Market and consumer trend research
Data as of Oct 25, 2026
Reviewed by Dimitry Apollonsky
Which brands AI mentions
Mentioned in · Jul 6 – Oct 25, 2026
ChatGPT SearchChatGPT SearchGoogle AI ModeGoogle AI Mode
Widest split: Brandwatch, 48% on ChatGPT Search and 95% on Google AI Mode.
- =1Google TrendsChatGPT Search 83%Google AI Mode 73%
- =1Exploding TopicsChatGPT Search 91%Google AI Mode 59%
- =1BrandwatchChatGPT Search 48%Google AI Mode 95%
- =4SparktoroChatGPT Search 61%Google AI Mode 27%
- =4SimilarWebChatGPT Search 57%Google AI Mode 27%
Questions and answers
Google AI ModeOct 15, 2026
For a creative strategist, there is no single "
silver bullet" tool because the role lives at the intersection of hard market data, cultural sentiment , and competitor creative execution.The best approach is a curated stack depending on what kind of insight you are hunting for. The top tools are categorized below by their specific strengths:
1. Best for Deep Consumer Sentiment & Cultural Trends
- GWI (GlobalWebIndex) / GWI Spark: Essential for creative strategists who need hard data on audience segments. It provides granular global survey data on consumer behaviors, attitudes, media consumption, and brand perceptions across markets.
- Brandwatch: The gold standard for social listening. If you want to know what people are actually saying, feeling, and complaining about in real-time across the web, Reddit, TikTok, and X, Brandwatch surfaces emotional sentiment shifts and emerging cultural subcultures before they hit mainstream trend reports.
2. Best for Competitor Creative & Hook Research
- MagicBrief / Ad Libraries: For ad-focused creative strategists, tearing down what competitors are doing is half the battle. Platforms like MagicBrief let you clip, tag, and analyze winning ad formats, hooks, and visual angles, while checking the Meta Ad Library or TikTok Creative Center lets you view active competitor scaling strategies in real time.
3. Best for Macro-Market Data & Search Momentum
- Statista: Perfect for backing up a creative brief or pitch deck with undeniable facts, market sizing, and industry growth forecasts without digging through dozens of separate analyst sites.
- Google Trends: An underutilized, free real-time radar. It allows you to track interest spikes, seasonal shifts, and rising related queries to validate whether a "trend" has actual scaling momentum or is just an echo chamber.
If you'd like to narrow this down, tell me a bit more about your focus:
- Are you working more in B2C brand advertising, social-first content/TikTok , or product/brand positioning?
- What is your budget range (free/lean vs. enterprise)?
I can recommend the exact stack that fits your workflow.
ChatGPT SearchOct 15, 2026
For a creative strategist, I’d recommend Exploding Topics as the best starting point for discovering emerging consumer trends, paired with Google Trends to validate whether those trends have real, sustained demand.
The key is to go beyond what's popular today and identify what consumers are starting to care about, why their behavior is changing, and what that means for a brand's next move. The right tool depends on whether you're developing a cultural insight, building a brand strategy, researching an audience, or looking for the next big opportunity.
My top tools for creative strategy
1. Exploding Topics
(Best overall starting point)
Best for: Finding emerging behaviors, products, and cultural opportunities before they become mainstream.
Surfaces growing topics, product trends, and broader market shifts. Useful for finding a strategic territory worth exploring rather than starting with a hypothesis you already have.
Cost: Free discovery options; paid Pro plans.
2. Google Trends
Best for: Validating whether a consumer trend has momentum.
Compare search interest across topics, regions, and time periods. Check whether a signal is growing consistently, seasonal, or simply experiencing a short-lived spike.
Cost: Free.
3. SparkToro
Best for: Understanding a specific audience's interests and cultural influences.
Discover the websites, social accounts, podcasts, subreddits, and topics your target audience engages with. Particularly useful for audience personas, brand positioning, creative briefs, and media strategy.
Cost: Free report options; paid plans available.
4. WGSN
Best for: Premium, future-facing consumer and cultural intelligence.
Offers expert-led forecasting on shifts in lifestyles, values, aesthetics, and purchasing behavior, with applications across fashion, beauty, food, interiors, and consumer technology. Best when you need a substantiated trend narrative for clients or leadership.
Cost: Primarily subscription-based professional intelligence.
How I'd build a creative strategist's research workflow
The most effective approach is to combine trend discovery with audience understanding and evidence.
01 — Discover
Use Exploding Topics to identify emerging themes in your client's category and adjacent industries.
Output: 5–10 potential trend territories.
02 — Validate
Use Google Trends to assess growth, geography, seasonality, and competing search terms.
Output: Evidence of consumer interest.
03 — Understand the audience
Use SparkToro and qualitative research to understand what your audience follows, values, discusses, and responds to.
Output: Audience motivations and cultural context.
04 — Translate into strategy
Identify the underlying consumer tension, the unmet need, and the opportunity for the brand to respond in a distinctive way.
Output: A clear insight, strategic territory, and creative opportunity.
Which is best for your specific work?
If I were choosing just one tool, I'd start with Exploding Topics for broad discovery, or WGSN if the work requires deeper professional trend forecasting and client-ready intelligence.
To narrow that down, what kind of creative strategy do you primarily do?
1. Your main discipline
Brand strategy and positioning
Advertising and campaign ideation
Consumer insights and cultural research
Product, innovation, and new opportunities
Content strategy and social trends
2. Your budget
Free or low-cost
Mid-range subscription
Enterprise / agency budget
3. Your main research goal
Spotting emerging cultural trends
Understanding audience mindsets and motivations
Competitive and category analysis
Predicting future consumer behavior
[Find my best-fit tool]
Sources cited in this answer12
- explodingtopics.comGoogle Trends vs Exploding Topics: Comparison for 2026
- explodingtopics.com13 Top Trend Tracking Tools for 2026 (Free and Paid)
- pulsarplatform.comBest Tools for Spotting Consumer Trends in 2026 | Pulsar
- explodingtopics.comExploding Topics Features & Use Cases | Trend Discovery Platform
- explodingtopics.comExploding Topics - Discover the hottest new trends.
- support.google.comCompare search interest over time with quick comparisons
Also asked as
- I am a creative strategist looking for software to help with market research and spotting consumer trends. What do you recommend?
- What are the top-rated market research and trend analysis tools for someone working in a creative strategist role?
