Once a signifier of luxury or novelty, custom products and services are now within reach of the everyday consumer, thanks to the rise of artificial intelligence, algorithm-led platforms, and the COVID-era digitisation boom. Today, everyone wants to be the main character of their brand experience.

People are craving comfort. Amid what can feel like a state of constant crisis – a layering of traumatic societal events – it can sometimes seem like we’ve lost a sense of scale and cohesion. In the face of this, the desire to retreat into nostalgia is more seductive than ever.

As interest in pop psychology and audio content collide, Spotify Wrapped is adding listening personalities to its offering. Based on users' browsing and listening habits, the move signals how creative, consensual uses of data aiming for self-expression are winning with consumers.

Nostalgia cycles are shortening as people obsess over times barely passed via popular digital archive accounts that let them cultivate their feeds (without input from an algorithm) and bypass cultural gatekeepers. But how are these visual repositories enabling people to shape new memories as well?

As streaming platforms inundate users with endless content, Spotify playlists have become a handy resource for people who want to curate and easily discover content that's aligned with their personal tastes. How can brands provide music fans with personalized and participatory user experiences?

TikTok is testing a feature that will allow users to find and re-watch content they'd seen on the platform. As the amount of digital content continues to accelerate and trends become increasingly short-lived, people are searching for control and comfort when it comes to their online memories.