hub,
27 Dingley Place,
Islington,
London EC1V 8BR
United Kingdom