Nicholas Lising-White is a behavioural analyst at Canvas8. With a degree in human geography from UCL, he is interested in the impact of differing cultural conditions on human behaviour. Outside of work, he can be found meandering between cafes on his bike, testing his culinary skills, and intermittently pottering around a rugby pitch.

People are taking a patchwork approach to self-expression to feel like they have control over how their identity is generated. Yet as individual expression becomes more mutable and mistrust in social systems abounds, there’s one place above all that people are seeking integrity and guidance: brands.

Reality Split

From decentralised autonomous organisations (DAOs)  run on Discord to city-wide mutual aid groups, people are finding safety and optimism in numbers. For growing numbers of people, collective action is emerging as the only viable solution to compounding crises and deepening alienation.

World Builders

Gen Z (born 1997-2010)

Gen Alpha (born 2011-present)

United States

Communications

Social networking

Media and Entertainment

TV, film, and social media video

The emergence of slang overload on social media can be overwhelming for some older onlookers – only this time, some of those older netizens might be Gen Zers. As Gen Alpha begins exerting more influence, there's an opportunity for brands to better understand the next stewards of pop culture.