A look at what's ahead for the future of business, technology and design from Accenture Interactive.

E X E C U T I V E S U M M A R Y

Across Fjord Trends 2021, the over-arching theme is mappingout new territory. With the events of 2020 upending so much ofwhat we took for granted, we now need to look ahead with focusand a desire to help people solve their challenges on their ownterms. In many ways, the 21st century starts now.

The Covid-19 pandemic has brought clarity and surprisesalongside its chaos and tragedies. It’s highlighted what’simportant to us, it’s inspired community spirit and ingenuity, andit’s generated change on a huge scale around the globe.

There’s comfort to be drawn from the fact that the world hasfaced a common adversary but, while we’ve all been in ittogether, we’ve each been experiencing it in our own ways.Brands and businesses will need to understand people’s newcontext, empathize with the way they feel, and provide the toolsto let them “hack” their own solutions.

In Fjord Trends 2021, we delve into seven trends that we believewill be most important for organizations, employees, andcustomers over the next 12 months and beyond.

How and where we experience thingschanged in 2020, leaving us with ashared sense of displacement as we seeknew ways and places to do the things weneed and love to do. Working, shopping,learning, socializing, parenting and takingcare of our health has all changed formany of us.

This trend looks at how this all relates tobusiness and brands, and what it meansto their employees and customers. It’lltake new solutions to deliver experiencesin a context outside of a brand’s control.For example they’ll need to get aroundthe fact that public touchscreens are

no longer a favored interaction, and lookfor ways to deliver joy through immersiveexperiences and sense of agency, theloss of which we're feeling deeply.

Almost overnight, people started livingvery differently, which changed the waythey gather information (because theiropportunities to stumble upon new thingswere suddenly limited), and which stifledtheir ability to enjoy much of what wasfamiliar. The brands on the other side ofthat equation need to seek new ways tointeract with people in different placesand times, and to offer them experiencesthat appeal in their new circumstances.

The concept of innovation is sometimeswrapped up in technology but it’sincreasingly being driven by people’stalent for coming up with new ways — or“hacks” — to deal with their challenges.Technology plays a key role, less as theheadline act and more as a facilitator forpeople’s ingenuity. Their urgent problemscouldn’t wait for wholesale solutions, sothey innovated their own fixes withwhatever tech they had at hand.

This trend is about how people’screativity is shining through, from home-workers repurposing their ironing board

as a standing desk to entrepreneurslaunching new businesses. With liveshows on hold, performers are findingnew routes to audiences, and people arerepurposing sites like TikTok andplatforms like video games to getimportant messages out.

Everyone wants better solutions, but theera in which a brand was expected tocreate a finished solution has gone. It’stime for new thinking and newapproaches. Perhaps the most importantswitch is that from prescriptiveinnovation to suggestive innovation.

For a significant proportion of those whostill have jobs, working from home hasbecome living in the office, which ishaving a huge effect on the reciprocalagreement between employer andemployee, and the many assumptionsaround it. Who pays for the coffee? Whohas final say over what people wear for awork-related video call in their ownhomes? Whose responsibility is it topreserve home-workers’ right to privacy?

This trend is about the relationshipbetween people and their work, andemployers and their teams.

The future won’t be one-size-fits-all — infact, it’s possible that the employeeexperience will look different for everyorganization.

In this trend, we explore the four mainareas where employers haveopportunities (and responsibilities) toinnovate: technology, culture, talent andcontrol. For now, the future of work isunclear — instead, we are entering an eraof prototyping what the future of workcould look like.

Many of us have been spending muchmore time on screens to interact with theworld — and even with our neighbors.Consequently, people have noticed acertain sameness caused by templateddesign in digital. Organizations mustreconsider design, content, audience andthe interaction between them to injectgreater excitement, joy and serendipityinto screen experiences.

This trend is about how we need morefrom the screens through which we liveour lives. Interactions are ripe for areboot, in ways that challenge and inspireus, excite us and bring the element ofchance back to our daily routines.

Brands that break free from outdatednorms and restrictive design templates(while taking an ecologically consciousapproach) will be noticed and hankeredafter.

How and where we get things changed alot in 2020. People started spendingmore time and money shopping onlineand in their neighborhood so they couldavoid travel, and prioritize theircommunities over the convenience ofordering from an ecommerce giant.Organizations must rethink all theirphysical assets and focus on points ofdelight in the last few feet beforepurchase.

This trend is about the expansion of“liquid expectations”, which we’ve talkedabout for a while. It’s about the fact thatpeople want the same immediategratification and delight from a deliveryexperience that they took for granted instore — no matter where they are.Largely, they’re being disappointed, sothis is a huge opportunity space.

Organizations can (and should) buildagility and resilience across their supplychains so they can adapt quickly tochange.

People care deeply about what brandsstand for, and how they express theirvalues. Right now, with many inequalities(existing and new) that should beaddressed, companies must work hard tomanage the narratives that shape theirbrand. However, baked into the veryconcept of empathy is the fact that it’simpossible to be empathetic to everyoneall the time.

This trend is about how companiesprioritize the subjects that matter most to

them, build their behaviors around thosesubjects, and shape their narrative to talkabout them.

Successful brands will be those thatcreate, shape and execute theirexperience and the stories they tell inclose harmony. It’s important to treatempathy as the way your whole companybehaves, and not as a one-off project.

One of the reasons many of us found2020 emotionally challenging was thecancellation or disruption of the ritualswe’ve built our lives around. Rituals arethe habits to which we attach meaningand feelings. They’re the things we doregularly that may seem small but theireffect on our mental wellbeing is big.

This trend is about companies’opportunity to help people in their searchfor new meaning through new rituals thatbring them joy and comfort. It starts withunderstanding the blank space left by a

lost ritual and designing the right thing totake its place.

Rituals often associated with brands tendto fall into four categories: ritual as portal(a transition point between the differentversions of ourselves), ritual as sense ofbelonging (those that relate tocommunity and social connection), ritualas comfort (those that sit in the “me time”bucket), and ritual as anchor (themoments that give us a framework andmark the passing of time).

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accenture.com/fjordtrends21

In the current transition phase from crisis response to a newoperational model, we have the opportunity to examine thechanges thrust upon us and the innovations we’ve seen emerge,and to reflect on how we want to move forward.

The reassuring thing is that we’re all in the same boat ofuncertainty and unpredictability. We’re all exploring, which iscreating a safe space for experimentation, prototyping andlearning. Throughout history, after a global crisis, a new era ofthinking has begun. Right now, we have an opportunity to decidewhat we want the 21st century renaissance to look like.