• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, July 5, 2022

"Everything is uncertain. Now what?," Omnicom's Sparks & Honey unit asks in the latest report based on the distillation of millions of cultural signals processed by its AI-powered analytics platform, Q, and analyzed by its team of cultural analysts.

The agency's "202 2 Uncertainty Report" may not be as mathematically scientific as Heisenberg's "Uncertainty Principle," but it draws on millions of signals from more than 140 countries in more than 16 languages to highlight the Big 5: the economy, geopolitical conflict, climate change, trust and the media.

Mainly, the report findings reveal just how pessimistic people are about those five factors, but it does offer some advice for marketers, agencies and various institutions trying to make more certain bets for more positive outcomes:

• Communicate directly to an evolving consumer mindset.

• Maintain value even amid price hikes.

• Make misinformation visible.

• Become a voice of reassurance.

• Highlight your organization's trust muscle.

• Become a force of stability and comfort.

• Define your expertise to help solve immediate crises.

• Highlight climate-based risk in strategies.

"It’s driven by massive shifts that touch on the economy, the media, the trust we place in others, geopolitical conflicts at our doorstep, and the many effects of climate change. Constantly in flux, new cultural drivers of uncertainty will surface and blend in with the others. No matter what changes in the world, business leaders can still innovate and produce in ways that are true to their brand and values — and create meaningful changes for people, communities and their industries."