An overview of our key macro trends for 2026.
1. IRL Revival
A nostalgic shift is underway as younger generations consciously retreat from always-on digital lifestyles toward analogue experiences and hands-on activities once associated with their grandparents.
2. Thematic Immersion
As remote work and digital communication creates increasingly socially isolated lives, consumers are actively seeking physical spaces that offer genuine human connection and collective joy.
3. Strategic Spending
Strategic spending reflects a desire to make every purchase play double duty – enhancing personal status while helping the planet, optimising your limited individual resources while improving financial health, and combining entertainment value with genuine investment thinking.
4. The Live Forever Era
The pursuit of longevity has evolved from an aspirational wellness trend to a full-blown data-driven personal project, with technology enabling unprecedented insight into and control over the ageing process.
5. Personal Superintelligence
A new generation of wearable technology is asking the question: rather than being replaced by AI, can we upgrade ourselves? These are devices designed to augment and enhance natural human capabilities by understanding whatever environmental context users are in.
6. The 24/7 Workforce Arrives
Robotics are transitioning from experimental novelty to realistic business application across retail and industrial settings. Robotics in 2026 will not be defined just by technological advancement but economic viability, as prices drop, capabilities expand, and businesses start to achieve genuine ROI from deploying robots at scale.
7. The Renewal Economy
Brands are moving beyond superficial sustainability gestures toward systems where the full lifecycle is built into the product from conception – from purchase through repair, resale and eventual disassembly.