Every CEO, entrepreneur, and marketer wants to know where consumers are heading. But simply asking customers what they want - a method that is the bedrock of much traditional market research - is limiting at best, misleading at worst. So what's the answer?

Even in today's accelerated consumer arena, you can know what customers will want next. Not by asking them, but by drawing key insights from the game-changing innovations they are engaging with now.

These are the new products, services and campaigns that will change - in ways small and big - what customers expect from other brands and businesses. Once created, those new expectations will spread through the consumer arena - all the way to your door: that's the Expectation Economy in action.

If you can see those new expectations coming, you can innovate for them. And win.

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Why it's time to rethink rewards…
The currencies of change

The quest for self-improvement is one of the deepest-rooted imperatives in human nature. It's also a fundamental driver of behaviour in a consumer arena where status is increasingly gained through experiences, knowledge, and skills rather than the accumulation of goods.

That shift means that many consumers across the globe now find themselves trapped in a never-ending quest for personal improvement, whether that's improving fitness, education or their carbon footprint.

So how - and where - can brands fit in? Tap into the quest for self-improvement and offer fun and relevant rewards and discounts that motivate people to achieve their goals. Help them become the person they want to be, make the 'better' option the easier one. After all, laziness is another fundamental aspect of human nature!

Both big and small rewards are valid. South African weight loss programme SureSlim produced a promotional flyer made from chocolate.  Dieters who returned it without eating any of the segments were rewarded with a discount. Those who gave into temptation could still claim a discount based on how much they didn't eat.

Peruvian cancer charity League Against Cancer took a different route. Beachgoers were offered free wifi, for as long as they remained the shadow of a giant blue structure that the charity built on a sunny beach. That's motivating and educating.

Fun and novel ideas? Yes. But keep meaningful self-improvement at the heart of your campaign and you'll reap the warm and fuzzy rewards of a trend that can delight consumers twice over: the joy at saving money or accessing a coveted service and of knowing and practicing better behaviour.

More about the currencies of change  on Trendwatching.com