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Looking Back at the Lookout 2024
By Kristy Laue
- 07.29.24
- 5 Min Read
What keeps you up at night?
Is it inflation or rising costs? Maybe it’s workforce, or how AI will affect your business.
As leaders, directors and business owners, we all wrestle with challenges that keep us awake and wondering about tomorrow. So what do you do?
You ask a different question. Not “What keeps me up at night?” But instead: “What should I look out for now, so I’m prepared then?”
That’s what The Lookout is all about. Each year, L&S hosts a future-focused event for agency clients, partners and friends, where we can look ahead at what’s in store for the next five years and beyond. Because the best way to get some sleep at night is to have a plan.
If you missed The Lookout or want a quick a recap, we compiled a few highlights from the day’s speakers.
Good or Bad? The Future is a Bit of Both.
Economists Jared McEntaffer and Jacob Mortensen started the day with an economic outlook, sharing the bad (housing prices) and the good (income transfer by generation) as we look ahead.
Key takeaways: inflation and high interest rates are driving negative consumer sentiment, but on the bright side, income is still growing. One of the biggest future challenges we’ll need to face is labor – finding more people to fill the employment gap amid changing demographics and an aging population. This is no easy problem to solve, but it’s one more people should be talking about.
Midwest Perceptions are on the Move.
For the second year, L&S conducted proprietary research to explore how people from the Upper Midwest/Mountain West perceive the economy and feel about their personal finances.
Last year’s research found that those in the Upper Midwest tended to be slightly more positive about the economy and far more confident about their personal finances. This year, our team found that sentiment had shifted, with participants reporting less positivity than in 2023. This was especially true in Gen Z, who reported more uncertainty about the economy and finances than other generations.
It’s not all doom and gloom, though. While confidence in the national economy was low, Matt Hammer shared that participants had a much sunnier perception on the health of their state and local economies, along with their outlook on the future of their local communities.
Gen Z Hits Different.
After talking about the economy, it made sense to dive into one of the most evolving – and uncertain – generations: Gen Z.
If you don’t get Gen Z’s lingo or fashion choices, that’s okay. What’s important is to understand what they value.
Emphasizing their diversity, strong values and digital-native upbringing, our speakers Sara Waldner and Carly Hegstad focused on four ways for brands to connect with Gen Z:
- Showcase transparent brand values
- Embrace experiential marketing
- Create tailored experiences
- Develop authentic video content
The session concluded with the announcement of a new pilot program, the L&S Creator Network, aimed at tapping into Gen Z’s creative potential to help L&S clients better connect with this influential generation. (More on that in a future blog.)
A Roadmap for Using AI.
AI is here. So now what? We concluded with a Roadmap for AI Innovation, equipping business owners and organizational leaders with practical approaches for AI implementation.
There are millions of AI examples and use cases on the internet – and YouTube is a great place to find them. But it’s more challenging to find methods of transitioning and scaling AI for companies that have diverse departments and skillsets.
After you embrace a philosophical change in how you work going forward, you can begin a journey of methodically implementing AI principles into everyday tasks. Travis Adney walked us through six steps on the Roadmap for AI Innovation, along with giving the audience a peek into how L&S has implemented this roadmap with our AI philosophy, AI ethics standards, an approved AI Greenlist and more.
Keep Asking Questions.
At the end of the day, we brought our presenters back on stage for a Q&A with Laura Mitchell. Because looking out at the future isn’t about having all the answers – it’s about asking good questions, staying curious and embracing change.
Thanks to the partners, clients and friends who attended this event and made it great. We look forward to seeing you next year.
