Following a decade of player concentration, of large brands developing internationally and of the development of the Internet, distribution players are seeking new ways to relay growth, and in the case of mail-order sales players, ways of managing the demise of a model.

Concerns for distribution consist in maintaining a price advantage, diversifying offerings through store brands, developing the penetration of new services to increase margins, continuing growth internationally, growing customer loyalty and taking advantage of Internet as a channel for sales, customer relations and brand image.

Fifteen years of extraordinary development have led to the emergence and generalization of mobile telephony and Internet. Following a brief pause, the telecoms market is growing once more with the rapid development of smartphones, an explosion in data usage, the arrival of SIM-only offers and converging offers, among others. On the French market, the assignment of the fourth mobile license should help accelerate certain trends and increase the intensity of competition.

The digitization of broadcasting channels paired with growth in the offer available to media consumers, and the growing popularity of Internet are but two examples of major technological changes causing an upheaval in the media sector. These changes include an in-depth transformation of consumption modes and increased competition, with the arrival of new players from other sectors (Internet, telecoms, content producers, etc.). All of these changes require that traditional players in the media sector rethink their models and seek new growth engines.

After just emerging from a period of major regulatory projects, the financial services sector has undergone numerous crises since 2007: the subprime mortgage crisis, the refinancing crisis and an increase in the cost of risk. At the end of 2010, despite a slight upturn and better controlled cost of risk, the sector is facing a sovereign debt crisis that is even threatening currencies. Upcoming regulatory changes already aim to oppose the pro-cyclical effects of current rules.

In an environment that is still unstable, banks and financial institutions have to remain committed and determined in their development strategies. They must also take into consideration their clients’ new expectations: different approaches for each segment, multi-channel services, product and service packaging, pricing, etc.

Lastly, major banking players, who have been blamed repeatedly for the crisis, need to clean up their image, and probably review their brand platform—their “brand book”—and apply it across their businesses. By the end of the decade, clients' banking experiences will have to be excellent. While the shared goal is to grow the net banking product and control overheads, only those players able to demonstrate that they consistently provide value to their clients will be able to do so in a durable manner.

Electricity, oil and natural gas are the three main energy sources consumed worldwide.

Water, which is indispensable for life, is also a major concern for the future, since the quantity of fresh water will decrease by 20% in the next 20 years.

Climate change and protection of the environment and natural resources make it imperative for individuals and companies to operate in a more intelligent manner.

To address these planet-wide problems, governments are changing their energy and environmental policies, imposing new regulations, and investing to develop solutions. In this context, the market is changing with the development of renewable energy sources, intelligent meters and networks, and new means of production.

To protect and strengthen their positions, players in this sector are adopting new pricing policies, developing new services, implementing new forms of partnership, and diversifying their activities.

New factors are emerging to energize the (r)evolution of the transportation world; they include intensifying competition (especially the deregulation of the rail transport market in France), society’s concerns about sustainable development, changes in lifestyles and travel behavior (increasing needs for intermodality), new information technologies and their impact on transport usage, and rising energy costs.

All businesses—passenger and goods transportation, pricing offer and service distributer, and transport network and property (train stations, airports) operators—are affected and have to rethink or adapt their economic models (emergence of new value levers), and therefore their offers, customer relations, operational processes, and even their organization.

The large leisure and recreation sector includes all types of games, amusement parks, music and sports, including gaming websites. This sector is so vast that it is difficult to speak of trends in any coherent way. However, we can say that since antiquity, the taste and desire for recreational activities and their practice have always been a key part of life as well as a sign of belonging to a community. Only the type or medium of these activities has changed. According to Jacques Attali, recreational activities, along with insurance, are two pillars of the future economy.

The concern, and not only in a time of crisis, is to capture as much of consumers' leisure time and budget as possible. To capture “available time”, innovation is a major factor for success in a sector where trends are very present. As concerns the budget, all players dream of subscription models, which are sources of long-term and certain income. However, few succeed.

Review of public policy generally aims to provide better public services to users, with lower cost to citizens and better opportunities for agents. This modernization aims to help public authorities to respond to the changing needs of society and maintain competitiveness in a context of pressure on public finances.

Administrations must combine innovative solutions and services tailored to meet the challenges of tightening budgets, rising expectations of citizens and consumers, reductions in staffing, and redeployment of skills.

Governments are responding to these challenges with stimulation through innovation, economic development through digital technology, and the implementation of techniques to enhance customer experience and meet users’ expectations of service quality and accessibility.

Players in the insurance sector, formerly specialized on specific market segments (property insurance, personal insurance, savings), have become industry generalists by branching out into areas that were previously held by specialists. Faced with growing competition and an increasingly demanding and volatile customer base, insurers have to respond as best they can to the needs of their customers and prospects by offering greater customization in their products and services, while maintaining streamlined economies of scale and ensuring risk control.

Maintenance and development of the client base (acquisition and retention) and raising the value of the customer (through lower acquisition costs and multi-purpose infrastructure) are ultimately the two key challenges in the sector. To address these issues, differentiation, product innovation, diversification of non-insurance sectors, development on micro-markets, launch of low-cost offers and, to a lesser extent, work on brand identity have become the watchwords . However, barriers exist, particularly the inertia of the distribution networks that are slow to appropriate products that diverge from their traditional core business.