WEBVTT - Trend Expert on "Chaos is the New Normal"

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<v Speaker 1>This is Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Messer and Jason

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<v Speaker 1>Kelly on Bloomberg Radio. All right, I have been looking

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<v Speaker 1>forward to this segment all day, ever since I read

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<v Speaker 1>this report. It's called Chaos the New Normal twenty Trends

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<v Speaker 1>for the author, Marian Salzman, is a trend expert for

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<v Speaker 1>Philip Morris International. She joins me on the phone from Switzerland. Marian,

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<v Speaker 1>I gotta tell you, I couldn't stop reading this. I

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<v Speaker 1>was trying to skim it, and then I just kept

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<v Speaker 1>getting sucked in. Congratulations. It's so thought provoking. Thank you. Unfortunately,

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<v Speaker 1>every time I turn on the TV or listen to

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<v Speaker 1>the radio, I feel like the chaos just gets worse.

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<v Speaker 1>I finished the report before Christmas, and watching the last

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<v Speaker 1>several days, I feel like the chaotic swirl is just intensified.

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<v Speaker 1>Absolutely well, and so much of what you talk about

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<v Speaker 1>in this report is manifesting, as you say, every time

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<v Speaker 1>we every time we turn an out. Uh, let's start

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<v Speaker 1>with I'm trying to figure out where I've been sort

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<v Speaker 1>of debating with myself where I want to start. Um,

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<v Speaker 1>let's start on on sort of this human level. Because

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<v Speaker 1>you start out by talking about sort of how we

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<v Speaker 1>interact with each other. We talked about this at my

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<v Speaker 1>house all the time. You know, get your head out

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<v Speaker 1>of your phone. Um, but also start connecting with people

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<v Speaker 1>who you are close to physically. Uh, and in a

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<v Speaker 1>physical way. Tell me about that. Well, I mean, let's

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<v Speaker 1>start off with in a physical way. When you even

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<v Speaker 1>use the word the verb we talked, I talked to someone.

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<v Speaker 1>Did I talk to them with my mouth? Did I

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<v Speaker 1>talk to them with my fingers? Did I face time

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<v Speaker 1>with them? Did I simply send it simple character tweet

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<v Speaker 1>or text message? So there's a UM. We have many

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<v Speaker 1>many more relationships in our daily lives and far fewer

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<v Speaker 1>intimate relationships. Um, we've kind of disum, We've used computer

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<v Speaker 1>to sort of disintermediate between ourselves and the people were

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<v Speaker 1>closest to. So you could take I could take a class,

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<v Speaker 1>I could take an m b A without ever going

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<v Speaker 1>face to face with a professor or another student as

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<v Speaker 1>a colleague. So you're seeing people desperately try to offset

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<v Speaker 1>that with things that are high touched, like the heavy blanket,

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<v Speaker 1>which makes you feel slattled. Adults sort of asking one

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<v Speaker 1>another to hug them, which has a whole other obvious

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<v Speaker 1>implication in this time because of me too and everything else.

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<v Speaker 1>And I just thought this story today of the Pace

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<v Speaker 1>University he too problem. Um, I think that we're desperately

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<v Speaker 1>seeking the physical warmth of another human. We're not so

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<v Speaker 1>good at dealing with people face to face anymore, and

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<v Speaker 1>do you and what do we do about that? Look?

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<v Speaker 1>I mean, it's so simple to say, wind back the clock.

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<v Speaker 1>Wasn't it easier to live in the seventies? And we

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<v Speaker 1>put on rolls codd glasses and we forget everything that

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<v Speaker 1>was wrong about those times and we sort of um

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<v Speaker 1>idealized what was. I think the reality is that we

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<v Speaker 1>probably need to differentiate between friends, fans, and followers. Friends

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<v Speaker 1>are people you really know, family, or people that you're

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<v Speaker 1>either really related to or really involved with. But it's

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<v Speaker 1>it's that the the tug of the heart. I think

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<v Speaker 1>we need to um kind of clear away all these

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<v Speaker 1>followers that we accumulate. I mean, you know, an eighteen

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<v Speaker 1>year old girl may well have to three thousand followers.

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<v Speaker 1>You sit down with her, you don't she doesn't know

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<v Speaker 1>very many of them at all. Most of them are

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<v Speaker 1>people who know people who know people who think maybe

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<v Speaker 1>they should know her, so they friend her. She accepts

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<v Speaker 1>that it's even worse on Instagram and of people liking pictures,

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<v Speaker 1>So I definitely we need to re insert. I would

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<v Speaker 1>almost call it simplicity, simple meals to face meals, um,

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<v Speaker 1>simple conversations, face to face conversations. It's, you know, growing up,

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<v Speaker 1>the thing I hated the most was when your mother

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<v Speaker 1>drove you to school. You were stuck in the car

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<v Speaker 1>having a real conversation. So I think we need to

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<v Speaker 1>move backwards to some of those. Yeah, absolutely, Well, let's

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<v Speaker 1>talk about meals for a second, because I loved what

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<v Speaker 1>you wrote about, because we've talked about it so much

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<v Speaker 1>on this show, this idea of plant to plate. There's

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<v Speaker 1>a simplicity element there. Obviously, people being more concerned about

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<v Speaker 1>what's going into their bodies. How real is that in

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<v Speaker 1>your estimation? Because you know, we talked so much about Wow,

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<v Speaker 1>that's sort of a fat or or what have you.

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<v Speaker 1>But this faux meat movement, however you want to describe it,

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<v Speaker 1>seems to be taking root. How do you assess it?

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<v Speaker 1>So it's it's a real interesting um bifurcation away because

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<v Speaker 1>on one thing, we want everything to be very very natural,

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<v Speaker 1>We want to eat um. The fewer ingredients. The better.

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<v Speaker 1>We want to know where the lamb that we're eating,

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<v Speaker 1>if we choose to eat meat, where it was farmed,

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<v Speaker 1>where it was butchered, where it was packaged, where it

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<v Speaker 1>was processed. On the other hand, all these fox solutions

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<v Speaker 1>that are plant based, we fundamentally believe it's better for

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<v Speaker 1>ourselves and better for the planet. So it's a real

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<v Speaker 1>um meltdown, and I think it's it's why you I

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<v Speaker 1>was at an event recently where they were sampling the

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<v Speaker 1>Beyond Meat burger and it was such a long line

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<v Speaker 1>of people who wanted it, and the most positive thing

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<v Speaker 1>they could say about it was, oh, it tastes like

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<v Speaker 1>real meat. But the other morning I was at Dunkin

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<v Speaker 1>Donuts in Charleston Beach, Rhode Island, and there they offer

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<v Speaker 1>a Beyond Meat sauceage. So here's this place, completely conventional

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<v Speaker 1>mainstreaming trying to convince, you know, every Joe and every

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<v Speaker 1>Jane to make that switch to plant based. I do

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<v Speaker 1>think plant bases is rising. I think there's gonna be

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<v Speaker 1>a pushback and people are going to still embrace their

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<v Speaker 1>cleaner meats. And I also think that the next wave

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<v Speaker 1>things to be watching for is this real commitment to

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<v Speaker 1>clean food, food with very few ingredients. Food that is,

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<v Speaker 1>you get what you you know what you're getting and

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<v Speaker 1>you enjoy what you're getting, but that's what you're getting.

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<v Speaker 1>And I think that and at the same time, what

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<v Speaker 1>is the foodie is going to change and evolved. I

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<v Speaker 1>mean it used to be the being a food emant

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<v Speaker 1>being very very experimental. Now it may mean that you're

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<v Speaker 1>slow cooking that home cooked meal, right. Uh. And talk

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<v Speaker 1>to me about this youth movement, you know, Greta Thunberg

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<v Speaker 1>obviously has captured so much attention. Uh, divisive in a way,

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<v Speaker 1>sort of surprisingly speaking to some of the other trends

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<v Speaker 1>that you outline, But you know, the youth movement does feel,

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<v Speaker 1>on the one hand, uh, refreshing and something we've seen

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<v Speaker 1>before over time, and yet there's an urgency about it.

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<v Speaker 1>Then maybe I'm just showing my age as a mid

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<v Speaker 1>forties guy that that does seem a little bit new

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<v Speaker 1>in a good way. You know that that there is

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<v Speaker 1>a sense of urgency out there. You know. I feel

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<v Speaker 1>like that movement really started with Malala, and I don't

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<v Speaker 1>think we can underestimate that there was a beginning. I

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<v Speaker 1>think what Greta has done in the last twelve months

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<v Speaker 1>is really, um, make all of us feel pretty guilty.

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<v Speaker 1>If she can do it, why can't wait? If she

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<v Speaker 1>can stand up to institutions and authorities and educators and

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<v Speaker 1>adults and say this has to change, we all pay

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<v Speaker 1>lots of lip service to wanting to leave the planet

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<v Speaker 1>a better place for our children and our grandchildren. But

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<v Speaker 1>the reality is she's the child, and she's setting the example,

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<v Speaker 1>and I think, um, that makes a big difference. I

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<v Speaker 1>also think that today's hyper connected, social media infiltrated world,

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<v Speaker 1>she becomes a role model. One of the things I'm

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<v Speaker 1>starting to see as a fad are you know, parents

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<v Speaker 1>who want their kids to be greta lighte meaning lately

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<v Speaker 1>activists just activist enough to get into a good college,

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<v Speaker 1>activists to build a good network. So there's Greta light movement.

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<v Speaker 1>I think it's going to be a real phenomena, especially

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<v Speaker 1>maybe in your immediate listening area, in that sort of

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<v Speaker 1>try state area, connected looking at your traffic report, thinking okay,

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<v Speaker 1>these are parents who right now are in the throes

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<v Speaker 1>of college admits that they wish they had a Greta

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<v Speaker 1>right absolutely absolutely, well, I could talk to you first

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<v Speaker 1>much longer. Unfortunately we've got to go. Marian Salzman, come

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<v Speaker 1>back and join us. I loved reading this. I'm going

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<v Speaker 1>to share it with my family, put it out on

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<v Speaker 1>Twitter as well. Uh, congratulations to you. Very thought provoking