SHELF No. 09
Reports, surveys, and studies worth keeping around.
OK COOL Filed
OK COOL's sixth annual global trend report, built on a survey of 2,900+ respondents, arguing that algorithmic over-optimisation is flattening culture — and what brands must do to fight back.
PREVIOUSLY FILED
D&AD Sent
D&AD's annual trend report, co-produced with The Thought Partnership, distilling six creative trends from 50,000 award entries across 89 countries and 42 jury rooms.
Anthropic Sent
Set your own assumptions about how capable AI becomes and how widely it is adopted — the model returns a picture of the American economy in 2030.
MusicEXP Sent
On average, the featured artists saw their monthly listeners shoot up by 670% following the trailer's release.
YouTube Sent
Mainstream culture is alive but transformed, driven by niche fan communities, superfan passion, and platform-fuelled crossover moments.
Survey Center on American Life (AEI) Filed
“Teens raised by parents without college degrees are spending much more time on social media and logging many more hours playing video games than their peers.”
MatthewBall.co Filed
United Talent Agency Filed
“For brands, this is the defining tension of 2026. Culture, in all its multitude, is everywhere. Yet it cannot be harnessed through reach alone, or even momentum.”
X (formerly Twitter) Filed
AI has caused no material increase in the unemployment rate to date — even among workers most at risk of automation.
Bain & Company Sent
“Market leaders that can iterate quickly, test more ideas, and kill weak concepts early consistently outperform those tied to slow, episodic, siloed insight cycles.”
State of AI Design Sent
“Designers are using double the number of off-the-shelf tools than they did in 2025, and they're building custom software with AI that matches how they like to work.”
Tracksuit Sent
97% of the world's most entertaining brands posted revenue growth, with over two-thirds having double digit gains.
arXiv Sent
AI posts share a tidy, self-announcing shape — detectable from structural signatures alone, even after rewording.
Up to the Light Sent
Annual report based on 700 client interviews revealing what clients actually think about their creative agency relationships.
YouTube - Data Is Beautiful Sent
How people allocate their 24 hours across commuting, entertainment, housework, and other daily activities from 1920 to 2026.
Google Drive Sent
A shared Google Drive folder containing 2026 trends materials from ACIG.
HUD App Sent
“Pleasure is one of the few subjects people still quietly lie about. So we removed every reason to.”
Sensor Tower Filed
Sensor Tower Filed
Niko Partners Filed
Stream Hatchet Filed
Google AI Filed
If these household time-savings would average out to just 30 minutes per week, the unpaid productivity gains in the US alone could be worth approximately $100 billion.
Social for Good Sent
The lurker isn't only a Gen Z problem
Contagious Sent
Welcome to the Cold War of AI
Ofcom Sent