FUTURE WATCH

ANTICIPATING THE CULTURAL TRENDS THAT WILL DRIVE FUTURE CONSUMER BEHAVIORS

THIS ANNUAL report IDENTIFIes AND ANALYzes EMERGING TRENDS to HELP MERCEDES-BENZ ALIGN AROUND A SHARED PLAN FOR THE FUTURE.

SCOPE OF WORK

Since in 1998, FutureWatch reports have identified key cultural and societal topics relevant to Mercedes–Benz, making them actionable for global decision-makers.

PROJECT GOALS

• Identify and document signals of change

• Consolidate business environment knowledge as quantitative and qualitative inputs

• Recognize and anticipate market opportunities and risks

• Evaluate ongoing strategic initiatives

• Inspire action and new initiatives

• Continually evolve the FutureWatch process to insure continued relevance

PROJECT ACTIVITIES

• Desk research to identify preliminary trend topics

• Review of third party / syndicated data

• Coordination with external agency partners

• Definition of 5 trends with qual and quant data support

• Activation workshop with Mercedes-Benz R&D Executive Committee

• Detailed descriptions of actionable opportunities for each trend

• Activation workshops with Design, Marketing, Product Planning, and Strategy stakeholders

PROJECT OUTCOMES

• Detailed descriptions of the social, cultural, and tech trends that will influence future consumer behaviors in the next 3-5 years

• Deep dive on business implications, to drive strategic decisions across all business functions

• Regional and global trend workshops to activate insights among cross-functional teams

• An extensive library of Future Signals which are useful foundational input across other research programs

• Product and service concepts inserted into global innovation processes