By Sibylle Dorndorf

“Highway to hell or future – looking to the future of the toy trade” is the title of the talk that Nick Sohnemann is going to give at the Toy Business forum of the Spielwarenmesse on 31 January 2024. And he knows a lot about the future. However, his profession as an innovation expert doesn’t consist in looking into a crystal ball; rather, it’s all to do with bringing together future-oriented measures that ensure the survival of companies. Nick Sohnemann’s mission consists of identifying new business models, creating product variations, giving the operating business a future-proof update and so creating lasting results.

Sibylle Dorndorf: Mr Sohnemann, you founded the innovation agency Future Candy. How do you define the future?

Nick Sohnemann: In order to answer this question, I have to say first that innovation agencies define the future differently from, for example, futurologists. We aren’t so visionary; instead, we calculate in three-year phases. Contentwise, with us ‘innovation tacklers’, it’s all about new technologies, trends and innovative business models. Naturally, we also take into account social trends and countertrends, examine AI and its impact as the antithesis to man-made trends; but, generally, our focus is on making the future understandable and tangible with the aid of the latest technology.

Sibylle Dorndorf: Your agency is called Future Candy. Is what awaits us in the years to come going to be a cakewalk?

Nick Sohnemann: Yes and no. Of course, we face huge challenges. We’re entering an economic slump; many countries have once again had terrible PISA results; but if you look at things from the larger perspective, our world has become better and better in the last few decades. Our income has risen, as has our life expectancy. Naturally, we have challenges, and quite a few of them, but I’m not a fan of cultural pessimism. That won’t get us any further. The reality is this: the world isn’t getting worse and worse, it’s just changing. Sure, some companies and individual sectors are under pressure. It is, in particular, the companies that haven’t invested much or carried out any innovations in the last few years that are now feeling the pinch and are going through a bad patch.

Sibylle Dorndorf: In simple terms, can you give us an idea of what you actually do?

Nick Sohnemann: We help companies to come up with ideas for the future. Our perspective is broad and generalised. We don’t try to become “insiders” in just one sector but work for companies in several different industries. Our work ranges from various forms of technology to the development of innovation project prototypes via trends. We examine new business models and discuss them with the people in charge of innovation, marketing as well as sales in the company. We act like partners. As regards the specific task in hand, we work with three components: research, development and innovation. When we’ve got these three parameters for the innovation project in view, we can then reduce the risk of our customer heading in the wrong direction.

Sibylle Dorndorf: Change has never happened so fast before. Is it even possible to identify trends or currents in such a complex environment?

Nick Sohnemann: We are innovation tacklers. Our approach is characterised by the tried and trusted innovation methods of the last few decades. At its core, our work isn’t about empirical resilience or spectacular visionary ideas, but about working close to reality. Our job is an operative one. In practice, our job looks like this: we come up with hypotheses, develop prototypes and then test them in the real world. It is the market who guides and also corrects us. Our work is a process. We change our project hypotheses and innovation models until we end up with a version that’s marketable and commercially viable.

Sibylle Dorndorf: People are currently feeling deeply insecure. If theories in social media are to be believed, we’re heading towards apocalyptic situations. What can each individual do to feel that they’re not at the mercy of circumstances?

Nick Sohnemann: I can only answer this question from my own personal point of view: reduce your media consumption, consume little and selected news from reputable channels and get to grips with new media and technologies. As a counterpoint, create some balance, by, for example, reading a book, paying attention to your mental health and not letting yourself be driven by events.

Sibylle Dorndorf: In 2024, a lot of companies are going to disappear from the market. Where do you predict any positive trends for Germany as a place to do business, given the global challenges?

Nick Sohnemann: I’d like to reply by giving a concrete example: the Schwarz Group is strengthening its presence in the Heilbronn region by adding another site. In Bad Friedrichshall, they’re building a Schwarz Project Campus, which will mainly be used by their IT staff. Besides the necessary administrative units, facilities such as a day-care centre and a staff restaurant are also being planned. They have an eye on young people, who are more mobile than 40-year-olds. Or take the topic of AI. What barely anyone is aware of is that 100 AI professorial chairs were installed in Bavaria as early as 2019 in order to investigate, from various points of view, the possibilities that AI offers. This is just to give you some examples, because, seen overall, the AI revolution is bypassing Germany.

Sibylle Dorndorf: Generation Z and their attitude to life and work are currently in the spotlight. Is this the generation that can turn the tide?

Nick Sohnemann: Not alone, that’s for sure. In other words, we can’t just leave things to Generation Z. That would be making things too easy for us. Think about the megatrend our parents came up against. It was just one thing: globalisation. Generation Z is facing two major megatrends: on the one hand, digitalisation and on the other, sustainability. In my view, the settled generations have to stand by the side of the younger generations. We have to support them with our experience and assume responsibility.

Sibylle Dorndorf: If you were to hashtag your forecasts, could you tell us what’s going to be new and what will remain?

Nick Sohnemann: The AI transformation is definitely coming. We will have humanoid robots that carry out simple tasks in various areas such as at home and in care facilities. The use of AI in companies will lead to fundamental changes. People, on the other hand, will always be increasingly required to develop visions in the first place.

What will stay around? Europe will remain and hence the discourse of slowness. Human encounters will remain, human interaction as the basis for our ideas about the future.

Sibylle Dorndorf: When you give your talk at the Toy Business Forum of the Spielwarenmesse, you will mainly be speaking to an audience from the retail sector. This sector has seen considerable upheavals due to the insolvencies of major players in the toy sector. Is the retail trade as we know it now obsolete?

Nick Sohnemann: We no longer need the classic rows of shelves, one next to the other. And the crocodile tears that are being shed won’t help us either. At the end of the day, it’s the retailers that are to blame for what’s happening. Trends, new kinds of lifestyle are simply being ignored. The revolution that took place in the retail sector – and is still taking place – should now, at the very latest, be a wake-up call for everyone working in retail. If we look at China and Japan, we can see that retail over there has reached completely new dimensions. Shops are places where people can meet up; they’re offering leisure activities. In Europe, retail has remained very traditional, which means it’s outdated for the coming generations and their needs.

Sibylle Dorndorf: “Highway to hell or future – looking to the future of the toy trade” – that’s the title of your talk at the Toy Business Forum of the Spielwarenmesse on 31 January 2024. A highly interesting topic. Can you tell us in two brief sentences the direction it will take?

Nick Sohnemann: It would be hell if we carried on as before. Together, we’ll look at examples to see which theories haven’t worked. The look into the future will show us what will change. We will look at the development of AI in retail, what modern logistics should look like, what payment services will be available and how stores will change. I can promise many eureka moments.

Sibylle Dorndorf: Mr Sohnemann, thank you for this informative interview and the valuable insights into the work you do.

Company profile: Future Candy

• Future Candy is a global innovation agency that uses the latest technology to make the future comprehensible.
• Future Candy delivers important insights into exciting innovations. It covers the following topics: virtual reality, cryptocurrencies, green tech and robotics, and insights into Generations X and Y.
• Future Candy increases innovative strength and finds the right approach to maintain the company status quo. This means sustainable results and a complete innovation deep dive for companies.

Author profile

Sibylle Dorndorf has been writing about the toy industry for almost 30 years, most recently as editor-in-chief of the TOYS magazine family at Göller Verlag, Baden-Baden. Her passion: companies that reinvent themselves, brands that position themselves credibly, people who have something to say and products with a future.