MAM
Shifts in Consumer trends to look out for by 2030: Dentsu report
Mumbai: Consumers are likely to prioritise concerns over climate change and data privacy, and look for ‘Titan Brands’ that fulfill all their lifestyle needs and technology up-gradation over the next decade, says a new report published by Dentsu International.
The report – Dentsu Consumer Vision 2030: The Age of Inclusive Intelligence attempts to capture some of the long-term consumer trends that are likely to shape this decade and provides brands with a roadmap to navigate through the post-pandemic world.
The projections are based on in-depth interviews with world-renowned futurists, academics, authors, and experts, together with multiple proprietary consumer surveys from over 20 countries.
Concerns over health and climate change
Health and well-being is a key theme throughout the report, with consumers reporting a desire to utilise technology to stay healthy in the future. As per the report, increase in e-commerce will pave the way for the ‘Rise of the Titan Brands’ trend, where online retailers will increase in size and scope.
Majority of global consumers also expressed concerns over climate change and said that COVID-19 has made them more aware of the harm caused to the environment by global travel. This is likely to fuel greater consumer activism in the longer run, with purchasing decisions increasingly based on sustainable factors. Two-thirds of global consumers say that by 2030 they will not buy goods that could have a negative impact on the environment.
Technology rules the roost
Trends forecast that technology will be leveraged in increasingly innovative ways to foster human connection. One-third of consumers today consider allowing AI to care for an elderly relative unsupervised. In 2030, robot companions will become more commonplace as a way of helping the elderly and disabled, providing in-home care more effectively, indicates the study.
Changes in Consumer Behaviour
The study identified four overarching themes that will shape the next ten years in terms of consumer behaviour and brand response: Universal Activism, Synthetic Society, Bigger Bolder Brands & The Human Dividend.
Universal Activism
The study underlines that brands will need to reconceive their customers as activists, driven in their decision-making by a new range of influences and causes, from climate change to data privacy and new definitions of identity. How brands communicate the concrete action they are taking along these causes, for instance, on combating climate change, alongside realising some of its benefits will be a delicate balancing act. It also predicts that by 2030, more and more consumers will be deploying new AI-enabled personal data assistants to manage their relationships with brands, creating a new power paradigm.
Synthetic Society
The study predicts by 2030 we’ll see the emergence of a new, privileged class of citizens who can afford technological upgrades to their physical and psychological states. Around a third of consumers would consider undergoing non-essential surgery to improve their mental health. By 2030, eSports and immersive gaming will have changed the way we look at ‘real-world’ sports and activities, forcing the latter to innovate to keep up.
For brands, the implications are manifold. New arenas of potential sponsorship and partnerships will emerge as eSports become mainstream, while new domains of augmented experience will provide further opportunities for entertainment and engagement In the next decade, technology will be leveraged in increasingly innovative ways to foster human connection, forging togetherness despite distance or solitude, and democratising friendships and intimacy.
Bigger Bolder Brands
Over the next decade, the focus will shift to how brands can help service consumers more effectively across all aspects of their lifestyle. At the same time, data will enable brands to be more selective in the consumers they choose to engage with, focusing on those segments that will in time be most lucrative.
Rise of the Titan brands:
By 2030 we can expect to see consumers selecting specific brands to be their main lifestyle partners, becoming an integral part of their commercial activity and everyday lifestyle. Competing with these ‘Titan’ brands will also be made harder by their access to huge amounts of customer data, placing the onus on other brands to form effective partnerships and alliances— or to develop a direct-to-consumer relationship that secures access to first-party data.
Every brand is a health brand:
Nearly half of people globally believe that over the next five to ten years they will use technology to predict what will happen to their physical health. Building on this trend, in 2030, every brand will have become a health brand and all companies will be expected to help consumers enhance their wellbeing through the brand’s products and services.
The Human Dividend
Attention will shift towards those traits and capabilities that make us human, leading to a renewed celebration of what makes us unique. Humanised service will be at the centre of premium brand propositions by 2030. Faced with the threat of automation, there will be an even greater premium on human skills such as creativity and compassion—and the brands that successfully embody those traits. A never-before-event we could see emerge by 2030 is – ‘product labelling’ that clearly states whether something was produced by a robot or a human.
Inclusive Intelligence : Crucial for brands
Each of these trends carries specific implications for brands. But all of them sit on the concept of ‘inclusive intelligence’— the ability to incorporate new views, values, and behaviours into their value proposition against a backdrop of widening inequality, societal dislocation, and ethical complexity. This concept will be a key battleground for brands over the next decade, dentsu believes.
dentsu international Global CEO Wendy Clark said: “What is very clear from the past year and the findings of ‘dentsu consumer vision 2030’ is that business leaders must prepare for a very different consumer landscape. One which is continually evolving via innovation in technology, health and well-being, activism, and climate change. Leading brands will use this information and inclusive intelligence to build human-centric experiences and relationships to meet these consumer expectations.”
dentsu Asia Pacific CEO Ashish Bhasin said: “Brands, especially those in our region, will need to be more open, more transparent, in the way they work and be comfortable collaborating outside of their organisations as they are within them. This is especially key in their dealings with clients, agency partners, NGOs, governments, communities. Building inclusive intelligence starts with superior consumer understanding. The time is now for brands to take charge of their future narrative by developing pre-emptive efforts in getting to know and predict end-user behaviour, rather than play catch-up with the speed of their consumers.”
MAM
Brands push beyond compliance as trust takes centre stage
ASCI AdTrust Summit 2026 spotlights shift from legal checks to credibility.
MUMBAI: In a world where a disclaimer can be legally sound yet socially suspect, brands are learning that compliance may tick boxes but trust wins markets. At the inaugural ASCI AdTrust Summit 2026, a panel on “Beyond Compliance: The New Currency of Trust” unpacked a growing industry reality: the gap between what the law permits and what consumers accept is widening and fast.
Moderated by Meenakshi Ramkumar of National Law School of India University, the discussion brought together leaders across law, marketing and academia to examine how brands must evolve in a digital ecosystem increasingly shaped by scrutiny, scepticism and speed.
Ramkumar set the tone by highlighting a critical shift, advertising today operates in the same digital space that fuels misinformation, scams and fake news, making credibility harder to establish. “The challenge is not just about what brands do, but the broader context of low institutional trust,” she noted, adding that when violations go unchecked, trust erodes not just in brands but in the regulatory system itself.
This vacuum, she said, has given rise to consumer activism from boycotts to social media backlash as a parallel accountability mechanism.
For Amit Bhasin, Chief Legal Officer at Marico, the distinction was clear, legal compliance is non negotiable, but insufficient. “Compliance is the minimum threshold. The real challenge is staying aligned with changing consumer expectations,” he said.
He pointed to how advertising narratives have evolved from traditional depictions of gender roles to more shared responsibilities reflecting a broader societal shift. “Earlier, it was fine to show one person doing the household work. Today, that may not land well. Consumers expect brands to reflect reality,” Bhasin observed.
He also highlighted internal debates where campaigns that may be legally permissible are still rejected for being culturally insensitive, noting that responsible advertising often requires asking uncomfortable questions before the public does.
If compliance is the baseline, reputation is the battlefield.
Bhasin noted that reputational risk has become a far greater concern than legal exposure, particularly in an era where campaigns can be dissected within hours online. “Earlier, a controversial ad might invite a newspaper editorial. Today, within hours, you’re at the centre of a storm,” he said.
Brands, he added, now evaluate campaigns through a dual lens legal viability and reputational vulnerability with the latter often proving more decisive.
From a healthcare perspective, Satish Sahoo of Cipla Health underscored the complexity of operating within fragmented yet stringent regulatory frameworks, spanning drugs, food, cosmetics and Ayush. “Anything under a drug licence is the most tightly regulated,” he said, adding that this necessitates proactive, not reactive, compliance.
He shared an example from the oral rehydration salts (ORS) category, where Cipla resisted the temptation to position products aggressively despite competitive pressure. “Our product is WHO compliant, and our communication reflects that. We chose not to blur the lines, even if others did,” he noted.
The long term payoff, he suggested, lies in credibility built over consistency, not quick wins.
Yet, as Harsha N of National Law School of India University pointed out, even perfect compliance does not guarantee trust. Drawing from historical and modern examples from exaggerated product claims in the 1800s to contemporary environmental and health advertising, he argued that legal frameworks often lag behind consumer expectations. “A brand can be fully compliant and still be perceived as misleading,” he said, citing instances where fine print disclosures fail to reach or convince the average consumer. He added that larger companies carry a disproportionate responsibility to set ethical benchmarks, even in areas where the law remains silent.
The conversation also turned to digital advertising, where the challenge extends beyond content to how ads are experienced. From algorithmic targeting to personalised messaging, brands now operate in an environment where regulation struggles to keep pace with technology.
Sahoo noted that social media has amplified awareness, with influencers and consumers increasingly scrutinising product claims and calling out inconsistencies. “Awareness has gone up dramatically. People are questioning what goes into products and what brands are saying,” he said.
The role of self regulatory bodies such as Advertising Standards Council of India also came under the spotlight.
Harsha acknowledged that while SROs play a crucial role, they are not immune to criticism, particularly around perceived conflicts of interest and enforcement gaps. “SROs have a higher threshold of responsibility not just to interpret the law, but to anticipate societal expectations,” he said.
He added that failures in self regulation often push the burden back onto government intervention, underscoring the need for stronger, more proactive oversight.
One of the more nuanced debates centred on whether building trust comes at a cost. While Sahoo acknowledged that quality and compliance can increase costs, he argued that companies must absorb them as part of their long term strategy.
Bhasin, however, framed the challenge differently not as cost, but as competitiveness in a market where not all players play by the same rules. “The real tension is when others cut corners and you choose not to,” he said.
The panel concluded with a call to embed trust into business metrics.
Sahoo suggested that organisations must go beyond revenue targets to include consumer equity and trust based KPIs, ensuring that ethical considerations are not sidelined in the pursuit of growth. “Trust sounds abstract, but it can translate into measurable consumer equity,” he said.
As the discussion wrapped up, one message stood out: the rules of advertising are being rewritten not just by regulators, but by consumers themselves. In an ecosystem where attention is fleeting and scepticism is high, brands that merely comply may survive, but those that build trust are the ones that endure.
