Scouting Tips

Scouting is an iterative process!

In this 3-step guide, we show you how to successfully scout trends and signals with AnyIdea.

1. Discover key macro trends

At the beginning, get an impression of currently valid Macro Trends. These come from the renowned TrendOne trend institute and give you a broad and well-founded overview of the major global developments.

Search for topics of interest, such as ”Construction” or ”Food” and browse through the relevant macro trends.

Relevant trends can be directly saved into a Collection or evaluated in the Trendradar.

Find relevant signals in trends

Each trend is described in detail and contains a variety of signals: Micro-trends, startups and companies, scientific papers, news, research projects and patents. These signals from various data categories show you concrete developments and possible characteristics of a trend.‍

Example:
In the macro trend “Smart buildings” you can specifically search relevant signals with the word “Materials” — this will give you the signals related to materials in the context of smart buildings.

An additional filter for Date Provides you with the latest developments and fresh insights on the respective trend.

2. See what moves industries

The AnyIdea Industry Agent provides data-based insights on the most important drivers, trends, and signals in an industry. This allows you to identify relevant developments and opportunities at an early stage. Select 140+ different industries and see what is currently driving these industries.

💡 Tip: Analyze your customers' industries

Take a look at the trends and signals from your customers' industry and find developments that are directly related to your company.

Example:
You are working in the packaging industry and want to understand the importance of sustainable solutions in retail today and in the future.
Choose the industry agent ”Supermarket” and search signals for ”Packaging.” You will get relevant developments on packaging — viewed from your customers' perspective.

As a next step, feel free to choose neighboring industries and see what is currently occupying and driving nearby industries forward.

3. Identify trends in a targeted way

Are you looking for trends and signals on strategic topics, search fields, or specific technologies? Then our Trend Agents (formerly AI Scouts) are exactly what you need.
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Here you can find tips to inspire your Scouting questions.

Macro trend + own topic = Scouting question for Trend Agent

Example question:
You want to combine a Macro Trend like ”Functional food“ with your topic of interest like”Packaging”? This leads to a potential question for a Trend Agent:
‍“What packaging trends and solutions are emerging in connection with functional foods?”

💡 Tip: Scouting from the customer's perspective

If, for example, you are a construction company looking for new materials, technologies, or concepts, it helps to include your customers' perspective.
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This way, you not only identify technological potential but also derive concrete market needs.

Example question:
‍“What building materials and construction solutions do real estate developers need in the future in terms of energy efficiency and sustainability? ”

Divide broad topics into several sub-topics

Topics or strategic search fields are often very broad, e.g. “Recycling”, “Digitalization” or “Power-to-X.”

To achieve the best results, we recommend breaking them down into subtopics and sub-questions, and starting a separate Trend Agent for each topic.

‍Example questions:

“Green Building”

• Which building material innovations (e.g., circular materials, carbon concrete, wood hybrid) are likely to prevail in the long term?
• How are energy and building technologies, such as heat pumps, geothermal energy, changing construction and usage concepts?
• How can circular economy principles (e.g., deconstruction, reuse of building materials) best be integrated into construction projects?

“Recycle and Reuse”

• What technological advances are there currently in mechanical, chemical and enzymatic recycling processes for plastics?
  
• Which new technologies and processes are changing the recycling and reuse of plastics?
  
• What new business models are created by combining recycling technologies, digital track & trace systems and supply chain transparency?

“Generative UI”

• What developments and trends are there in the area of generative UI?
  
• How can autonomous vehicles provide a personalized and immersive driving experience in the future?
  
• How can adaptive interfaces help relieve drivers while meeting safety standards?
  

💡 Tip: Refine scouting questions

You can easily adapt questions and topics that interest you and optimize them in a targeted manner:

1. Add topics you want to emphasize.
2. Exclude topics that are less relevant.

This allows you to tailor the results to your individual interests and goals.

Refining questions:

• What are the latest findings and breakthroughs in LiDAR technologies?
  Add results about autonomous driving.
• How will artificial intelligence change agriculture and how can the technology be used in the best possible way? Add results to Precision Agriculture
• How will banking change in the future?
  ‍Add results about customer service and artificial intelligence.
• How will healthcare systems develop in the future?
  Exclude findings on telehealth and wearable technologies.
• What does the future of work look like? Exclude factory automation results.
• How will shopping experiences change in the future?
  Exclude logistics and supply chain results.

💡 Tip: Scout iteratively

Make the scouting process iterative. Do not start too narrowly, but open your search space wide at first.
Review the results, discover new topics, and get inspired.

Afterwards, you can gradually specify your trend agents further and dive deeper into specific areas.‍

‍Further information:

• Create Trend Agent (AI Scout)
• Open and specific scouting questions
• Scouting results