
The New Abnormal
#TheNewAbnormal podcast (which has over 250,000 downloads) focuses on understanding today and anticipating the future. Discussing these subjects via the viewpoints of my guests has led to some fascinating conversations with activists, creatives, writers, philosophers, strategists, psychologists, lecturers, futurists, etc. Re: my bio, I'm a strategist, author and speaker. My 1st book went to No1 in the business charts, whilst my 2nd was shortlisted for the 'Business Book of the Year' Awards. (The podcast partners with The Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies, a global leader in applying futures studies to solve strategic challenges, helping clients to be #FuturesReady.) So, we hope you enjoy listening to the series - which was set up during the early days of Covid, and is divided into Series One [2020-21] Two [2022] Three [2023] Four [2024] and Five [2025]. All rights reserved. #TheNewAbnormal podcast series © Sean Pillot de Chenecey 2020. Please note that it's currently on hold, as I literally don’t have the time to record any episodes at the moment, but it’ll return in late summer...
The New Abnormal
Sarah Rabia 'Trend Forecasting and Brand Futures'
Series Two
This episode of #TheNewAbnormal features Sarah Rabia, the Global Director of Cultural Strategy & Backslash Co-Founder at TBWA\Chiat\Day.
Based in Los Angeles she's an award-winning Content Marketer and Cultural Insight Expert, who was previously a Strategist at BBH London and Mother London; having been the Senior Trends Analyst at The Future Laboratory and a journalist at The Face, which she joined after studying journalism at the London College of Fashion / University of the Arts London.
In this podcast, she talks about how and why she co-founded Backslash re: blending cultural insights and trend data to help the agency make brands more relevant. In effect, to help them move at the speed of cultural issues.
So she describes her trend research, spotting patterns and stories 'at the edge' in order to develop forecasting reports.
We discuss her recent projects into issues such as work-life boundaries, the convenience economy, diversification, wealth warfare and innovation around wellbeing.
Finally, and along the way, Billie Eilish gets an appropriate shout-out.