I recently had a meeting with The Future Laboratory at their offices in Spitalfields, London.

A consumer-insight and brands agency,  The Future Laboratory offers a powerful blend of trend forecasting and innovation strategies making it one of the world’s most renowned and respected futures consultancies. Whether we like it or not, trends are a fundamental part of our emotional, physical and psychological landscape, and by forecasting trends, or using them to anticipate what is new and next in the world, we can begin to understand what drives and motivates consumers. This in turn can help to make the difference between a product or design that sells and one that languishes on the shelf.

But it is never this straight forward in these strange times.

With this in mind, I went calling.

Turning down the cobbled side road that is Elder Street and upon arriving at the front door, I rang the bell and waited for it to be answered. A woman with pink hair appeared next to me, also waiting to be let in. After a short while, a small door inside a bigger door opened and being warmly greeted and ushered inside by a human, a big old friendly dog came to say hello! I half-expected to see a bottle with ‘Drink Me’ written on it, alongside the beautiful terrariums and other objects displayed in the reception area. As first impressions go and if I was a client, I’d have signed over all my worldly goods in an instant, feeling like I was visiting wizards binding fantastical spells in branding, forecasting and innovative thinking!

Still a little enchanted by the whole experience, it will go down as my ‘Alice in Wonderland’ moment…

Strange days indeed!