What are the trends during a period of persistent stagnation? In a year of high volatility, the direction of the trend is clear, whether up or down.
Like in 'Money Rush (2022),' the entire nation becomes excited by the investment fever, or like in 'Office Big Bang (2023),' the organizational culture changes from the ground up.
So, we too must respond boldly by ‘pivoting without hesitation (2021)’.
But in these frustrating times of stagnation and low expectations for tomorrow, the small, present movements become important.
That doesn't mean the trend isn't moving.
Because technology and demographics are constantly changing, the resulting rapid changes in trends continue.
--- p.10

In a stagnant age, where hope for a better tomorrow has vanished, what do people do to pass the time? The first thing that comes to mind is the pursuit of stimulation.
Maybe that's natural.
Because it's monotonous and dull, you naturally look for something stimulating.
The second is the opposite.
Find something calm and stable.
It may seem contradictory to seeking stimulation, but this is also natural.
As I will explain later, as stimuli flow to extremes, the backlash to relax and calm daily life also increases.
The third is the pursuit of the 'hexagon', which wants to show off a perfect appearance.
Modern people spend most of their time on social media, and the most important keyword in Korean social media these days is the hexagonal man.
By seeking stimulation, pursuing peace, and boasting of a more perfect self, South Korea endured a time of stagnation.

--- pp.56-57

It was a year in which consumer sentiment was frozen as high interest rates and high prices persisted longer than the market expected.
The 'real household disposable income (PGDI)' per capita, which calculates the household's actual purchasing power, decreased by 1.2% from the previous year to KRW 23.01 million in 2023.
This is the first decline in 14 years since a 0.4% drop in 2009, immediately following the global financial crisis.
As their financial situation is not so good, some say that consumers are becoming the 'YONOYou Only Need One' group, who say they only need one thing, rather than the 'YOLOYou Only Live Once' group, who say they "do not spare money and time for present happiness."
My finances are tight, but the things I want to buy keep coming out.
In times like these, consumers seek the most certain option to avoid failure.

--- p.71

At the Trend Concert held by the 'Trend Korea Team' in June 2024, the remarks of Dr. Tube CEO Joo Him-chan attracted attention.
According to his observations as the person who manages Lim Young-woong's YouTube channel, Lim Young-woong is not just an entertainer.
The enthusiasm of those who gathered from all over the country on chartered buses and filled the 100,000 seats of Sangam World Cup Stadium is no less than that of any other idol fandom.
In particular, the culture created by a huge number of senior fans surpasses the marketability and economic feasibility created by a single singer.
Considering that seniors, who suffered from a significant sense of isolation due to the COVID-19 pandemic, received an incomparable sense of happiness through loving, supporting, and moving someone, his songs can rightfully be called social "care."
Now is the time for the meaning of care to expand.
Care is more meaningful when there is mutual support and a two-way exchange of energy, rather than when someone unilaterally looks after someone else.

--- p.98

In the open chat room of the webtoon-based drama "Carry On Sunjae", which is set mainly in high school, hundreds of people suffering from "Sunjae Syndrome" gather and talk.
After talking about dramas for a while without knowing each other's faces or names, sometimes each person's daily life is revealed.
A mother raising a child, a college student busy with schoolwork, an office worker who likes to binge-watch, etc…
Although people of different ages, occupations, and regions are involved, all generations naturally blend together through dramas.
Today's daily life is one in which individual tastes are free from group characteristics such as '30s', 'women', and 'office workers'.
And that's not all.
There are a growing number of people living lives that are completely different from the stereotypes of their own group: a manager in his 50s who applied for parental leave, a high school student who earns pocket money through a smart store, a woman in her 30s who just waits for the weekend futsal game, and a wealthy person who goes to Daiso to buy products recommended on YouTube.
It also means that the typicality of a specific group that comes to mind through age, gender, occupation, etc. is fading.
Now, adjectives like “worth the price of a night” or “masculine/feminine” are a thing of the past.
--- p.132

I don't want others to judge my happiness, and I don't want to try to be happy just to show off to others.
All I want is a 'safe and peaceful day'.
When a friend asks, “How was your day?” and I answer, “It was just an ordinary day, nothing special,” I want to hear the comfort that I am not living wrong.
Having just one 'so-so day' is not as easy as it sounds.
No, in some ways a day spent without doing anything is amazing.
This is because we live in an era where we never know when, where, or to whom an unimaginable disaster or accident may occur.
You could be hit by a car while driving the wrong way on a one-way street, or you could be assaulted for no reason by someone in an elevator.
Or you might get stuck in a parking lot during a sudden downpour and be stuck, or you might get scammed by voice phishing after sending money to someone who called to say their family was injured.
The incidents and accidents happening around us naturally make us think, "It's fortunate that they just pass without incident."
I'm grateful for the peaceful days when I can watch funny movies, collect toys, drink beer, watch baseball games, and just focus on my daily life.
--- p.160

I don't like things that are the same.
I pursue my own consumption that reveals my individuality.
A new breed of humans has emerged who follow the proposition that “there are no two identical products under the sky” as a doctrine.
A perfect product that is not ready to be touched is no fun, and I like an unfinished product that is only completed through my hands.
I prefer things that I can assemble to my liking rather than factory-made products.
The number of people seeking ‘uniqueness’ through consumption is increasing.
As more and more consumers seek the "best product" that's right for them, rather than the "best product" that's good for everyone, a wind of change is blowing across industries.
Rather than offering finished products, companies these days leave room for consumers to customize them to their own tastes.
As a result, additional elements are given more attention than the essential properties of a product, and a market called 'the belly is bigger than the stomach' is formed.

--- p.182

The most famous 'face' in the world is probably that of the Mona Lisa, housed in the Louvre Museum in Paris.
The Mona Lisa, which depicts a woman's face without eyebrows, is a work of art that attracts numerous visitors, with an average of 20,000 to 30,000 people viewing the painting every day.
The most famous work of art with a 'facial expression' is Munch's 'The Scream'.
The works of expressionist painter Edvard Munch evoke powerful emotions in the viewer through distorted facial expressions that express inner human anxiety, fear, and despair.
The faces and expressions are similar, but the words are subtly different.
The face refers to the front of a person's head, which includes the eyes, nose, mouth, forehead, and chin.
The face uses various muscles to express emotions, which are called facial expressions.
Because no two people are exactly alike, faces are an important part of the body that allows us to identify people, and facial expressions are a key element of nonverbal communication because they convey emotions and states.
The English word 'face' means both face and expression, and 'face tech' also encompasses face and expression.

--- p.206

Paradoxically, the very things that members of a society are passionate about reveal what is most lacking in that community.
The fact that Korean society is currently mired in harmlessness may mean that our community is suffering to that extent.
In fact, the younger generation these days calls themselves the 'scratched generation' and often uses the expression "scratched" when their pride is hurt.
If you scratch it, it will get hurt.
Perhaps this is a time when we need something harmless to heal our scratches, or something that will soothe the itch of life without causing any scars when scratched.
What is it that bothers us so much? The reasons are endless.
As I briefly mentioned earlier, the economy is not doing well.
Domestic demand continues to be sluggish due to high prices and high interest rates, and the situation for self-employed workers is particularly dire.
Maybe it's not just a temporary economic downturn.
As low growth solidifies, even the optimism that “tomorrow will be better than today” is not easy.

--- p.245

When something is not precisely classified as either 0 or 1, but exists somewhere in a continuous change between 0 and 1, we use the expression 'gradient'.
Gradient is a physics term that originally meant “a property observed in the process of an object moving from one point to another,” but it is also often used to express color tones in art techniques, nail polish, hair dye, and makeup.
Here, gradient does not mean a single clear color, but rather a step that changes from one color to another.
Nature can be said to be the most primitive gradation.
Look at the sunset that colors the western sky.
Can that mysteriously spreading color be defined by a single word: red or blue? If JYP Entertainment's Wonder Girls, who desperately targeted the US market in 2009, were a very strong "K," wouldn't the thoroughly localized VCHA be a rather light "K?" The question, "Is it Korean?", should no longer be judged in a dichotomous "yes" or "no" manner, but rather as a concept of gradation.

--- p.253

As technology rapidly develops, new services with unprecedented concepts are appearing one after another.
In order for consumers to easily accept these changes, we need to provide physical experiences that allow them to directly feel the usefulness.
It is most effective to convey information through physical properties rather than abstract explanations.
Additionally, the long-term isolation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the development of a contactless economy have reduced people's opportunities to actually sense and experience things.
When there is a big change, the reaction to it is bound to be stronger.
The growth of the virtual economy has actually increased the desire for physical goods.
(…) Children will touch anything and put it in their mouths, regardless of whether it is dirty or dangerous.
The desire to feel material properties is a basic human instinct.
Although modern humans have existed for over 200,000 years, it has only been a few decades since we first encountered the virtual world.
The appeal of materiality signifies a return to the essence of longing for 'physical reality' in a modern society represented by digital and AI.
As the digital, virtual, and contactless economy develops in the future, the appeal of physical properties will become even more important as a countermeasure.

--- p.283

On July 21, 2024, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) announced that the hottest day in Earth's history had arrived.
The average temperature of the Earth's surface was 17.09°C, the highest since climate observations began in 1940.
But surprisingly, less than 24 hours after the report was released, a temperature of 17.15°C was observed, exceeding this figure.
An incredible heat record was broken in a single day, and July 22, 2024, was once again recorded as the "hottest day in Earth's recorded history."
These days, we experience unprecedented weather events that we would only experience once in a decade every year, or even every day.
The recent climate crisis forces us to go one step further than the concept of 'essential environment'.
As unpleasant records such as the 'once-in-a-millennium flood' and 'once-in-a-century heatwave and heavy snow' are repeatedly broken every season, people are beginning to feel the climate crisis as a problem that is closely related to their daily lives.
The previously invisible climate crisis has become a real threat that must be addressed immediately, completely changing our daily lives.
This situation makes it increasingly important not only to 'mitigate' climate change by reducing greenhouse gases, but also to 'adapt' to climate change that has already occurred.

--- p.306

A co-evolutionary strategy from an ecosystem perspective is not only an important concept for large corporations, but is also a core perspective that must be considered when approaching local economies and small business operations.
The key to success now lies not in how exclusive an ecosystem can be built, but in whether it can be opened up and create the possibility of co-evolution where players can grow together.
This is because when co-evolution takes place, it is possible to kill two birds with one stone: growth of participating companies and satisfaction of consumers.
In a business landscape swept by a wave of rapid change in customer, technology, and value, a co-evolution strategy is poised to become one of the most powerful weapons available.
Survival of the fittest.
Only those who adapt survive.
The reason that weak humanity has been able to command the entire Earth is because it has constantly evolved to adapt to environmental changes.
The same is true in the business realm.
In a modern, ever-changing ecosystem, coevolution is an essential choice.

--- p.352

At the core of One Point Up is ‘efficiency.’
This is because time and effort are limited, and the desire to achieve the best possible results within that time is reflected.
In a rapidly changing environment, it's perhaps only natural to seek ways to achieve visible results with minimal investment.
What is noteworthy here is the ‘consistent’ practice with ‘small’ goals.
Even if there are no noticeable changes right away, create a routine by consistently focusing on yourself and making small progress.
Routines help us renew and energize our lives every day.
Having your own routine is also proof that you are not standing still.

--- p.363