sparks & honey Report Of Top 100 Cultural Trends For 2017 Includes Polyamory, Death Positivity And The Museumification Of Everything

NEW YORK, Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/-- sparks & honey, the New York-based agency that synchronizes brands with culture in the now, next and future, today released its annual report, A-Z Culture Glossary of 2017: The Trends You Need to Know to be Relevant, a list of the 100 cultural trends sparks & honey predicts will shape the world and shift consumer behavior in the next year.

This is the third edition of this report. To date, the Culture Glossary reports have received more than 2.4 million views on Slide Share. Of the trends that the Culture Glossary has predicted and scored¹ over the series of reports, sparks & honey has an average 81 percent accuracy rate.

"This year's report is the culmination of two months of deep 'cultural forensics,' cultural listening and predictive modeling, looking at trends from the edge to the everyday. These 100 trends, from A-to-Z, are an excellent beacon for marketing to improve relevance, and they can be leveraged as innovation platforms. We hope that they open minds and create new possibilities," said Terry Young, CEO, sparks & honey. "What's really fascinating about this year's trends is the extreme polarization of culture. We're noticing an increasing disruption of the marketplace and consumer behavior, illustrated by the many 'cultural tensions' and counter-trends in this year's A-Z Culture Glossary.  One example of those tensions is the decreasing indulgence in vices (like tobacco and alcohol) to alter mood states (New Sobriety) and the use of technology to mimic the effects of traditional medicine and recreational substances (Tech Drugs)."

sparks & honey uses a proprietary framework called the Elements of Culture to organize its cultural trends.  The 100 trends in the report are broken into the following five categories: Aesthetics, Media, Tech/Science, Humanity and Ideology.  Among the trends to watch for 2017 are:

• Agendered Iconography– letting go of traditional binary gender signage; using symbols and language in favor of gender fluidity;
• AI Morality – expect more public debate around the principles for designing a future in which artificial intelligence makes moral decisions and the ethics of AI's decision making;
• Background as Foreground – especially when it comes to content, consumers push the creator's intended message to the background and bring an unexpected idea into the spotlight;
• Death Positivity – new conversations and innovations are emerging around how to make death a more positive experience for both the living, and the dead;
• Inclusive Economy – brands are becoming increasingly aware of a lucrative market--people with disabilities--and are working to adapt or invent products and services to address their needs and wants;
• Insect Food Debate – in the rapidly growing market for alternative proteins, we'll begin to consider the implications of consuming a species that outnumbers and may even terrify some of us;
• Museumification of Everything – Artists and brands have begun curating and exhibiting everything (artifacts from broken relationships, ice cream, stuffed animals.) In 2017, expect brands and institutions to capitalize on this trend as an opportunity to engage new audiences;
• New Sobriety – as fitness and well-being become more aspirational, expect to see a heightened interest in achieving balance between healthy and indulgent choices;
• Polyamory – monogamous coupledom is being challenged by alternative lifestyles, and polyamory is beginning to establish itself into mainstream culture;
• Recycle Chic – recycled products are getting invited to the high-end fashion party, breaking the stigma that sustainable products are just for hippies.

About sparks & honey         
sparks & honey (www.sparksandhoney.com) is a New York-based agency with a mission to open minds and create possibilities in the now, next and future for brands.  Employing a disruptive marketing platform and cultural newsroom model, sparks & honey leverages proprietary tools, algorithms and human insights to identify emerging cultural trends and engage brands in relevant and meaningful conversations. sparks & honey leverages the proprietary sparks & honey cultural intelligence system to deliver services in three areas for brands - innovation, cultural insights and content. Named to Ad Age's 2014 A-List as an "Agency to Watch," sparks & honey is a part of the DAS Group of Companies.

About the DAS Group of Companies
The DAS Group of Companies, a division of Omnicom Group Inc. OMC (www.omnicomgroup.com), is a global group of marketing services companies. DAS includes over 200 companies in the following marketing disciplines: specialty, PR, healthcare, CRM, events, promotional marketing, branding and research. Operating through a combination of networks and regional organizations, DAS serves international, regional, national and local clients through more than 700 offices in 71 countries.

¹ Scoring based on a combination of Google trends, social listening, proprietary scoring methodology along with third party research.

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