• by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer @lauriesullivan, December 29, 2015

Ford Motor Co., with help from advertising agency Ogilvy, created a blueprint of the top 10 trends to better understand consumers in 2016. Through this heightened awareness it will be interesting to see how the company and others put these trends to use in advertising campaigns from search to video and television.

The new research reveals a growing determination among consumers to become more collaborative and leverage technology to achieve freedom of travel, and the option to decide where they live, work and play.

Despite an underlying sense of disillusionment, consumers are more inspired to defy the odds and use innovation to embrace new platforms for change. Sheryl Connelly, Ford global trend and futuring manager, says optimism, resilience and self-reliance shines more now than in the prior four years of researching and compiling consumer trends.

One of the more interesting trends the study found involves a willingness to embrace heroes, even fictional characters like Star Wars' Luke Skywalker. While goodwill falters among established leaders, it gains with communities and individuals who rethink what it means to be a good citizen, neighbor and person. Everyday heroes are stepping up to the plate, and they are inspiring others to do the same.

There is also a greater focus on self-reliance. Better living today means not having more material things, but rather living smarter by pushing to get greater use out of fewer things. A friend of mine and her significant other sold off most of their belongings to start an adventure. They plan to walk from Bangkok to Barcelona.

She said it will take them about two years, which leads into the No. 3 trend -- time poverty. Too much to do and so little time has been one of life’s conundrums. Yet with greater connectivity, society is increasingly on call, and time proves more elusive than ever.

There are the top three trends, but you can read about the others here.