A blueprint for the twists and turns that lie ahead

 

TBWA\HAKUHODO, the leading Disruption creative agency based in Tokyo, has today released the free Japanese-language version of EDGES 2024, a deep-dive into global cultural shifts with scale that help brands develop strategies to capture the future.

 

Published annually by Backslash, the TBWA\Worldwide cultural intelligence unit, EDGES 2024 is so much more than a trend report, offering intelligence on more than 41 unique cultural shifts, or ‘edges’. The pages of deep analyses reflecting both global and domestic culture is now made publicly available for free, offering insights for future-focused Japanese businesses and marketers.

 

About ‘Edges’

‘Edges’ are not trends, hot new styles, the ‘latest thing’ or buzz-today-gone-tomorrow fads.
‘Edges’ are signals in culture that indicate emerging phenomena in society, nuanced illuminations of what future culture may look like. This proprietary approach by TBWA offers clients and businesses an advantage to see what’s around the corner of culture before mainstream-ification, giving them a head start in capturing emerging markets.
TBWA’s ‘Edges’ are selected based on strict criteria by more than 300 ‘culture spotters’ located in 70 offices around the world in the agencies global network. To become an edge, a trend or ‘trigger’ (a consumer behavior with potential business impact) must remain relevant for more than a year and show potential for further growth into the future. Furthermore, its correlation must be seen on a global scale.

The EDGES reports are compiled yearly and made available to the public free of charge.

 

Five new ‘edges’ added this year:

EDGES 2024 contains 41 ‘edges’ of which five are entirely new for this year, offering a vastly comprehensive look at emerging solutions and cultural adaptations to some of the trickiest realities facing our world:

●　Demise Duality (Turning extinction scenarios and questions of humankind’s continuation to optimism, reigniting a collective and individual sense of purpose by interpreting the diversifying views of ‘the end’)

●　Inclement Armor (Extreme weather becoming the new normal, this will reshape everything from how we dress, how we holiday, how we work and much more)

●　Intimate AI (Normalizing AI as a ‘sidekick’ in our daily lives as an assistant, companion or teacher, freeing us from time-intensive tasks)

●　Rerouted (The transition to greener, smaller-scale mobility and the incentives and infrastructure overhauls required)

●　Untourism (Overtourism and questionable tourist behavior are giving rise to the need for more regulations and mindful models of travel and tourism, shifting from high volume to high value travel)

 

Masakazu Tagai, the Japan Backslash Unit Leader at TBWA\HAKUHODO offers his take on the one of newly added edges and how we can use the intelligence to open our perception:
“Edges are the interpretation and collation of cultural signals we call ‘triggers’ collected from all corners of the globe. Illuminating changes on the horizon, ‘edges’ differ from mere trend predictions because they help us ask questions.

 

‘Demise Duality’ (which is an evolution of ‘Death Undone’, an edge from 2023 indicating the deteriorating taboos around ‘death’) tells us people are now increasingly talking about the end of humanity, and the world as we know it. Particularly poignant for Japan and its rapidly declining birthrate. Our country will soon have to face many ‘endings’ as rate of death will overtake rate of birth.
So how will companies, individuals, towns, villages and cities respond to this trend?

We want EDGES 2024 to raise new questions for you, and prompt you to open minded discourse on these topics with those around you”.

 

Masakazu invited comments from experts in the area:

 

Hinata Maeda, CEO, Mujo Co., Ltd.

Driven by a belief that society needs more diverse services that help people navigate the emotional impact of death and loss, Hinata established Mujo Inc. specializing in home funerals, bespoke designed ‘memorial websites’ and exhibitions which attempt to re-design how we face death.

“In Japan, where villages are dying out due to depopulation, the edge of ‘Demise Duality’ really resonates. Convention dictates that these dying villages and localities must be kept alive through government revitalization programs. However, this insistence that ‘staying alive/repopulation at all costs’ is the only right thing to do, often leaves the ‘last generation’ of residents feeling a great deal of guilt, as if they had ‘failed’ their community and home. Rather than viewing this demise as a negative thing, a diverse perspective to ‘the end’ is much needed here. Let’s accept certain realities with no sense of taboo or emotional reactionism, and this may lead to more pragmatic solutions that place the happiness and peace of the current resident’s center stage.  A ‘protopia’, if you like, where we aren’t stuck in old ways, dooming ourselves to echo the past, but opening our minds to accepting new realities, and seeking solutions from there.”

 

Masafumi Kawachi, Representative Director of Deep Care Lab and Co-representative of Public and Design of General Incorporated Association.

After studying government collaboration and social innovation in Finland, he is now exploring areas of ecology, anthropology and future ethics for imaginative innovations. Currently Program Director at the Outen-In temple in Osaka, he has put together “Munu Fest” a 10 day event starting in May 2024 which focuses on all aspects of life, including death of course.

“This Edge was about the diversifying perceptions of ‘the end’, offering insights into the many varying anxieties we feel towards it, and changes in how we are starting to address it. This report was a profound reminder that across cultures, our perceptions of death and disappearance, (be it as individuals or as the human race) are intertwined and universal. A very illuminating read that offers hope and direction in light of the climate crisis and geopolitical tensions, that offers some hints on what a ‘beautiful ending’ might be for us.”

 

Download EDGES 2024 Japanese version here:

https://www.tbwahakuhodo.co.jp/uploads/2024/04/Backslash_Edges-2024_JP.pdf

 

English version is also available from here:

https://backslash.com/edges

 

“EDGES 2024”: Japanese edition editorial team

Akito Igarashi; Rikako Ito; Shion, Inoue; Anastasia, Ivanchenko; Hiroki, Okuda; Reikai, Connelly; Akira, Sato; Zenon, Sadler; Shunpei, Suzuki; Sojka, Patrycja; Masakazu, Tagai; Tsubasa,Takahashi; Ryo, Togawa; Niki, Tokunaga; Sawako, Fukuhara; Yuichiro, Horie; Eri, Maruyama.

 

■About Backslash

Backslash is a cultural intelligence unit supported by more than 300 culture spotters in 70 offices across TBWA’s global network. Closely monitoring and analyzing events around the world to support TBWA and client businesses. Through a dynamic combination of strategy, data and journalism, Backslash transforms today’s stories into tomorrow’s opportunities.

For more information about Backslash, follow @TBWABackslash on Instagram or visit www.backslash.com