2010 Trendreport
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This document is a 2010 trend report from trendwatching.com that identifies and discusses emerging trends across various industries and consumer behaviors. It covers topics like status consumption, happiness, expectations, transparency, customization, local experiences, environmentalism, cooperation between brands and consumers, and more. The report is intended to help readers understand new directions that may impact business and society.
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2010 Trendreport
- 1. 2010 TREND REPORT www.trendwatching.com/premium
- 2. TWO WAYS TO READ THE REPORT 1 2 For an overview of all slides and notes, click ‘Esc’, then select ‘ V iew’, then ‘ N ormal’ ‘ Slide Show’: visuals only ‘ Notes’: visuals and texts
- 3. TABLE OF CONTENTS I
- 4. TABLE OF CONTENTS II
- 5. WHY TRENDS? Without a point of view...
- 7. TREND WISDOMS Don’t be too earnest!
- 8. Q3 2010 AND BEYOND! All’s not lost
- 10. STATUSPHERE There’s more than ‘BIGGER, BETTER, HARDER’
- 11. STATUSPHERE SUV versus cargo bike?
- 13. HAPPYNOMICS Happiest nation on earth?
- 14. HAPPYNOMICS Nothing ever changes
- 15. HAPPYNOMICS The joys in life
- 16. STATUS SKILLS Skills are the new status symbols?
- 17. STATUS SKILLS By Lauren Luke
- 18. STATUS STORIES Brands helping consumers tell a story
- 19. STATUS STORIES Laphroaig’s plots
- 20. GRAND OVERHAUL 2
- 21. GRAND OVERHAUL Extinction or excitement?
- 22. EXPECTATION ECONOMY The arena will always be brutal
- 23. EXPECTATION ECONOMY What and who are you up against?
- 24. GENERATION G 3
- 25. GENERATION G Liberality in giving or willingness to give
- 26. GENERATION G Free Cone Day!
- 27. (CO-)DONATE IKEA’s SUNNAN LED desk lamp
- 28. BRAND BUTLERS Orange & Got Wind
- 29. FREE LOVE Alain de Botton & Heathrow
- 30. PERKONOMICS A new breed of perks and privileges
- 31. PERKONOMICS Jeff Beck & American Express
- 32. TRYVERTISING It’s the experience, not the message
- 34. R.A.K. Random Acts of Kindness
- 35. ON 4
- 36. ON Access is the new oxygen
- 37. ON Er... Make that 2 billion ;-)
- 38. ON The number of tweets, so far
- 39. ON = OFF Offline is adjusting to (and mirroring) online
- 40. ON = OFF Craftsquatch
- 41. ON = OFF Digitalsoaps
- 42. ON = OFF Justin Timberlake & Givenchy: Play
- 43. ON = OFF Since 1759
- 44. (UN)REAL 5
- 45. (UN)REAL Sure
- 46. (UN)REAL It’s RAW out there
- 47. GROW(N) UP Wine Cellar Sorbets and Philips’ Relationship Care
- 48. GROW(N) UP Downi Productions
- 49. FAKETASTIC Fake done well
- 50. FAKETASTIC Comme des Garcons’ Series 6 Synthetics
- 51. INFOLUST 6
- 52. INFOLUST Screw information overload
- 53. CHECKING I Google, I check, I know
- 54. CHECKING Marc by Marc Jacobs QR code
- 56. ALERTING Crème Brûlée Cart
- 57. MAPMANIA Maps are the new interface
- 58. TRANSPARENCY TRIUMPH Tyranny or triumph?
- 59. TRANSPARENCY TRIUMPH Transparency will be a given
- 60. TRANSPARENCY TRIUMPH Do you know whose reviews you’re lapping up?
- 61. TRANSPARENCY TRIUMPH How low can you go?
- 62. SURRENDER 7
- 63. SURRENDER The Mega Countertrend
- 64. OPENLY OPAQUE To be or not to be
- 65. NOWISM 8
- 67. NOWISM Living the live
- 69. POPUPPING Temporary brand manifestations that won’t go away
- 70. LOCALITY 9
- 71. LOCALITY Meeting up is the new staying home
- 72. LOCALITY Absolut Cities Series and ‘Essential Waitrose’
- 73. LUXYOURY 10
- 74. LUXYOURY Luxury is what you want it to be
- 75. GREENEST 11
- 76. GREENEST Don’t just be green, be the GREENEST
- 77. GREENEST What is your (world’s) first?
- 78. GREENEST Everyone’s joining the game
- 79. JOYNING 12
- 80. JOYNING Cooperate or perish?
- 81. BRANDED BRANDS Louis Vuitton & Takashi Murakami
- 82. CUSTOMER-MADE Co-creation is alive and kicking
- 83. CUSTOMER-MADE A beta-mindset is a joy forever
- 84. CUSTOMER-MADE Android and Pepperami
- 85. CROWD-EXPRESS Is there anything the crowd can’t do?
- 86. DIY / MIY Extreme CUSTOMYZATION
- 87. SELLSUMERS Some money on the side for everyone
- 88. SELLSUMERS Yet another manifestation of consumer power
- 89. CLOUT Beware the swarm
- 90. CLOUT ShopMob
- 91. INTENTION Transparency of intentions is the Next Big Thing
- 92. BRAND ME 13
- 93. BRAND ME Are you as transparent as your customers?
- 94. BRAND FABRIC 14
- 95. BRAND FABRIC At your service
- 96. BRAND FABRIC Bring back creativity, if not joy
- 98. PINK PROFITS Ben & Jerry’s Hubby Hubby
- 99. FEMALE FEVER The under-served market of all markets
- 100. FEMALE FEVER Densia, PortaJane and One White Pearl
- 101. BOOMING BUSINESS They’re everywhere
- 102. BOOMING BUSINESS Allstate’s InSight (brain-building video games)
- 103. MINISUMERS Don’t be evil
- 105. TRIBEFACTURING Don’t advertise to tribes, make something for them
- 106. TRIBEFACTURING Star Trek scents and Pink’s iPod Commuter Tie
- 107. D(I)ESIGN Mini concept coup é
- 108. CONVENIENCE The Standard Hotel & Andr é Balazs
- 109. CUSTOMYZED Best Made Co.
- 110. THE END (and the beginning)
Notes de l'éditeur
- May 2010 | You are reading trendwatching.com’s 2010 Trend Report, which is for Premium service members only. We sincerely hope it will help you to come up with new products, services and experiences for your customers in the next months, if not weeks. You will be able to download the latest version of the report at any time from http://www.trendwatching.com/premium If you have any questions, comments, suggestions: please don’t hesitate to email me or Janna Harper, our Premium Service Coordinator, at janna@trendwatching.com Happy spotting, Reinier Evers founder, reinier@trendwatching.com We’re sure you understand, but just to state the obvious: this report is for team use only. The 2010 Trend Report can’t be presented outside your company. You are also not permitted to resell the report or to give a copy to anyone other than your team members. If you want other teams to have access to a copy, or would like to set up company-wide access, please email Janna, our Premium Service Coordinator, at [email_address] * Presenting parts of the report to a client is permitted, as long as you fully disclose the source and do not give your client access to the actual file. www.trendwatching.com
- All trend slides come with notes. For a print-friendly PDF version of the entire report (visuals and notes), please go to www.trendwatching.com/premium/gateway/report/ www.trendwatching.com
- www.trendwatching.com
- www.trendwatching.com
- So… why trends to begin with? In a nutshell, tracking consumer trends is a crucial way to understand what consumers are doing now and may be doing next. Which ideally should inspire you to dream up new goods, services and experiences for and with your customers, to meet and anticipate their needs. Which brings us to having a point of view about the world around you. The more trends you track, and the more skilled you are at putting these trends into context, the more guidance you'll have. When you have a broad point of view, even tiny observations start to make sense. Back to harsh reality, though: how many marketers do you know who could give you a concise answer (or any answer at all!) if asked about, let’s say, the Future of Consumerism? How many business execs do you know who are capable of explaining the main ten (or five, or even three) trends shaping not only their industry but the entire business arena? And how many CEOs can comfortably lay out a kick-ass plan of attack based on their understanding of the ‘New Consumer’? (No, Steve Jobs doesn’t count! ;-) Reports like this, and ultimately your time and additions, aim to change that. It’s worth it. As fellow trend watcher Michael Tchong once said: ‘ Better catch the next wave before it catches you ’. And yes, knowing and understanding trends is an excellent way to make money. Having a point of view should lead to inspiration, which should lead to innovation, which should lead to dreaming up profitable new goods, services and experiences for (or even better, with) your customers. <Continued on next slide> www.trendwatching.com
- The next question then is how exactly you turn inspiration into profitable innovations, how to apply trends. To answer that question, here’s a slide that we copied straight from last year’s Trend Report. Why? Because it’s a crucial one, and its message hasn’t changed. Here goes: Applying trends isn’t that hard. The many examples in this report, and the 1,500+ examples that are in our Trend Database, all testify to the fact that it can be done. So use this checklist, and ask yourself if a certain trend has the potential to: Influence or shape your company's vision . Inspire you to come up with a new business concept , an entirely new venture, a new brand. Spawn a new product, service or experience . Help you speak the language of those consumers already ‘living’ the trend: show them you get it, show them you know what they’re excited about. Basically, marketing, advertising, or PR. That's all there is to it ;-) <Continued on next slide> www.trendwatching.com
- Seriously, though: don't be too earnest about the quest at hand; it's about coming up with exciting new products and services for your customers, nothing more and nothing less. More on applying trends at www.trendwatching.com/premium/gateway/tips Time to move on to the next 12 months: <next slide> www.trendwatching.com
- Just so you know: we truly believe that if you apply the content of this report to your business, there’s no need for the remainder of 2010 to be as dismal as 2009. In that sense, it’s an overview of the many opportunities and innovations that are begging to be monetized, all based on the only thing you should base your business on to begin with: current and future consumer needs and wants. Enjoy! www.trendwatching.com
- INTRO | Business lesson number one: When dealing with (and selling to) people, everything always comes back to the need for recognition, for status. In a traditional consumer society, he or she who consumes the most, the best, the coolest, the most expensive, the scarcest or the most popular goods, will typically also attain the most status. The other uber-need is of course (romantic) love: more on that in HAPPYNOMICS). So 'status' as a guiding principle* should be on your radar whenever/wherever over the next 12 months — when reading this report/database, when tracking trends, when mapping out new strategies and when coming up with new products and services for your customers. Starting with realizing that traditional status symbols (the new Audi Q5! Marc Jacob’s latest eyewear! Emirates' Airbus 380 Suites!) are no longer every consumer's wet dream. After all, as mature consumer societies are increasingly dominated by (physical) abundance (even with a recession going on, most consumers’ basics are more than covered), by saturation, by experiences, by virtual worlds, by individualism, by participation, by feelings of guilt and concern about the side-effects of unbridled consumption, status is to be attained in many more ways than leading a lifestyle centered on hoarding as many branded, luxury goods as possible. In fact, not a single status symbol is ever safe from devaluation, as these symbols are mere agreements. For example, the moment ‘society’ would agree that a car is just a utilitarian method to safely move from A to B, and not one of the dominant indicators of one’s financial standing (as it is now), luxury car manufacturers would have a problem. And such shifts will occur in societies that are no longer exclusively about showing off financial wealth. Time for an overview of the various STATUS SPHERES that consumers will dip in and out of to get their ‘status fix' over the next 12 months: 1. THE BIGGER, BETTER, HARDER SPHERE Traditional consumption is about buying more and/or better stuff than fellow consumers. Which is by no means dead. The recession will only prove a blip on the radar when it comes to some consumers’ appetite for brash, expensive, in-your-face brands and products. Oh, and even if (a big if*) conspicuous consumption were ever to subside in mature consumer societies, then count on the emerging middle classes in China, India, Russia, South Africa, Turkey, Nigeria, Vietnam, Indonesia, Mexico and Brazil to proudly take over the torch. In other words, count on multiple consumption and status arenas to develop simultaneously for years to come. * As we’ve pointed out many times before, one mistake both trend watchers and brands make all the time, is to assume or pretend that a certain ‘trend’ will affect or be embraced by all consumers. No. Remember, in life and in trends: beauty (or ugliness) is in the eye of the beholder. <Continued on next slide> www.trendwatching.com
- Image courtesy of David LaChapelle 2. THE STORIES SPHERE Even within the traditional consumption sphere, change is a given. The number one development remains the shift from lusting after physical status symbols to lusting after experiences. And the real status fix delivered by those experiences comes from the stories stemming from those experiences. For insights and examples, see STATUS STORIES. 3. THE GREEN SPHERE With the environment firmly on the agenda of most powers that be, and millions of consumers now actively trying to greenify their lives, status in the eco-sphere is both more readily available, and increasing in value. A substantial subset of consumers are already bestowing recognition and praise on Prius and Insight owners while scorning SUV owners, and this will only accelerate as even more design-minded and branding-savvy eco-firms push to the forefront in the next 12 months. Make it green, make it effortless, make it visible if not bold if not iconic, and don't hesitate to point out your competitor's polluting alternatives ;-) For more on this, see GREENEST. 4. THE INFOLUST SPHERE Consumers are lusting after information. Information is power, it's entertainment, and yes, it's status too, especially as both being in the know and having an audience for one's info- output are now status symbols. More in INFOLUST and BRAND ME. 5. The SKILLS SPHERE Growing pockets of consumers will find pleasure (and STATUS STORIES) in mastering skills and acquiring knowledge. Status in this sphere comes from finding an appreciative audience, impressed with what one knows and can create, instead of what one consumes or experiences. More insights and examples in STATUS SKILSS. 6. THE ‘ON’ SPHERE Where to begin? In an online world or virtual world, social status is all about who you connect to and who wants to connect / follow / befriend you. It encompasses status attained from the number of views for one's photos on Flickr, to the number of friends on Facebook, to one's gaming skills and levels, to finding out about whatever-wherever before anyone else does. More insights and examples in ON and BRAND ME. <Continued on next slide> www.trendwatching.com
- 7. THE JOYNING SPHERE Especially for younger (and younger-at-heart) consumers, participation is the new consumption. Whether it's co-creating with brands or teaming up with other consumer-participants, there's joy and status to be had from the act of joining. More in JOYNING. 8. THE GENEROSITY SPHERE Whether it's sharing one's riches, one's time, or one's (content) creations with others, giving is the new taking, and sharing is the new giving. More on this in GENERATION G. 9. THE UNCONSUMPTION SPHERE For an increasing number of consumers, the mere act of consuming less , whether it's fueled by recession-induced frugality, unease with the social and ecological consequences, or just fatigue with having to keep up with the consumption rat-race, is now a status-symbol (or status story) in itself. Keep an eye out for the dedicated UNCONSUMPTION page that we'll add to the report and database soon. 10. THE <add your own here> SPHERE One thing you can't go wrong with over the next 12 months is to ask yourself how your current and new products and experiences will satisfy an audience of very diverse status seekers. If you haven't done so already, get rid of the habit of only focusing on traditional status symbols, and you will find there is no end to the number of STATUS SPHERES you'll be able to identify and serve. Note: These various spheres are in no way exclusively tied to specific countries or regions, and most individuals adhere to more than one level, as they enjoy a variety of lifestyles, activities and persuasions, which can be mixed and matched depending on the kind of recognition they’re looking for, and from which crowd or scene they’re hoping to receive it. Individuals from the US to India will be into buying more, more, more for years to come, while simultaneously, other individuals from Belgium to South Korea will want to actively consume less. Worth keeping in mind when you’re busy coming up with the Next Big Thing! <Continued on next slide> www.trendwatching.com
- * STATUS-LESS CONSUMPTION? By the way, think our obsession with status as the driver of, well, everything is somewhat far-fetched? Then consider the following: in mature consumer societies, is there really any kind of consumption or even behavior that is entirely devoid of status considerations? An extreme (consumption) example: is installing a top-of-the-range home spa or cinema, for one's own pleasure and comfort, not to be seen or to be used by anyone but the owner, free of status considerations? Or will the owner (let’s assume he’s single), at one point or another, at least tell peers about the fact he or she had this spa or cinema installed, and is using and enjoying it? What if the owner was not allowed to tell anyone about these assets ever? Or how about this one: is the ultimate and ongoing value of going on an exotic trip, discovering remote islands that other tourists haven't set foot on before—the experience itself—or is the real value to be found in the impressive stories a traveler can tell his or her peers on return? And here too, what if the traveler was not allowed to ever share his or her stories with anyone? Consumption-wise, there is very, very little, which doesn’t have a status component, however tiny or indirect it may seem. www.trendwatching.com
- Just like being obsessed with what will bring your customers ‘status’, fully understanding that human beings are equally longing for (romantic) love, if not being happy , is something businesses should be intrigued with forever. Let’s first take a closer look at ‘happiness’: for most people, happiness is the ultimate goal, yet often remains temporary and elusive. The booming new science of happiness has shown that it's within individuals’ power to maximize their own happiness. For instance, University of Minnesota researcher David Lykken concluded that about 50% of satisfaction with life comes from our genes. The rest, he found, is subject to our voluntary decisions and attitudes. So let’s focus on the 50% of happiness that human beings can control (incorporating excellent learnings from a variety of sources, including BBC, Newsweek, Time, and The Economist): Theories of Happiness In mature consumer societies over the past 50 years, living standards, life expectancy and material wealth have soared. Income has almost tripled. The only thing that hasn't soared is happiness. In fact, it's remained completely unchanged. (Source: National Opinion Research Center.) What gives? An increasing body of research shows that once basic needs are met, additional income does little to raise one’s sense of satisfaction with life. (Source: Time Magazine.) Studies by Ruut Veenhoven at Erasmus University in Rotterdam have show that after annual income exceeds USD 10,000, money tends to decreasingly improve happiness until an income of USD 50,000 has been reached. Above that, more money makes almost no difference at all. Edward Diener at Illinois University confirmed this effect by interviewing the 'Forbes 400' richest Americans. He found they were only slightly happier than the general public because they felt jealous about the possessions and prestige of similarly wealthy people. (Source: Newsweek.) <Continued on next slide> www.trendwatching.com
- So why aren't people getting happier as they are getting wealthier? Blame Reference Anxiety (otherwise known as Status Anxiety), which says that most people judge what they have according to what others have. So, rather than being content with satisfying one’s own needs, most people can only be happy by being comparatively better off. Consumers measure their comparative wealth mainly using ‘positional goods’ like top jobs, luxury items, and the best education. They compete for these exclusive goods, judging each other by the acquisition and accomplishment of them. In most societies, Reference Anxiety has been on the rise for years. It ate away at happiness faster because the rich were getting richer faster and their lives were becoming more visible. New media opened new portals to their lives, making it easier for non-celebs to believe that they should aspire to a similar lifestyle. This was the cause of middle-class anxiety where people with more than comfortable lives believe themselves to be inadequate. Obviously, the this scenario took place in a STATUSPHERE that was almost exclusively about BIGGER, BETTER, and HARDER. However, as laid out &quot;The Affluent Society” in 1958(!), by economist John Kenneth Galbraith, a society worshipping materialism would breed discontent. An economic culture telling people they never have enough says that we never have enough. This conditions consumers into thinking they need things they really don’t, creating artificial desires that are inherently deeply disappointing to fulfill. Positive Psychology If wealth doesn't bring happiness, then what does? An entirely new field of study called Positive Psychology is dedicated to answering this question. It’s a booming movement that focuses on what makes people feel good. Subsequently, it has proven that happiness and optimism are skills that can be taught and learned. The key assertion of Positive Psychology is that there are provable techniques for raising one's levels of happiness. In short, people need to maximize just three key factors: First, derive more pleasure from sensory life experiences. Second, become more engaged and deeply involved in work, hobbies and relationships. And third, find ways of making our lives feel more meaningful. Of the three factors, engagement and meaning are far more significant factors in happiness than pleasure. To test the ideas of Positive Psychology; two of its pioneers, Ed Diener and Martin Seligman, conducted a study at the University of Illinois. They found that the most salient characteristics shared by those with the highest levels of happiness were strong ties to friends and family and commitment to spending time with them. Diener and Seligman concluded that social skills, close interpersonal ties and social support are the essential elements in maximizing happiness. (Source: Time Magazine.) <Continued on next slide> www.trendwatching.com
- Happiness and Location Where people live has a significant role in their level of happiness. Several recent studies have sought to declare the world's happiest people. The World Happiness Database (http://worlddatabaseofhappiness.eur.nl/hap_nat/nat_fp.php) named the Danes, the Swiss and Colombians the happiest (June 2009). A Cambridge University study by Luisa Corrado and Aqib Aslam, and another study by Adrian White of the University of Leicester, also declared the Danes the happiest. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in a recent report (May 2009) says people in Denmark, Finland and the Netherlands are the most content with their lives. The three ranked first, second and third, respectively, in the OECD's rankings of 'life satisfaction', or happiness. The US ranked 11th on the OECD list. In addition to the top three, the US was beat out by Sweden, Belgium, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland and Norway. (Source: MarketWatch, May 2009.) What makes a nation happy? National happiness is most closely associated with health levels, prosperity, education and trust in public institutions. Democracy is a sure guide to happiness. It seems self-determination through political engagement boosts overall life satisfaction. In September 2009, French president Nicholas Sarkozy told the French national statistics agency to include metrics of happiness and quality of life in their measurements of overall economic health. This move came after he charged a panel of experts with reviewing the adequacy of standard GDP measurement in 2008. The panel, which included US economist Joseph Stiglitz (winner of the 2001 Nobel economics prize and a critic of free market economists) and Armatya Sen of India (who won the 1998 Nobel prize for work on developing countries), concluded that to account for the “many aspects of our society that are not covered by GDP” sustainability and human well-being should be included. Sarkozy intends to encourage other countries to examine the findings of his commission. Furthermore, the European Commission is working on a new indicator that moves 'beyond GDP ' (www.beyond-gdp.eu) to account for factors such as environmental progress. Conclusion The conclusions of Positive Psychology, Happiness Economics and others show that happiness is chiefly an attitude of gratitude and acceptance. Happy people are open to change and have a positive outlook on life. They engage in purposeful activities that test their abilities, and develop relationships of respect and closeness. Successful brands understand the ‘happiness trend’. They know they can't sell happiness because true happiness is something people make for themselves. Smart brands choose to be facilitators and support meaningful self-fulfillment so people can create their own happiness. Savvy consumers in advanced economies know the difference between brands who want to sell happiness and brands that want to facilitate happiness. And they will endorse those brands that help them find and create happiness within themselves, in whatever STATUSPHERE they may find themselves. Amen ;-) www.trendwatching.com
- This is what we stated a while back: &quot;In economies that increasingly depend on (and thus value) creative thinking and acting, well-known status symbols tied to owning and consuming goods and services will find worthy competition from 'STATUS SKILLS': STATUS SKILLS | &quot;Those skills that consumers are mastering in order to be good at something, and the STATUS STORIES (if not SELLSUMER opportunities) that come with it.&quot; Closely linked to JOYNING, STATUS SKILLS opens entirely new markets for brands both looking to ‘educate’ and engage their customers, and for skillful consumers who eventually want to become producers of (niche) goods and services. If this shift towards greater appreciation of skills continues, then some* consumers will trade in ‘consumption time’ for ‘skill time’. An obvious example is young consumers mastering new gaming skills in lieu of watching TV, or people trading in 'fun shopping' for more targeted purchases and accompanying corporate classes. Some simple advice for brands: To make the most of your new STATUS SKILLS offerings, first help customers make/find the time they thought they didn’t have. * The inevitable counter trend doesn’t differ much from most other trends involving any kind of creation and participation: lack of time . Where on earth will consumers find the time to actively acquire these new skills? This is why STATUS SKILLS will not matter to all consumers, and which is why you first have to figure out who this appeals to most. STATUS SKILLS relates well to many other trends in this database: it's closely linked to INFOLUST, as consumers will even more eagerly scout the (online) world for tips, info, and instructions. And it's also closely related to the JOYNING trend - the more skills and therefore intimate understanding of your products your customers develop, the more valuable they will become as providers of feedback or even better, co-creators. Or how about the link with TRYVERTISING? Corporate classes can become an excellent way to familiarize consumers with your products, to the point where if they like what they see and have invested serious time into understanding the specifics of your product, a purchase is almost a no-brainer. And don't forget to apply STATUS SKILLS to BOOMING BUSINESS. Millions of 'experienced consumers' (aka baby boomers) who have loads of time on their not-yet-fully-skilled hands ;-) <Continued on next slide> www.trendwatching.com
- So, let’s assume that yes, we will continue to see a growing appreciation of all things ‘skill’ versus merely consuming. This means that at least some status symbols will have to make room for STATUS SKILLS. The ever growing amount of brands introducing skill acquisition as a product are an indication of things to come, as well as being a source of inspiration. Expect to see more corporate classes (some even offering skill-sets for the sake of it) as a brand enhancing exercise without a direct link to actual products. Anyway, STATUS SKILLS is one of those trends that *every* skillful marketer should be able to run with. Have fun teaching and creating! Oh, and just one fun example (with a SELLSUMER twist): In April 2009, British self-taught make-up guru Lauren Luke launched her own line of cosmetics, By Lauren Luke (www.bylaurenluke.com). The brand was developed after Luke rose to fame making simple, unedited YouTube tutorials, which were viewed over 40 million times in the first 18 months after she started posting in late 2007. For many more STATUS SKILLS examples , go to http://trendwatching.com/premium/gateway/database/statusphere/statuskills/ www.trendwatching.com
- Brands have been telling their stories for decades now. Typically, in a mass-advertising, mass-branding world, the 'telling' has involved reaching (and impressing) as many consumers as possible. Those who literally bought into these storied brands then gained the respect and admiration of other brand-exposed consumers. Example: if you're Jaguar, and your (expensive) story is about old money with a dollop of English eccentricity and the whole world is aware of this, then consumers who are craving recognition from anyone impressed with this kind of lifestyle only need to buy one of your cars to bask in the glow of their peers' admiration. However, while well-known, storied and very visible status symbols will dominate consumer societies for years to come, they will face increasing competition from STATUS STORIES, which is intrinsically linked to a shift towards experiences and niche markets: STATUS STORIES | &quot;As more brands go niche to satisfy consumers’ need for uniqueness, and therefore tell stories that aren't known to the masses, and as experiences and non-consumption-related expenditures take over from physical (and more visible) status symbols, consumers will increasingly have to tell each other stories to achieve a status dividend from their purchases. Expect a shift from brands telling a story, to brands helping consumers tell status-yielding stories to other consumers.&quot; Why now? STATUS STORIES are an answer to some of the major shifts and trends taking place in the consumption arena, from uniqueness, to visibility, to ‘alternative status sources': Uniqueness No longer do consumers want to be like the Joneses, the Mullers or the Li’s . When individuality rules and conformity is frowned upon, owning something no one else has is hot.* The ‘mass’ that consumers are willing to put up with is either the stuff they don't really care about (and, especially in dire economic times, can get on the cheap at the Wal-Marts and Aldis of this world). Some are remaining objects of mass desire like the iPhone. However, even these are likely to be customized and personalized the moment they leave the warehouse, website or store. The shift from mass to unique explains the surge in niche or even one-of-a-kind products and services. So brands will increasingly not want to, or will not be able (if only for financial reasons) to tell their story to the masses. In turn, this means that consumers buying from these brands will no longer be able to rely on the product or service to provide them with that instant recognition and admiration from their peers. It is thus up to the customer to tell a story, any kind of story, with the brand providing the ingredients. * Interesting side effect: consumers moving away from familiar, trusted mass brands may soon find themselves truly addicted to everything niche. Consider this statement by the ever-inspiring Chris Anderson: “We equate mass market with quality and demand, when in fact it often just represents familiarity, savvy advertising and broad if somewhat shallow appeal. What do we really want? We're only just discovering, but it clearly starts with more.” <Continued on next slide> www.trendwatching.com
- Visibility Besides the shift from the mass to the unique, mature/prosperous consumers now predominantly live in experience economies. Experiences are not only inherently more unique, they also do a better job of providing instant gratification: they’re often more affordable, and thus more numerous than old-world status symbols. However, when it comes to experiences, status can only be derived from being seen by others, while experiencing the experience (which may be a relatively brief moment). The other way to obtain status is by telling others about the experiences afterwards (which can go on for years ;-) Hence STATUS STORIES becoming more attractive and prevalent. Oh, and don't dismiss the shift towards an online, virtual world, which means yet another challenge for visible, physical, real world status manifestations. Needless to say there are countless STATUS STORIES examples. Just one: Scotch whiskey brand Laphroaig (www.laphroaig.com/plot/) offers lifetime leases for square ft plots on the island of Islay (where the distillery is located) to each consumer who buys a bottle. Consumers register their bottle's purchase number online, and they then become a member of the 'Friends of Laphroaig' community. They are then sent the deed to a numbered plot of land. Aerial photography is available online to spot the land and meet neighbors via an interactive member map. Launched in 2009, the service is free and has attracted in excess of 364,000 Friends of Laphroaig across 150 countries. For more STATUS STORIES examples , and an overview of what they have in common (hint: conversation starters, prepping and LIFE CACHING) go to http://trendwatching.com/premium/gateway/database/statusphere/statusstories/. That page also includes an overview of what STATUS STORIES are not . www.trendwatching.com
- Sphere by sphere, the current STATUSPHERE more than hints at a GRAND OVERHAUL of many beliefs, processes, practices and convictions that businesses (and other institutions) have taken for granted for a long time. And no, the current financial and economic crisis wasn't the trigger, just a symptom. The negative ecological and socio-economic side-effects of worshipping consumerism* in its rawest forms have been dominating headlines for years now. While parallel to these challenges, technological innovations continue to tilt the power balance from institutions to individuals. Now, as our focus is consumer trends, we will leave the truly geo-political-economical GRAND OVERHAUL to think-thanks in London, Beijing and DC (and yes, that includes the political and economic rise of China and India and Brazil and all the other potential super powers who have now joined the BIGGER, BETTER, HARDER SPHERE). So let's 'limit' ourselves to: 1. An overview of how the GRAND OVERHAUL in the B2C arena is shaping up: this can be understood by basically reading/scanning the entire report/database ;-) After all, change in the STATUSPHERE reflect the change in what constitutes value/status to consumers; the Mega Trends and related sub-trends then dive deeper into the changes per individual sphere. 2. A (renewed) look at the EXPECATION ECONOMY, to better understand the 'business of business' in the next 12 months. 3. An overview of how brands can profitably respond to (if not influence) the GRAND OVERHAUL, which comes down to a number of recommendations based on the featured Mega Trends and sub-trends. For this, we refer to BRAND FABRIC. * Now, it would be unfair to blame business for all of the world’s current problems; after all, consumerism and capitalism have been responsible for an huge increase in prosperity across the world; the same prosperity that has made it possible for consumers to move beyond basic needs, paving the way for contemplating UNCONSUMPTION or the search for 'meaning' (which most people find hard to do if they're hungry, sick, or cold). www.trendwatching.com
- Main conclusion? Regardless of the current recession (and regardless of when it will be declared 'over'), going back to 'business as usual' is never going to be an option again. That's either a sobering or exciting thought. Naturally, we opt for exciting. www.trendwatching.com
- Part of the GRAND OVERHAUL is understanding the rules of the business of business over the next 12 months. Face the fact that you’re operating in an: EXPECTATION ECONOMY | &quot;An economy inhabited by experienced, well-informed consumers from Canada to South Korea who have a long list of high expectations that they apply to each and every good, service and experience on offer. Their expectations are based on years of self-training in hyperconsumption, and on the biblical flood of new-style, readily available information sources, curators and BS filters. Which all help them track down and expect not just basic standards of quality, but the 'best of the best'.“ The EXPECTATION ECONOMY has been building slowly in the background over the years. The biggest difference from five to ten years ago? INFOLUST-fueled word of mouth now travels the world in a flash, making product launches instantly global, turning every new brand—big or small—into a potential 'player', and more importantly, rewarding exceptional performance with immediate interest and approval from consumers. In fact, never before has intelligence on the best, the cheapest, the first, the most original and the most relevant been so openly available to consumers (see also TRANSPARENCY TRIUMPH). Consumers have never enjoyed doing research and 'competitive analysis' and 'benchmarking' as much as they do now, and doing it far more diligently than most corporations do. Indifference and Irritation The effect of the EXPECTATION ECONOMY on consumers' moods? Once high(er) expectations have been set, they are bound to go largely unmet, since the majority of brands still choose not to keep up with the best of the best (more on that later). As a result, well-informed consumers will find themselves in a perpetual state of indifference and/or irritation, this year and beyond. Indifference will hit those brands that consumers know are underperforming, and that they can avoid due to sufficient availability of the best of the best. If you’re working for one of those underperforming brands, the scary thing is not just selling less (or nothing). It's that indifferent consumers will stop being forgiving, they will stop being cooperative and giving you feedback on how to be more like other, better performing competitors. They'll just leave and never return, without telling you why. Perpetual irritation is just as bad: this will occur when consumers are forced to buy from an underperforming brand, due to limited or no availability of what they already know is the best of the best.** In this light, pay special attention to fake loyalty and postponed purchases: <Continued on next slide> www.trendwatching.com
- Fake loyalty : Consumers will continue to purchase from underperforming brands if the 'real thing' isn't available. To the underperforming brand, all may seem quiet on the western front, until the best of the best suddenly does become available. Good examples of fake loyalty can be found in the airline industry: millions of frequent flyers around the world know that Virgin Atlantic, Singapore Airlines and Emirates offer a superior experience, but since these airlines don't fly on all routes, consumers may have no choice but to fly with subpar airlines. Count on them to vote with their wallets every time new routes are added by these 'best of the best' carriers, even if they've never flown with them before. Postponing purchases : Some 'best of the best' brands like Apple actually manage to indirectly convince consumers to postpone certain purchases. Many consumers would rather wait for the new iPhone or iPad to become available, than to buy a new phone or laptop. Again, due to the dissemination of information, even local product launches are instantly global. Digital services have already succumbed to phased distribution; the physical world is next. ** Only if the best of the best can be classified as truly financially out of reach to most, well-informed consumers are not upset if they don't get that kind of experience wherever/whenever. The next generation Let's face it: in the past a brand could get away with not performing at its peak, since consumers didn't enjoy full transparency of the best, the cheapest, the first, the most original, the most relevant. That's really over. And things are bound to get even more radical: the EXPECTATION ECONOMY is a given for younger generations, who are unburdened by an era of mass production, mass advertising and above all, mass ignorance. So, not knowing who's doing exceptional things and setting your customers' expectations is not an option. Which brings us to the following: A cross-industry mind is a joy forever Sure, we know that what you really, really want is to be told which trends will dictate your industry. If you're in automotive, you want to know about the future of transport. If you're in food and beverage, you're no doubt interested in everything healthy and green and organic. And of course you'll always have a near-obsession with what your main competitors are up to. But in an EXPECTATION ECONOMY, business professionals should obsessively think and look cross-industry, as opposed to suffering from a case of industry tunnel vision. More on why looking cross-industry is a prerequisite for understanding how to fuel innovation in an EXPECTATION ECONOMY at http://trendwatching.com/premium/gateway/database/grandoverhaul/expectationeconomy/ www.trendwatching.com
- If there's one Mega Trend that will continue to give (no pun intended), it's GENERATION G: GENERATION G | &quot;Captures the growing importance of 'generosity' as a leading societal and business mindset. As consumers are disgusted with greed and its current dire consequences for the economy—and while that same upheaval has them longing more than ever for institutions that care—the need for more generosity beautifully coincides with the ongoing (and pre-recession) emergence of an online-fueled culture of individuals who share, give, engage, create and collaborate in large numbers (see also 'JOYNING'). In fact, for many, sharing a passion and receiving recognition have replaced 'taking' as the new status symbol. Businesses should follow this societal/behavioral shift, however much it may oppose their decades-old devotion to me, myself and I.” Three trend-drivers for GENERATION G: 1. Recession and consumer disgust | The current financial meltdown has led consumers to be more disgusted than ever (if that’s even possible) with greedy corporate execs who just don’t care. Many in the corporate world are so far removed from what is now an immensely better informed, more opinionated consumer arena, that their (non-)communications, their (inter-)actions, their entire behavior is deeply out of tune with what consumers want and expect in the years to come. This didn’t happen overnight of course. The financial crisis was just the straw that broke the camel's back: consumers’ negative and raw emotions stem from too many brands who decided to stop caring a long time ago . In most cases, this starts at the top, with share-price-obsessed execs not generous to (or caring for) their employees, who in turn stop giving a damn about actual customers*. Just one finding: the Edelman Trust Barometer found that 62% of adults in 20 countries trusted corporations less in December 2008 than they had a year earlier. * Now, there are of course brands and executives who do get it, and those tend to be the ones that pop up as leading examples in our report and database ;-) 2. Longing for institutions that care | And yet...challenging times see people craving care, empathy, sympathy and generosity. Expect to hear even more about caring, as that’s what consumers and citizens will demand from governments and organizations: someone to take care of their jobs, savings, and fellow citizens. This need becomes extra poignant in societies where individualism is the new religion, and thus every person, young and old, rich and poor, has been told by society that he or she matters as an individual. 3. For individuals, giving is already the new taking, and sharing is the new giving | However, in essence, GENERATION G isn't about anger and recessions: the larger and more lasting trend is passionate, empowered individuals (if not entire generations) being more willing and able to give, share, collaborate; and be more ‘generous’ in many ways. In turn, this has made generosity one of a new set of status symbols. <Continued on next slide> www.trendwatching.com
- Rich individuals | For a long time, in the world of the super-wealthy, not engaging in a little philanthropy has meant a serious loss in status. Over the past few years, billionaires around the world have been upping the ante for other financially independent individuals by giving away really big chunks if not all of their fortunes. In fact, it's impossible these days to be very rich and not to donate uber-generously to charity: the benefit to one's social capital completely trumps the monetary gains from keeping one's financial capital sitting in an account. Being generous is seen as a class act, while greed is, well, out. Now, will the rich donate less to charities in difficult times? Of course. But while economic prosperity dictates the size of gifts and donations, generous behavior has already become the long-term norm. Any individual | But. The most important driver behind GENERATION G is a wide variety of consumers and citizens being more generous. We're talking the collaborative / free / creation / crowdsourced / gift / sharing movement that—especially online—has unlocked in entirely new ways the perennial need of individuals to be appreciated, to be loved, to feel part of the greater good, to contribute, to help... To basically find status and gratification in something other than consuming the most or the best. Don't think this a passing phenomenon: younger generations practically live online, while over the last dozen or so years, virtually every prediction of how the web would infiltrate the 'offline' world has proven too conservative. As our favorite online guru, Kevin Kelly, rightly stated: ‘online culture is the culture’. So... Everything seems to have aligned to make generosity (“liberality in giving or willingness to give”) a leading theme in the business arena this year. As always, companies can learn from consumers, though it's not a 'want' but a 'need': companies need to mirror this societal shift if they want to regain their relevancy. We’re talking truly becoming a caring brand—one that is generous to customers, generous to employees, generous to the environment, generous to social causes, and so on. We know you know this: GENERATION G is more about context and timing than out-of-the-blue insights. A word of warning : We know there’s hardly a company left that doesn't have some kind of ‘social responsibility’ program in place. But while supporting a faraway orphanage, making sure office coffee cups are recycled, and celebrating an annual ‘Diversity Day’ are all laudable causes, social responsibility is hardly ever more than the sum of a number of initiatives that at times can feel forced —a response to societal pressures instead of a holistic desire to be good and to be generous. And we haven't even addressed the need to incorporate generosity towards employees and, above all, customers. <Continued on next slide> www.trendwatching.com
- Speaking of which: being generous to customers doesn't always mean giving away everything you have: we're not suggesting you forget about bottom lines and profitability. GENERATION G is about being a bit kinder, a bit more caring towards your customers. Anyway, you get the picture. GENERATION G is about not screwing your customers over. It’s about treating your customers the way you would like to be treated the moment you shed your company outfit and don your consumer clothes. Oh, and who's going to pay for this? If the recession is hitting you where it hurts, and your budgets are tight, GENERATION G may feel like too costly a trend to capitalize on. We beg to differ: Not all GENERATION G projects and initiatives are costly. Often, it’s a case of mindset , of attitude, of being creative, of finding the right partners, without spending millions. In fact, many of the services and projects highlighted in this briefing didn't cost the world. Those projects that do involve serious money should be paid for by shifting funding from any kind of bland, non-relevant, non-interactive, and above all, non-generous ad campaign you’re planning to run this year. Hey, if others (see all the GENERATION G examples) can do it, so can you. Not infusing your company’s or brand’s mindset with a heavy dose of generosity will eventually cost you much more. Like, seeing your brand go bust . This makes any kind of expenditure on generosity a bargain. Opportunity Joining GENERATION G as a company or a brand is not really optional, it’s a fundamental requirement if you want to stay relevant in societies that value generosity, sharing and collaboration. Joining obviously entails more than adding a social responsibility or sustainability department; it means adopting a generous mindset that permeates every interaction with your community, employees, customers, with, wait for it, your ‘stakeholders’. Nothing more or less than a holistic approach to generosity and business. For additional benefits and some hands-on advice, please go to http://trendwatching.com/premium/gateway/database/generationg/ www.trendwatching.com
- In the spirit of GENERATION G , there are lots of innovative corporate donation programs popping up, and one characteristic many share is that—in tune with the aforementioned 'age of collaboration'—they ask customers to co-decide and (often) co-donate*. Another common element is the use of online and/or mobile technologies to make the most of impulse-driven and/or networked fundraising and donating. Something to start working with next time you initiate a ‘corporate giving’ program. * We've dubbed this 'adopt-a-consumer': a ploy that involves well-off consumers buying something for themselves, and then, directly or indirectly, buying a similar product or service for someone who is, you guessed it, less-well-off. Just one example: In June 2009, Swedish furniture and lifestyle brand IKEA launched a functional lamp called the SUNNAN LED desk lamp (www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/90154371), which uses solar cells to transform sunlight into electrical energy. The lamp requires no electrical connections and saves money through reduction in energy use. It requires 9 to 12 hours to fully charge and then provides about four hours of light. This is achieved via an LED that consumes 70% less energy and has at least 4 times longer life than incandescent bulbs in similar decorative lighting. The product retails for USD 19.99, and for every unit sold in IKEA stores worldwide, another one will be donated to UNICEF to give to children without electricity in refugee camps and villages in remote areas. For many more (CO-) DONATE examples , go to http://trendwatching.com/premium/gateway/database/generationg/codonate/ www.trendwatching.com
- * UPDATE | In April 2010, we published an extensive briefing on BRAND BUTLERS. You will find all new insights and examples for this trend in an exclusive PowerPoint presentation at http://www.trendwatching.com/premium/gateway/powerpoints/* While BRAND BUTLERS has been firmly on our (and hopefully your) radar for a few years now, this trend will only get more powerful over the next 12 months. Just one more time: BRAND BUTLERS | “If consumers value the authentic, the practical, the exclusive, and they're also forever looking to make life more convenient, then why persist in bombarding them with one-way advertising campaigns? Instead of stalking potential and existing customers, why not assist them in smart, generous, relevant ways, making the most of your products and whatever it is your brand stands for?” A few (recent) developments to keep an eye on: Expect many more BRAND BUTLER apps: offering useful, (semi-)branded content, residing on consumers' online devices is a marriage made in heaven. If you have trouble developing your own apps, why not partner with existing, not-yet-branded ones? Time to scan the iPhone App Store , Google’s Android Market , Palm's App Catalog , and Blackberry's App World . BRAND BUTLER services also provide brands with valuable feedback, metrics and other learning opportunities about what interests, drives and triggers customers. In the end, BRAND BUTLERS is about turning marketing and advertising at large into a service, making it GRAND OVERHAUL and BRAND FABRIC material. So despite its tactical feel, it may well be one of the most important branding trends currently out there. One fun example: Mobile network operator Orange and renewable energy experts GotWind have developed the Orange Power Pump (www.gotwind.org/orange_power_pump.htm), a device that charges a mobile phone battery using foot power. Launched at the Glastonbury music festival in June 2009, the product works via a tiny wind turbine hooked up to a standard airbed foot-pump. Users pump juice back into their phones while inflating their mattress, with 60 seconds of pumping equating to 5 minutes of call time. For many more BRAND BUTLERS examples , go to http://trendwatching.com/premium/gateway/database/generationg/brandbutlers/ www.trendwatching.com
- FREE LOVE | &quot;The ongoing rise of free, valuable stuff that's available to consumers online and offline, from Wikipedia to diapers to music. FREE LOVE thrives on an all-out war for consumers' ever-scarcer attention and the resulting new business models and marketing techniques, but also benefits from the ever-decreasing costs of producing physical goods, the post-scarcity dynamics of the online world (and the related avalanche of free content created by attention-hungry members of GENERATION C), the many C2C marketplaces enabling consumers to swap instead of spend, and an emerging recycling culture.&quot; The rise of FREE LOVE* can be attributed to: An all-out war for consumers' attention (make that saturated consumers), including various handout and sampling techniques. The online world, with its amazing capacity to create, copy and distribute anything that's digital, with costs that are close to zero, forcing producers to come up with new business models/services, which are often purely ad-driven. The ever-decreasing cost of physical production makes it easier to offer more (nearly) free goods in the offline world too. In fact, many goods have actually become insanely cheap. Just one example: the price of televisions has fallen, on average, by 9% each year since 1998, according to US Department of Labor data. The avalanche of free content created by attention-hungry members of GENERATION C. C2C marketplaces enabling consumers to swap instead of spend, making transactions cash-neutral. An emerging recycling culture. And all of the above fueling consumers' expectations to get online and offline stuff for free. * For a much more detailed (and excellent) analysis of these drivers, and their impact on economies and businesses, keep an eye on Chris Anderson (of Long Tail fame), who's been tracking the FREE phenomenon extensively, and also published his book 'FREE' in July 2009. One example: In August 2009, London's Heathrow Airport installed Alain De Botton as a writer in residence for a week-long layover at Heathrow Terminal 5. Seated at a desk in the terminal, the author wrote content that focused on the people who work at the airport and those that passed through it. As he typed, the work-in-progress was projected on a screen behind him. The completed book, A Week at the Airport (www.alaindebotton.com/a_week_at_the_airport.asp), was launched in late September 2009, and is available for purchase online. Heathrow airport also handed out 10,000 free copies of De Botton's diary to traveling passengers. For many more FREE LOVE examples , go to http://trendwatching.com/premium/gateway/database/generationg/freelove/ www.trendwatching.com
- Consumer infatuation with perks and privileges isn't new. For years, airlines, hotels, credit card companies and private banks have been cleverly rewarding their most valuable customers with surprises, status symbols and convenience. However, as we move towards a consumer society that’s based more on experiences, expect perks and privileges to become an integral part of every B2C industry and sector. We dubbed this trend PERKONOMICS: PERKONOMICS | &quot;A new breed of perks and privileges, added to brands' regular offerings, is satisfying consumers’ ever-growing desire for novel forms of status and/or convenience, across all industries. The benefits for brands are equally promising: from escaping commoditization, to showing empathy in turbulent times&quot;. Why PERKONOMICS works : Perks bring much-needed love (if not FREE LOVE), in upturns and downturns, potentially leading to more ‘brand love’. Perks help commodity-like industries stand out by conferring a (renewed) sense of uniqueness. Adding perks often requires the ability to partner with other products or services, so brands with the best partnering skills (and therefore access to the best exclusive offers) will win. Perks, when done well, foster customer loyalty. Perks can give you the leading edge when it comes to attracting first-time customers. Perks can make for invaluable PR; customers enjoy telling perk stories as fun conversation starters; the media (trend watchers included) love perk stories, too. Perks can help make boring companies (insurance, anyone?) interesting again, and thus more desirable. So, PERKONOMICS generously offers you—marketer, entrepreneur, brand manager—the chance to be a trendsetter, especially if you work in a sector or industry not yet big on perks. And because perks are about delighting and surprising consumers, you should have no trouble coming up with a few quick ideas that can be implemented immediately and cost-efficiently. Talking about costs: as perks are an integral part of your marketing strategy, shifting a portion of your mass-advertising budget to get some PERKONOMICS innovations off the ground is more than justified. Now, what about the pitfalls? First of all, for most businesses, PERKONOMICS will be an important sub-trend, not a Mega Trend consumer trend that will change the nature of your business overnight. It also won’t smooth out any major issues your brand may be having. If anything, it will enable stable brands to do even better. Yet it isn't a gimmicky trend, either: any new source of inspiration for improving customer satisfaction should be embraced with vigor. The ‘new’ perk isn’t about old-school loyalty programs or run-of-the-mill discounts, as those do tend to deliver financial value to customers, but not necessarily the status boost or true convenience we’ve tied PERKONOMICS to. <Continued on next slide> www.trendwatching.com
- Beware of non-perks: Turning previously free, completely accessible services into pseudo-perks, if not paid perks, is a dubious practice. We're now witnessing perk-pioneers like airlines now introducing all kinds of payment and perk schemes for simply checking in luggage, while in the past this was a free service. The same goes for making previously accessible-to-all customer service only available to top-tier clients. Segmentation by tier is fine, but be careful not to alienate your lower-tier customers: keep it aspirational, not dismissive! Also, don’t forget that often a strategy aimed at delighting all of your customers (at the expense of non-customers), is better than being too hierarchy focused. Last but not least, perks are cool to receive, but not cool to have taken away. Prepare to be in it for the long run, or clearly communicate the temporary nature of the privileges you’re introducing. Opportunities Besides all of the benefits we summed up above, there's a chance here to be the first non-airline/hotel/credit card company to really nail this: very few brands seem to have an integrated view, let alone an integrated approach to PERKONOMICS. Even aforementioned brands like Lexus, which rolls out novel perks on an ongoing basis, haven't succeeded in establishing a globally understood PERKONOMICS image, where perks are viewed as an integral part of owning a Lexus. And for those of you in the advertising/consulting world: why not start the world's first agency fully dedicated to PERKONOMICS campaigns and projects? Check out (again) our BRAND BUTLERS examples: Many of those examples could be given a PERKONOMICS make-over. Just limit usage to a brand’s or retailer’s own customers, instead of the general public. We could go on and on: try combining CUSTOMER-MADE with perks, in the form of product previews, testing, screening and so on (you will be surprised how many of your most passionate customers will regard a preview of a new product or a service a privilege, not to mention the invaluable feedback it will get you). Bottom line: you will have to be creative, and you will need reach out, too. If you want to offer your customers perks outside your own brand-sphere, it means that forging exclusive relationships and partnerships with other brands and personalities has never been a more prized skill. An example: In September 2009, guitar legend Jeff Beck will perform with The Imelda May Band at 'indigO2' in London. However, unlike a usual concert with open access, tickets to this show are available exclusively to American Express cardholders and can be purchased via the AMEX website or through Ticketmaster. Tickets range from GBP 15 - GBP 40 and are limited to 6 per person. Since launching its Preferred Seating Program late in 2008, American Express card-members have secured tickets for acts including Miley Cyrus, Tracey Chapman, Leonard Cohen and Andrea Bocelli at The O2 arena and other venues. For many more PERKONOMICS examples , go to http://trendwatching.com/premium/gateway/database/generationg/perkonomics/ www.trendwatching.com
- This sub-trend keeps on giving: for more than three years now we've been tracking the rise in novel try-out concepts, and the drivers behind TRYVERTISING are alive and kicking. Needless to say that 'try before you buy' is more popular than ever due to the current economic crisis. Our definition: TRYVERTISING | &quot;A new breed of product placement in the real world, integrating your goods and services into daily life in a relevant way, so that consumers can make up their minds based on their experience, not your messages.” Time for an example: <Continued on next slide> www.trendwatching.com
- Launched in July 2009, Tokyo based LCAFE (www.lcafe.jp) targets women in their 20s and 30s with free samples in exchange for their demographic information and opinions. To take part, women register by mobile phone, supplying basic details about themselves such as their age, marital status and where they live. With every order of food or drinks, they receive a L Coin, which can be redeemed for free samples at the cafe's sample bar. To receive tokens, members are asked to share their views via online surveys. For many more TRYVERTISING examples , go to http://trendwatching.com/premium/gateway/database/generationg/tryvertising/ www.trendwatching.com
- Here's a simple, under-used branding tactic that, if practiced consistently and long-term, will delight customers, and do more for positive brand buzz than most mass advertising campaigns: Random Acts of Kindness . Think everything from picking up the tab to sending a surprise gift to loyal customers—preferably in a well-crafted, well-understood campaign—will soften up even the toughest of customers. Some nice insights from a New York Times article on R.A.K.: The unexpected nature of R.A.K. gifts will leave the customer not just pleased but also grateful. Gratitude is a powerful, and potentially quite profitable, emotion to inspire. A customer who is made to feel grateful most likely becomes enduringly loyal as a result. Gratitude can “increase purchase intentions, sales growth and share of wallet.” People feel pleasure from reciprocating out of gratitude, and guilt when they don’t. If a favor seems to be a function of the free will, “you have more desire to reciprocate&quot;. 'Surprise' is key': R.A.K. need to be unexpected, and there should be no discernible pattern to which customers will get them. However, generating a R.A.K. buzz about a program that it doesn’t want customers to actually expect is not without risks: what if a customer knows about it and wonders why he didn’t get any perks or freebies? Perceived unfairness can throw reciprocity instincts into reverse: instead of being disproportionately grateful, customers might feel disproportionately spiteful. A good example: Hyatt Hotels has launched a staff-led campaign which empowers employees to give Gold Passport guests 'pleasant surprises' to delight them during their stay. Internally coined as 'random acts of generosity,' such surprises include the company picking up the bar tab, a complimentary massage or free breakfast. For more R.A.K. examples , go to http://trendwatching.com/premium/gateway/database/generationg/rak/ www.trendwatching.com
- A decade and a half after the web burst onto the scene, 1.6 billion individuals are ON, i.e. they've shifted parts of their lives to the online space, and they're loving it. They will never go back to just OFF again: being in control (or enjoying the illusion of being in control) is just too good a feeling. No wonder that in mature consumer societies, 100% of younger generations are ON. Another billion people in developing nations can’t wait to join the digital bandwagon: soon their phones and low-cost netbooks will come equipped with some kind of online connection. And while web 2.0 has already single-handedly created brands that are now bigger and more valuable (at least on paper) than many an old economy stalwart, Web 3.0 and 4.0 and 5.0 guarantee enough motion for this innovation-extravaganza to continue uninterrupted for years to come. So we would need a thousand pages/screens to highlight every noteworthy sub-trend and Big Idea to watch in this space; instead, we'll look at a long list of telling facts, statistics and signs of the times indicating just how much consumers love being online, and what is on the horizon that’s going to further encourage going and being online. On your end, there’s only one thing to do: continue to go all out on (budget-conscious) innovation in the online space. Hey, enough to keep you going until our next ON update ;-) Traffic 1.67 billion people are now online (source: Internet World Stats, June 2009.) Global IP traffic will quintuple from 2008 to 2013. Overall, IP traffic will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 40%, exceeding two-thirds of a zettabyte (667 exabytes). In 2013, the Internet will be nearly four times larger than it is in 2009. Internet video is now approximately one-third of all consumer Internet traffic, not including the amount of video exchanged through P2P file sharing. The sum of all forms of video (TV, video on demand, Internet, and P2P) will account for over 91% of global consumer traffic by 2013. (Source: CISCO, 2009.) Broadband and mobile access South Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, Denmark and Taiwan are the top five countries listed in terms of access to high-speed Internet. For table of top 50 countries, go here. 61% of Western European households had broadband connectivity in their homes at the end of 2008; this number will grow to 67% at the end of 2009 and exceed 80% by 2013. www.trendwatching.com
- The Asia Pacific broadband market ended 2008 with 158 million broadband subscriptions, and will grow an additional 21% in 2009. Household broadband penetration at the regional level remains quite low at 17%; however this will reach 39% by 2013, when broadband subscriptions for the region will surpass 394 million. (Source: Strategy Analytics, June 2009.) Globally, mobile data traffic will double every year through 2013, increasing 66-fold between 2008 and 2013. Mobile data traffic will grow at a CAGR of 131% between 2008 and 2013, reaching over 2 exabytes per month by 2013. Almost 64% of the world's mobile data traffic will be video by 2013. Mobile video will grow at a CAGR of 150% between 2008 and 2013. (Source: CISCO, 2009.) The number of connections on mobile phone networks has crossed the 4 billion mark worldwide in February 2009, and is expected to grow to 6 billion by 2013. The number of mobile broadband connections is nearly 100 million and the number of fixed broadband lines is 1.1 billion (Source: GSMA, February 2009.) The Asia Pacific region now contains the world's two largest mobile markets, China (645 million users) and India (392 million). Together, these two account for 1.04 billion of the world's 4.15 billion mobile customers in the first quarter of 2009. The top ten mobile markets in Asia (92.9% of the regional total) account for 1.68 billion customers. (Source: The Mobile World, July 2009.) Mobile broadband handsets with higher than 3G speeds and laptop aircards will drive over 80% of global mobile traffic by 2013. A single high-end phone (such as an iPhone or Blackberry) generates more data traffic than 30 basic-feature cell phones. A laptop aircard generates more data traffic than 450 basic-feature cell phones. The number of Orange 3G mobile broadband customers increased very sharply to 21.7 million at 30 June 2009, compared with 13.4 million in June 2008, an increase of 62% in one year. The overall number of individual mobile users in Western Europe is set to grow to 344 million at year-end 2014. By 2014, a third of Western European consumers will own internet-enabled phones compared with 18% in 2009. Mobile Internet adoption is set to grow to 39% in Western Europe in 2014 from 13% in 2008.(Source: Forrester Research, August 2009.) <Continued on next slide> www.trendwatching.com
- Speed Based on data gathered from May 2008 to May 2009, a recent report by the Communications Workers of America (CWA) said the average download speed in South Korea is 20.4 megabits per second (mbps). Japan trails South Korea with an average of 15.8 mbps followed by Sweden at 12.8 mbps and the Netherlands at 11.0 mbps. (Source: CWA, August 2009.) Loving it Facebook has more than 250 million active users (more than 120 million users log on to Facebook at least once each day), Skype has 480 million, and PayPal has 75 million. (July 2009.) Facebook saw over 1 billion video views in June 2009. That’s still far less than that 1.2 billion YouTube sees every day, but it undoubtedly makes Facebook one of the top video sharing sites on the web. (Source: TechCrunch, July 2009.) Facebook is also the largest photo sharing site, with more than 10 billion photos uploaded as per February 2009 (source: TechCrunch). Flickr currently boasts 3,841,609,965 pics. By the way, 20 hours of video is uploaded to YouTube every minute. (Source: YouTube, May 2009.) Sony's Playstation Network (PSN) has 26 million members and Microsoft Xbox Live has 20 million members (Source: Reuters, August 2009.) In a recent survey conducted by American Airlines and HP, some 47% of business travelers responded that wifi was the &quot;most important airport amenity, outscoring basic travels needs such as food by nearly 30 percentage points.&quot; The milestone of 1 billion iPhone apps downloads was reached in April of 2009, only 9 months after the app store launched, while the 2 billion milestone was reached in September 2009. <Continued on next slide> www.trendwatching.com
- And there's always more! Courtesy of a YouTube vid (&quot; Social Media Revolution &quot;): Social Media has overtaken porn as the number one activity on the Web. 1 out of 8 couples that married in the US last year met via social media. Years to reach 50 million users: Radio (38 years), TV (13 years), Internet (4 years), iPod (3 years). The number of iPhone applications hit 1 billion in 9 months. If Facebook were a country, it would be the world’s 4th largest between the United States and Indonesia. Yet, some sources say China’s QZone is larger with over 300 million using their services (Facebook’s ban in China plays into this). A 2009 US Department of Education study revealed that on average, online students outperformed those receiving face-to-face instruction. 1 in 6 higher education students are enrolled in online curriculum. The fastest growing segment on Facebook is 55-65 year-old females. Generation Y and Z consider e-mail passé…In 2009, Boston College stopped distributing e-mail addresses to incoming freshmen. The second largest search engine in the world is YouTube. Facebook users translated the site from English to Spanish via a Wiki in less than 4 weeks, at a cost of 0 USD to Facebook. 25% of search results for the World’s Top 20 largest brands are links to user-generated content. 34% of bloggers post opinions about products & brands. 90% of people that can TiVo ads, do. 24 of the 25 largest newspapers are experiencing record declines in circulation, because consumers no longer search for the news, the news finds them. More than 1.5 million pieces of content (web links, news stories, blog posts, notes, photos, etc.) are shared on Facebook… daily. Last but not least, watch the total number of tweets, in real time, at Gigatweet (http://popacular.com/gigatweet). Last time we looked, the counter was at 10.8+ billion. Oh, and more to follow...forever. In the meantime, if you're looking for innovations that blend OFF and ON in novel ways, check out the next slides, covering OFF = ON. <Continued on next slide> www.trendwatching.com
- OFF = ON | More and more, the offline world (a.k.a. the real world, meatspace or atom-arena) is adjusting to and mirroring the increasingly dominant online world, from tone of voice to product development to business processes to customer relationships. Get ready to truly cater to an ON generation, even if you’re in ancient sectors like automotive or fast moving consumer goods ;-) Five OFF = ON categories to run with: Traditional products which incorporate functionalities and enablers to make it more compatible with the online world. From iPod chargers sewn into coats to web-based connections for plush toys. Born online: letting customers personalize and customize an existing offline product online (from Nike ID to personalized M&Ms) is now common practice. Time to prepare yourself for products that start out online-only , and then find their way into the offline world. Digital H&M dresses for avatars that eventually make it to real-world stores is just one example. Online symbols/icons turned into real-world objects. From couches with pixilated prints to pillows adorned with Facebook logos. Mirroring offline what’s being done better online . From real-world supermarket layouts mirroring more intuitive website layouts, to allowing for more in-store customization, catering to consumers who are accustomed to mixing and matching whatever they feel like online. Speaking one's online customers’ language , show them you get it*, show them you know what they're excited about. This is really marketing, advertising and PR in its simplest form. So if nothing innovative comes to mind when brainstorming about OFF = ON (something we have a hard time imagining, but hey), at least try to speak your digi-audience's language. * Although, make sure you back it up in execution of whatever it is you’re peddling, OK? Basically, with ON now being such a major part of people's daily lives (and who knows, for future generations the most important part), you can't go wrong over the next 12 months if you constantly look for the intersection of virtual and offline. Sounds too vague? These examples certainly aren't <next slides>: www.trendwatching.com
- Craftsquatch (www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6956228&section_id=6201060) (hosted by online marketplace Etsy) is dedicated to providing consumers with digitally inspired pillows. Launched in February 2009, Craftsqutch's range of pillows now includes the Social Pillows - pillows with the logo or imagery of Facebook, Twitter and other social networking brands embroidered on them. Prices begin at USD 17.99 and goods are shipped within seven days anywhere in the US. www.trendwatching.com
- Digitalsoaps (www.digitalsoaps.net) are a selection of scented soaps that have been hand-crafted to replicate digital devices. The range includes joysticks and video game controllers, mobile phones, TV remotes and the like. The soaps are available in a wide variety of colors that include semi-translucent shades and a plain-vanilla matte finish. Prices begin at USD 1.50 for a calculator up to USD 18 for twin Nintendo controllers gift set. www.trendwatching.com
- Justin Timberlake, in association with fashion label Givenchy, has launched &quot; Play &quot; cologne. The bottle features the Play/Rewind/Forward symbols and is said to be based on &quot;quintessential objects of modernity and style that have become both everyday objects and icons of our era&quot;. The fragrance was launched in August 2009 and retails for USD 55 to USD 75. www.trendwatching.com
- Hey, if even auction-house Christies (www.christies.com), which has been around since 1759, and whose main London salesroom has been based on King Street in St. James's since 1823, can go all out online, and is happy to advertise about it, too, surely there’s nothing holding back you when speaking your customers’ ON language? For many more ON = OFF examples , go to http://trendwatching.com/premium/gateway/database/on/offon/ www.trendwatching.com
- Never before has the gap between how companies and switched-on consumers go about their lives been bigger. Slowly moving away from a model based on mass media, mass advertising and mass production, consumer societies are becoming more diverse, transparent, exposed, opinionated, conversational, direct, knowledgeable, and transient than incumbent institutions and corporations are familiar or comfortable with. The tone of voice out there, especially compared with the average corporate communications, is, in fact, nothing less than raw . There are millions of online individuals now adding to and commenting on every possible topic, from politics to business (and not holding back, to say the least). The scripted, staged and often cramped reactions from companies finding themselves the subject of discussion is just one indicator of the (UN)REAL world many brands are still stuck in. Grown-up consumers* are of course enjoying their new power to unearth, opine, chastise, ignore, vent and promote; all this unfiltered and unhindered by old institutions and corporations. Previously fringe or even off-limits interests, desires, ideas and convictions are becoming accepted (if only because when online, one can instantly locate likeminded souls, event team up with them, no matter where they are in the world). Politics, sex, religion, and yes, brands: it’s all fair game. The implications of this (UN)REAL environment, and the ‘countertrend’ can be found on the next slides, in GROW(N) UP and FAKETASTIC. * Sure, everything from reality TV to dismal schools will guarantee the ongoing dumbing down of ‘the masses’. However, individuals now at least have plenty of escape routes if not tantalizing alternatives to everything from entertainment to knowledge retrieval. www.trendwatching.com
- OK, just two images depicting ‘The Corporate World’. The above one portrays the way that agencies think that consumers think the corporate world looks like. In all its earnest diversity. Needless to say, it doesn’t. <Next slide> www.trendwatching.com
- And what really comes to mind when consumers think of ‘the corporate world’. www.trendwatching.com
- GROW(N) UP is what you end up with if you apply REAL to products, services, experiences and campaigns. It’s about being outspoken, honest, inclusive, edgy, risqué, (adult) fun, different, taboo-adverse, in your face, even about having character and soul. The backlash against bland started years ago: thousands of niche brands now successfully target GROW(N) UP audiences looking for something that stands out, or doesn’t treat them like the uninformed, easily offended, inexperienced, middle-of-the-road consumer from yesteryear. How far can you go? Your audiences (who are by now thoroughly exposed to, well, anything) can handle much more quirkiness, more daring innovations, more exotic flavors and so on than traditional marketers could have ever dreamed of. This year, you have a daily choice to make between personality and blandness. While the former may seem more risky, the latter guarantees you a slow, certain death. Time for examples with a GROW(N) UP and REAL twist, from both niche and established brands: Launched in 2008, Wine Cellar Sortbets (www.winecellarsorbets.com) sells a range of unique sorbets with varietal wines as the main ingredient. The range features traditional vineyard flavors including Sangria Rojo, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, Rosé, Riesling and Champagne. The range has premium packaging and comes in one-pint sizes that showcase the six flavors in the line. Each has its own distinct color, with the newest product addition, Sangria Rojo, developed in association with vintners in Spain and also containing other traditional Spanish spices and citrus fruits. One pint of the sorbet retails across the US for USD 6.99. Philips is expanding its offerings in a category it calls relationship care (http://www.consumer.philips.com/c/relationship-care/19277/cat/gb/). Besides its Dual Massager, which was introduced in 2008, the company now also sells a Sensual Massager, available online as well as at retailers including Boots, House of Fraser and Amazon UK. Philips' online pricing for the Sensual Massager is GBP 79.99. <Continued on next slide> www.trendwatching.com
- US based Downi Creations (www.downicreations.com) aims to solve two problems with one solution: finding disabled people jobs - and doing so by creating employment opportunities that raise awareness and money for the disability. Downi Creations was founded in 1995, and is dedicated to promoting the awareness and acceptance of Down Syndrome. The company employs people with Down Syndrome to make a range of high-quality dolls. Standing at 19cm tall, the dolls are a classic Victorian-inspired design and made of exceptional materials. Priced at USD 174 per doll, the &quot;Down Syndrome Originals&quot; realistically reflect the same features as their creators with Down syndrome. For many more GROW(N) UP examples , go to http://trendwatching.com/premium/gateway/database/unreal/grownup/ www.trendwatching.com
- While REAL rules, there’s forever going to be a big market for what we've dubbed FAKETASTIC; fake done well. This is a different kind of (UN)REAL. From engineered beauty drinks to Shanghai's gated communities, it's the kind of UNREAL that some consumers actually enjoy and embrace. Especially if they think it can heal them, if it helps them escape reality (recession, anyone?), or if it fulfils their (wildest) fantasies. FAKETASTIC is about being well scripted. Well engineered. It’s closely related to OPENLY OPAQUE, too. So much for authenticity, then? Well, what is fake and what is authentic anyway? As Joe Pine and Jim Gilmore argue in their aptly named book Authenticity (www.authenticitybook.com): “The three distinct ways social philosophers define authenticity are: ‘not monetary’, ‘not mechanical’ and ‘not of Man’. That would of course mean that nothing offered by any business is authentic; everything businesses do is artificial, because it’s all monetary, it’s all mechanical and, obviously, it’s all of Man.” Then, they then also state that “there is no such thing as an inauthentic experience because that experience happens inside of us.” So, there you have it: You can still fake your way to success over the next 12 months, as long as you do it in a FAKETASTIC way. Pictured above, by the way, is the MahaNakhon , a residential and hotel tower in Bangkok that is scheduled for completion in 2012. More?<next slide> www.trendwatching.com
- Japanese fashion label Comme des Garcons ’ 'Series 6 Synthetics ' line, which is a range of perfumes based on unconventional materials, features five &quot;anti-perfumes&quot; called 'Dry clean', 'Garage', 'Skai', 'Soda' and 'Tar'. Each one uses an assortment of fully synthetic ingredients to create unusual, yet reportedly wearable, fragrances. The fragrances are available at London's Dover St Market (www.doverstreetmarket.com/dsmpaper/09_autumn_winter/cdg.html) for approximately USD 60 for 75ml. For many more FAKETASTIC examples , go to http://trendwatching.com/premium/gateway/database/unreal/faketastic/ www.trendwatching.com
- Screw ‘information overload’: as long as information is instant, useful and relevant, consumers are now completely, utterly addicted to information. In fact, they are displaying severe cases of INFOLUST: INFOLUST | &quot;Experienced consumers are lusting after detailed information on anything and anyone. Which is why millions of sites, services, devices and apps that facilitate instant checking, tracking, alerting, visualizing, analyzing, mapping and so on are hotter than ever. The peta bytes of information unlocked and created by the web enables consumers to get their hands on the best of the best, the cheapest of the cheapest, the first of the first, the healthiest of the healthiest, the coolest of the coolest, the fastest of the fastest, or to become the smartest of the smartest. Let alone the opportunity to stay on top of every tiny detail of the lives of friends and loved ones. Instant information gratification truly is upon us.” The driving force behind INFOLUST is, you guessed it, a basic human need: the need for power and empowerment, or at least the illusion thereof. Information is power. So is knowledge, and being in the know. And now that INFOLUST can be satisfied instantly, and millions of consumers have had a taste of the new, transparent world of information distribution, expectations about access to information have been raised. In fact, traditional power centers are exposed for what they really are: entities that survived because of an unequal distribution of information, not because of their brilliance or skill or because they did something unique with this possession. So if that's the setting, let’s look at the most important INFOLUST developments: An explosion in sites, tools, apps, devices letting consumers instantly check, track and get alerts on anything and anyone. In the online world, and increasingly in the offline world, too. For insights and examples, see the CHECKING, TRACKING & ALERTING sub-trend. And don’t forget to work in some BRAND BUTLER insights: INFOLUST is a great way to turn marketing into a service. TRANSPARENCY TRIUMPH is building: lusting after info on the best and / or the cheapest is MAPMANIA: just one of the many ways information is becoming more visual, and in the case of MAPMANIA, continues to gain a sense of time and place. In the next 12 months (well, make that forever), this lusting after relevant information will go even more real-time (NOWISM!). <Continued on next slide> www.trendwatching.com
- Impact Will INFOLUST, like every great romance, mature into a slightly less obsessed INFOLOVE, or crash and burn into INFODIVORCE? Somehow, despite the inevitable backlash (especially from older generations not raised on full transparency), we don't think so. INFOLUST is empowerment, it’s entertainment, and that’s too much of a turn-on for consumers to let go of. It’s not easily turned back, either. For that to happen, the current economic system would have to be turned upside down, and the online genie forced back into its bottle. Which is why, for example, China’s efforts to temper INFOLUST amongst Chinese consumers is doomed. But we’re digressing. All of this is just phase one, what with real time now claiming its moment in the spotlight, to be followed by consumer-friendly Augmented Reality applications. And after that, who knows? As ON thunders on, expect INFOLUST to follow. Opportunity So, the real opportunity, for now, is understanding that all of the above is something consumers actually need and want, that delights them, that they crave. Because it makes them smarter, enriches their lives, saves them money and so on. They quite literally ask for relevant information, even giving you permission to provide them with more. What’s not to like? Learn from the sub-trends (and examples) on the next slides, then start adding to the current information overload in meaningful ways ;-) www.trendwatching.com
- If INFOLUST is the Mega Trend, then the CHECKING, TRACKING and ALERTING sub-trend is one of the hands-on translations of this phenomenon. It encompasses all the (new) ways consumers can instantly check for information, continue to track information, or be alerted if important information becomes available. Please note that CHECKING, TRACKING & ALERTING is about getting access to any kind of information except for information that is used to truly find the 'best of the best' in quality and/or price: that part of INFOLUST (including related examples) can be found under TRANSPARENCY TRIUMPH. CHECKING Getting instant info-gratification is becoming a given, especially online (see NOWISM, too). Not surprisingly, the next 12 months will see a further shift from the desktop to any kind of mobile device, including numerous new apps that will further facilitate 'check and know', for people, objects, events, and so on. <Continued on next slide> www.trendwatching.com
- Marc Jacobs commissioned Japanese creative agency SET to develop an artistic QR code for the 'Marc by Marc Jacobs' brand campaign. A QR code is a 2D bar code that, when scanned by QR-enabled mobile phones, displays information and mobile web pages. SET developed the code for Japanese users in June 2009. When scanned, it directs consumers phones to the brand's mobile web platform. www.trendwatching.com
- TRACKING Information is power and entertainment, and thus quite addictive. So 'tracking is the new searching', as it saves consumers time, makes it impossible to forget or miss out, and thus ultimately gives consumers yet another level of control. Count on everything being tracked: from friends to enemies to fuel prices to authors to pizzas to any mentions of oneself (BRAND ME). In early 2009, North Carolina-based Signal Engine unveiled a Twitter based tracking product called PackageTrack (www.packagetrackapp.com). Twitter users with incoming packages they would like to keep an eye on begin by choosing to 'follow' Packtrack on Twitter, and the brand will automatically begin 'following' the consumer as well. Consumers then DM (‘Direct Message’) PackageTrack with the nickname of a package they'd like to track along with its tracking number. For example - &quot;Red Dress: 23345631243&quot;. PackageTrack then notifies them by Twitter each time the package's status changes. The service tracks UPS, USPS and FedEx packages but is looking to expand the list of carriers in the near future. The service does not charge consumers or carriers, and there is no advertising on the site. www.trendwatching.com
- ALERTING For consumers, this is where INFOLUST gets as good as it gets: relevant information finding them , based on (voluntarily revealed) preferences. An example: In little over a month since creating a Twitter profile, Curtis Kimball's mobile Crème Brûlée Cart (http://twitter.com/cremebruleecart) attracted more than 7,000 followers. Launched in San Francisco in early August 2009, the business' Twitter following is growing rapidly, with followers waiting to find out exactly where he'll be, and what flavors are on the menu. Kimball has had to quit his day job as a carpenter to keep up with the demand - a demand he credits entirely to the marketing power of Twitter. Oh, and you have no doubt been hearing lots about Augmented Reality (a field of computer research which deals with the combination of real-world and computer-generated data, where computer graphics objects are blended into real footage in real time. Source: Wikipedia.) Expect to see many new examples of 'INFOLUST meets Augmented Reality' in our database over the next 12 months, as it (literally) adds yet another layer of convenience to existing CHECKING, TRACKING and ALERTING services. For many more CHECKING, TRACKING and ALERTING examples , go to http://www.trendwatching.com/premium/gateway/database/infolust/checkingtrackingalerting/ www.trendwatching.com
- MAPMANIA is upon us: Everything ‘contextual’, ‘app’, ‘local’, ‘urban’, 'tags', 'lidar', ‘smartphone’, ‘convenience’, 'Cell ID', ‘spontaneity’, ‘infolust’, and ‘GPS’ is finally coming together in one orgasmic celebration of map-based tracking, finding, knowing and connecting. Embraced by eager consumer masses who flock to anything from friend-finders to lowest-gas-price-locators, and aided by services that already know which street users are on. And the Googles, Nokias (who expect half of their handsets to be GPS enabled before the end of 2012), MapQuests, Navteqs, Openstreetmap.orgs, Apples and TomToms of this world continue to build the necessary infrastructure, devices and apps, so any consumer-focused brand would be stupid not to be partnering or experimenting with map-based services. Why? Geography is about everything that is (literally) close to consumers (yup, LOCALITY), and it's a universally familiar method of organizing, finding and tracking relevant information on objects, events and people. And now that superior geographical information is accessible on-the-go, from in-car navigation to iPhones, the sky is the limit. Where to start? First, see what's new on Google Maps (they keep adding functionalities, so really explore for a few hours), Yahoo's FireEagle and Nokia Maps. Then dive into the maps-meet-social networking by visiting (and trying out) services like Loopt, BrightKite and Plazes. Traditional brands will love the partnership opportunities with widget platform Where and friends-meet-reviews-meets-location platform Whrrl. Then check out the numerous other MAPMANIA examples at http://trendwatching.com/premium/gateway/database/infolust/mapmania/ MAPMANIA is one of those ‘the time is now’ trends: the dust is settling, uptake is inching towards mass, and creativity still often trumps big budgets when it comes to popular consumer applications (all hail the App Store, Android Market, BlackBerry Storefront, and so on). Add to that the still-early shift from 'flat maps' to digital 3D representations of the real world (think INFOLUST and augmented reality) or —more hands-on—Google Android's Enkin), and an ongoing push to tag anything and everything, and it's safe to say that you’re still not too late to make the most of MAPMANIA. Oh, and what better way to get started than diving into lots of MAPMANIA examples : www.trendwatching.com
- Think 'transparency' is an established, maturing theme? You ain’t seen nothing yet. The transparency arena keeps expanding, and savvy consumers (as well as on-trend brands) can now score triumph after triumph. In the next 12 months, expect reviews to be set for even more spectacular growth, price comparison to get much more sophisticated, and the inner-workings of companies to be exposed in pragmatic new ways. Let's start with reviews: 1. Review R(E)volution Some telling findings from the latest twice-yearly Nielsen Global Online Consumer Survey (http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/pr_global-study_07709.pdf) of over 25,000 online consumers from 50 countries: &quot;Recommendations by personal acquaintances and opinions posted by consumers online are the most trusted forms of advertising globally. The Nielsen survey shows that 90% of online consumers worldwide trust recommendations from people they know, while 70% trust consumer opinions posted online.&quot; There are many more research studies, findings, dissertations, and so on that confirm the same fact: reviewing is the new advertising. This shouldn’t come as a surprise: just as with other trends, what’s unfolding now is a ‘forever need’ among consumers, one that's now being satisfied in a superior and previously unattainable fashion. In this case, the need is for trusted advice and recommendations—for feeling in control, for knowing the facts, for avoiding mistakes and disappointments—in order to make that perfect purchase. Which has become even more pressing as choice-overload continues: never before was there so much to choose from, in mature consumer societies, and thus such a need for reviews. It's a need that is met online by having access to millions of other consumers and their experiences and opinions, from giant review portals to real-time channels such as Twitter. Businesses have to understand and accept that consumers’ decision making processes, which ultimately come down to whether they will buy from you or from someone else, have truly shifted to a new, powerful peer-to-peer arena. So if that’s the current playing field, let’s look at the latest developments in the booming world of reviews: Deluge While hundreds of millions of consumer reviews are already zipping around cyberspace, prepare for a deluge of truly biblical proportions. And a deluge of review innovations, too. Some numbers: 1.6 billion consumers are now online, and the majority of them have been online for years . They're skilled bargain seekers and ‘best of the best’ hunters, they're avid online networkers, and they're opinionated reviewers and advisors. <Continued on next slide> www.trendwatching.com
- On top of that, many more consumers in emerging markets are eager to jump into cyberspace with two thumbs: according to a UN report, there are now more than four billion mobile phone subscriptions worldwide, two-thirds of which are in developing countries. Even if only a third of those phones get online access in the future, the next billion online users are on the horizon. And for future contributors and viewers, especially those that are born to the web, for whom contributing and sharing is a given (GENERATION G!), reviewing will be a way of life forever. Meanwhile, big players in the review arena are aggregating, white labeling and syndicating like crazy, causing existing reviews to pop-up in multiple places. One key example: Google’s new Rich Snippets program (http://knol.google.com/k/google-rich-snippets/google-rich-snippets/32la2chf8l79m/1) allows the search engine to now display product rating, review count, and actual review text direct in Google search results. In fact, expect this to be the biggest ‘(R)Evolution’: universal search for products, brands, services and anything else consumers are interested in will turn up aggregated, relevant reviews almost by default, tagged and non-tagged, pulled from review sites (niche and massive), from blogs, from Twitter, from Facebook, from YouTube, and so on. Let’s not forget about more compelling formats for reviews: a revealing video says more than a 1,000 photos, and thus the proliferation of videocam phones, including Apple's new iPhone 3G S which includes video functionality, geo tagging, and direct upload facilities for YouTube and Mobile, will be yet another push for video-reviews to take off. Reviews are also making their way to the 'real world': expect to increasingly see reviews in paper catalogs and papers, too. And for ‘real world’ developments with a virtual twist, you just have to keep an eye on augmented reality-meets-reviews. Truthiness Important side-effect of the above is that the deluge in postings will also unmask, outnumber and thus neutralize fake reviews posted by malicious consumers or desperate brands. Which will lead to an even greater trust of recommendations and reviews. In the near future, consider the discussion on whether to trust reviews to be over. Everything reviewed Scale is one thing. Scope is another. No B2C sector is immune to the review virus. Expect every industry, every sector, every product to eventually succumb to reviews, Tripadvisor style. Real time Deluge and connectivity will lead to real-time reviewing of products and services: First of all, as more people are contributing, the sheer mass of reviews will in effect lead to daily if not hourly reviews on any topic imaginable. Which means more timely and accurate information. <Continued on next slide> www.trendwatching.com
- Secondly, as universal online access meets netbooks, laptops, and phones, virtually all equipped with (video) cameras and audio capture, we're already seeing an increase in on-the-spot reviews, from text to full-blown videos. Remember, someone going through an annoying or pleasant experience, but lacking online access, has to postpone his or her review, which often results to not posting at all. In fact, Twitter has established itself as the real-time* snapshot of what people are thinking/feeling/experiencing and yes, reviewing, around the world. Expect numerous services to capitalize on this burgeoning ‘global brain'. One example: SkinniPopcorn (http://skinnipopcorn.com) provides Twitter feeds of users' real time comments about newly released films and the current US box office top ten, as well as the ten movies that are currently mentioned most often. For more on all things real time, see NOWISM. Reviewer trumps Review Here’s what is probably one of the current reviewosphere’s biggest hurdles (and thus one of it's biggest opportunities), and no, it's not trust, it's relevance . Who are these people whose reviews determine what you read, where you stay, what you drive, where you eat, what you watch, where you get operated on…? Which is why, for years, we’ve brought up the concept of 'twinsumers': consumers whose lifestyles mirror yours, who think, live, act, consume alike, and whose reviews therefore have real relevance. Basically, the onslaught of recommendations needs some transparency of its own. For those of you who have already worked out and executed a review strategy: please focus on making reviews relevant for your visitors and customers by providing profiles, backgrounds, context. Also, expect a host of new ventures to spring up and monetize collaborative filtering and profile matching in the next 12 months, most likely by partnering with the Twitters, Facebooks and LinkedIns of this world, who are already profile-driven. One for you? Right of Reply Surprisingly, so far the Review (R)Evolution has been pretty much one-way. Quite a few brands still seem to believe that they’ve been granted an eternal ‘grace period’ when it comes to dealing with all of the above. While brands are no longer unaware of reviews, they (to a large degree) still choose to listen, not talk back, trying to ‘learn’ from the for-all-to-see Review (R)Evolution. Which is surprising, to say the least, since a quick and honest reply or solution can defuse even the most damaging complaint. In fact, there’s no standing on the sideline when it comes to TRANSPARENCY TRIUMPH, and the least any brand should want or demand is the right of reply: to get their side of the story in front of the mass audiences that now scan reviews. Expect smart companies to increasingly post their apologies and solutions, preferably directly alongside reviews from unhappy customers. And yes, that should include the occasional candid rebuttal by a company that feels (and can prove) that a particular review is unfair or inaccurate. <Continued on next slide> www.trendwatching.com
- There’s also a self-organized ‘right of reply’ for B2C brands: allowing for reviews on their own site. All they have to do is to ask their customers and they're in business. Biggest advantage: a guaranteed opportunity to publicly react to bad reviews that would otherwise pop up in less accessible spots. And favorable reviews will of course bring the benefit of instant endorsements of whatever it is you're hawking. Just one example: American Apparel’s on-site reviews. Who knows, one day, well-performing ‘direct brands’ may actually desire and encourage this kind of feedback, which in turn will further add to the deluge. Last but not least, check out services that monitor the mood out there, aggregating online comments, reviews and bits of feedback from consumers about your products or brands. And yes, here too, Twitter is an amazing example of how easy it has become to do some quick checks on what the verdict is on any kind of new product, service and everything else worth reviewing by millions of twitterers. Two examples: ScoutsLabs and Twitratr. You have no excuse for not knowing, and you have no excuse for not replying, either ;-) 2. Price Pandemonium What else can we say about online price comparison than that full price transparency seems near? Show us one consumer who does not spend hours hunting down the lowest fare for her Sydney-Perth trip, the best price for that Philips television, the cheapest copy of Murakami’s latest novel? Needless to say that the dire state of the economy is making consumers flock to price comparison sites in greater numbers than ever before. For the latest price comparison insights, please go to www.trendwatching.com/premium/gateway/database/infolust/transparencytriumph. 3. Inside Out Corporate transparency doesn’t stop at product reviews or price comparison. In fact, it’s going to be crucial for companies to understand that because individuals/consumers are opening up in many ways (see BRAND ME), if not becoming ‘transparent’, especially online, they will expect companies to be more transparent, too (read: to become more human). And while we will save for BRAND FABRIC the many ways in which corporations can now be exposed whenever their behavior is dismal, if not downright despicable, we need to point out how transparency of everything from production processes to ingredients, to labor conditions, will increasingly influence performance and pricing reviews. The ‘whole’ picture will matter to those consumers who, when looking for the best of the best, take into account not just price or superior quality, but eco, health, social and ethical concerns, too. For this trend’s potential impact, for tips and for numerous TRANSPARENCY TRIUMPH examples , see www.trendwatching.com/premium/gateway/database/infolust/transparencytriumph/ www.trendwatching.com
- If every trend has its counter-trend, SURRENDER stands out because it’s a counter trend to many trends. In a nutshell: SURRENDER | &quot;Consumers happy to forego the joys of INFOLUST, rampant choice, transparent prices and standards, DIY/MIY, and other hallmarks of consumer power, instead surrendering to trusted, respected brands in order to avoid hassle, save time, be entertained and / or be surprised.” Drivers behind the SURRENDER trend are: Efficiency Consumers will gladly surrender if you save them time, or make sure you don’t waste their time (yes, there’s a difference). For plenty of examples, check out the CONVENIENCE trend. Expertise The ‘curated’ trend is still going strong. Amidst the chaos, choice overdose, abundance, there is more need than ever for trusted, opinionated, colorful, passionate, experienced, skilled individuals and brands to not only help put things in order, but source the best of the best. <Continued on next slide> www.trendwatching.com
- Entertainment Control is a human need, but so is being entertained. There are times that consumers just want to lean back, relax, and be entertained. Surprise Too much information, too much control, too much planning can suck the excitement out of even the potentially most special moments and experiences. Even infolusty consumers will occasionally want to explore, go on adventures, be surprised. Now, one of the responses to consumers’ growing need to (now and then) SURRENDER could be to become a curator and / or cultivate an OPENLY OPAQUE brand. Not for the faint of heart (one of the implications is that you outperform anything and anyone in order to get consumers to fully trust you, foregoing their desire to be somehow 'involved'), but worth studying. More insights on OPENLY OPAQUE on the next slide: www.trendwatching.com
- For every trend, there's a counter trend. Not every trend applies to all consumers and, what's more, to those it does apply, it won’t apply all the time. So, while TRANSPARENCY TRIUMPH will be a reality for the majority of brands, we’ll also witness a number of brands who will go for a less-than-transparent approach to business, and will get away with hiding, with not being open, with not having mass conversations with customers. Does this contradict everything laid out above? No. In the end, plenty of consumers will accept (if not welcome) an opaque brand. That is, if that brand consistently delivers and surprises : A lot of people like to keep things simple. Sometimes they just want to get it over with instead of having to review and compare and research for hours on end. For many, time is still the new currency. See also CONVENIENCE. For some products and services, surprise / excitement / the unexpected is all part of the charm. Researching and reviewing something to death can make a purchase or experience too safe. Related: too much information can make one indecisive, as there’s now an unfavorable review or potential disadvantage to be found for everything. As long as those bad reviews are from reviewers whose background is unknown, relying on a trustmark instead may offer peace of mind. Last but not least, some brands manage to offer uniqueness (both by creating something truly special, and by acting as a curators), which is then less prone to standard reviews / comparisons. Apple is an example of an opaque brand, especially for those Apple customers who just want to be dazzled, entertained and want to belong. So are brands such as Singapore Airlines, Method, Four Seasons, IKEA and Virgin Atlantic: they need less researching and reviewing, as existing and potential customers know, expect and ultimately trust they’re going to get the best of the best, if not something unique. Pleasant side effect here: unique offerings also greatly reduce (if not eliminate) price-sensitivity. So if you wish to go OPENLY OPAQUE, make sure you’re the best. Be hard to duplicate, curated, trusted, reliable and so on. And yes, any other kind of opaqueness means you’re toast ;-) www.trendwatching.com
- *** We published a full Trend Briefing on NOWISM in mid-October 2009, a month after the first version of the 2010 Trend Report was published. You therefore now have two options: scan through the following slides for a quick overview of this trend, or peruse the more extensive set of slides (based on the briefing) at http://www.trendwatching.com/premium/gateway/powerpoints/ *** Instant gratification is the new religion The power of all things ‘NOW’ can be traced back to the eternal lure of instant gratification. The relentless pursuit of pleasure (especially in mature consumer societies) has led to worshipping of the here and now, en passant reducing the ‘now’ to mere minutes, if not seconds. It’s been a steady build-up: In an age of abundance, with a reduced need for constant securing of the basics, and goods so plentiful that the status derived from them is sometimes close to nil*, the only thing that remains is consumption of the thrill, the experience, the new. In fact, many ‘fixed’ items run the risk of becoming synonymous with boredom, hassle, quickly-out-of-date, maintenance, worrying (Theft! Going out of style! Repairs!) with taking up too large a part of budgets, if not lives. Experiences are by default ephemeral. So the ‘forever’ is replaced by an obsession with the here and now, an ever-shorter satisfaction span, and a lust to collect as many experiences and stories as possible. Living in the now, not the future, is addictive. Take travel: it's more of a basic consumer need than a luxury these days. It’s about detachment, fractional ownership or no ownership at all, trying out new things, escaping commitment and obligations, dropping formality, and of course collecting endless new experiences. No wonder travel is one of the biggest industries on this planet. Oh, and the current recession (whether it's over is something we'll leave to you ;-) has of course sent confidence in a bright(er) future plummeting. * Trends are never ‘or’, they're always ‘and’. There is, of course, always a need for roots, for non-transient relationships, for shelter. People, consumers, still need a base, and still need to be sure the basics are at least available at all times . Owning does imply a certain level of security, something that others can’t just take away from you. Online now equals real-time While instant gratification has been a hallmark of consumerism for decades, it’s the online space that for better or worse represents NOWISM on steroids. In fact, if there’s one defining theme for the online world in the next 12 months, it’s ‘real-time’. <Continued on next slide> www.trendwatching.com
- Online users are insatiably lusting after ever-more up-to-date info on other people (BRAND ME!), on products, and on events. They are thus obsessed with real-time publishing, real-time search, real-time reviews and price-comparison, real-time news, real-time conversations and more. And yes, Twitter is the current, deserved posterchild for this phenomenon. It's no wonder that even Google founder Larry Page stated that &quot;Twitter has done a great job of real-time search. I think we’ve done a relatively poor job of... things that work on a per-second basis. I’ve been telling our search teams for some time, you need results for every second. They laugh at me. I don’t think they understand this. I think we will do a better job of some of these things now&quot;. (Source: Wired, August 2009.) Now, this ‘instant information and communication gratification’ is not only satisfying consumers: it’s also creating a global pulse of unheard scale and scope. This is a pulse that brands obviously can and have to tap into (never before has business intelligence been so in your face), but they then also have to become part of 'moving at the speed of culture': i.e. engaging in (and initiating) conversations. These conversations are not only visible in real-time, but they're also visible to everyone. It will mean offering limited, time-based offers, real-time customer service, and other activities that will make the difference between an alive, NOW brand and a static, DEAD brand. <Continued on next slide> www.trendwatching.com
- Is ‘live’ the last frontier? This is where offline NOWISM meets online NOWISM: the increasing value of anything ‘live’, which is partly an answer to physical abundance (thus the search for truly unique experiences), and partly a result of the online world being a giant copy machine. Live (when you restrict access) is exclusive, it cannot be copied, it is one-off and thus in theory unique. It cannot be edited or controlled or censored and therefore offers the possibility of boredom-beating surprises. And, last but not least, accept that even with rampant individuality, human beings also have a deep need to be with others (now and then). Over the next 12 months, anything that is live (Concerts! Election nights! Parties! Tastings! Or, at large, 'performances') and tied to a specific place and time, will retain its value (if not become even more valuable). Meanwhile, virtually everything else will continue to crumble under the weight of the ‘copy economy’. Some fun numbers: Madonna's &quot; Sticky and Sweet &quot; world tour (2008-2009) made USD 408 million, making it the highest grossing tour ever for a solo artist. Madonna toured 32 countries and performed 85 shows. She broke her own record, set by her &quot;Confessions&quot; tour, which made USD 194 million in 2006. The Rolling Stones' &quot;Bigger Bang&quot; tour is still the highest grossing tour of all time, bringing in USD 558 million from 2005-2007. <Continued on next slide> www.trendwatching.com
- The impact of NOWISM: First and foremost, brands will have to become real-time, not just in their monitoring, but in their engaging and conversing as well. For more on this, see BRAND FABRIC. Secondly, the proliferation of ubiquitous instant gratification will raise NOWISM expectations, resulting in the need for ever shorter product / service development cycles. Thirdly, a countertrend will no doubt build, especially amongst older generations. Expect NOWISM to become synonymous with (and blamed for) shallowness, short attention spans, excessive focus on instantly satisfying urges, an unwillingness to face (and build) a better future, indifference to the past (and all its lessons). While all of this warrants attention, the pro-NOWISM camp will point to the dissemination of crucial information, the leveling of the playing field for individuals and organizations, the potentially beneficial effects on the environment of a consumer society shifting towards 'now' experiences (including virtual ones) versus consuming resource-heavy physical goods, and so on. As always, the best thing to do is to cherry-pick, instead of a black-and-white approach to inevitable societal shifts. POPUPPING OK, so one last (frivolous) NOWISM observation (warning: those of you sick of hearing about pop-up stores, please stop reading now). The continued success of temporary brand manifestations, also known as the art of POPUPPING. For your amusement, we’ve once more rounded up lots of examples (see the next slide). Enjoy! www.trendwatching.com
- What can we add to a trend that, since we started tracking it late 2003 (“ If new products can come and go, why can't the stores that display them do the same? &quot;), has gone from a temporary example of temporariness to a fixture on every marketing-strategy-to-do list? POPUPPING now encompasses all temporary brand manifestations that add an element of surprise and must-have/see to shopping, dining, entertaining, lodging and so on. Two sub-trends within this sub-trend to watch: 1. Due to the recession, an increased availability of affordable retail space, has made it easier and more attractive to set up pop-up stores and manifestations in some of the most prestigious (and high-traffic) shopping areas around the world. 2. With pop-up stores being so abundant, and thus the surprise factor for consumers greatly diminished, expect brands to focus on more outrageous manifestations, as well as shifting their attention from merely selling or introducing new product lines to turning pop-ups into centers of learning, having consumers try out (concept) products, and, above all, having conversations with customers. In other words: real-world manifestations of CUSTOMER-MADE strategies (pop-up labs, anyone? ;-) As always, (visual) examples will teach you more than dry text, so check out the numerous POPUPPING examples at http://trendwatching.com/premium/gateway/database/nowism/popupping/. Pictured above: German Bboxx is a mobile pop-up kiosk which acts as a platform for brands to launch tactical promotions. The compact, cylindrical designed structure allows brands to tailor branding and functionality to meet their promotional objectives. Online, brand managers choose the rental duration (or opt to purchase) then go on to design the Bboxx through an interactive step by step process. From basic to the pinnacle design, a Bboxx costs from EUR 14,000 - EUR 34,000 to purchase, or EUR 116 - EUR 6,000 per day for a two-week rental. www.trendwatching.com
- Yes, it’s global and flat and connected out there. But. Except for a tiny minority of jet-setting, rootless, global nomads, most people spend their day-to-day life in the same place, with the same friends, colleagues and neighbors for at least 49 weeks a year. In fact, day-to-day, the world is 99 percent local for 99 percent of all people. Add in eco-concerns (travel, product sourcing), and further embracing of the known (read: local, national) in an uncertain world, and the enduring power of LOCALITY will become clear. Even some of the online technologies that were not too long ago seen as a nail in the coffin of anything with a sense of (physical) place, are now the major driver behind a celebration of local commerce, local entertainment and local meet-ups. Here a few categories/drivers to structure your local strategies: LOCALITY and 'made here' As discussed, both FAKETASTIC and the 'authentic' will continue to prosper. And nothing resonates more with the authenticity-seeking crowd than something that’s ‘made here'. Also, expect consumers' desire to find out about the origins of a product to become a given. Questions no one ever asked a few years ago will become an integral part of the purchasing process. How was the product made? By whom? How did it get to its point of sale? What effects on the environment will it have after purchasing? Increasingly, this TRANSPARENCY TRIUMPH pits distant production against local production. in short, in an era of global sourcing, 'locally made' will remain a strong proposition. LOCALITY and pride National if not local pride is and will be alive and kicking for ever. Most consumers are strongly connected to where they reside: from neighborhood to village/city to region to country. There's no better way to acknowledge your customers' daily lives and realities than to 'localize' your products and marketing. It will make you REAL and help you build your BRAND FABRIC. For examples that transcend McDonald's selling Yakatori burgers in Japan, see the many ‘pride and respect’ examples at http://trendwatching.com/premium/gateway/database/locality/ <Continued on next slide> www.trendwatching.com
- LOCALITY and meeting up Forget (for now) a future in which the majority of consumers lose themselves in virtual worlds. Ironically the same technology that was once seen to be—and condemned for—turning entire generations into homebound gaming zombies and avatars, is now almost exclusively deployed to get people out of their homes. Basically, the more people can get their hands on the right info, at home and on the go; the more they date and network and twitter and socialize online, the more likely they are to eventually meet up with (new) friends and followers in the real world. Why? Because people actually enjoy interacting with other warm bodies, and will do so forever. LOCALITY and ‘nethoods’ Related to 'LOCALITY and meeting up': social networks of any kind trickling down to the level of neighborhoods. Streets. Buildings. Floors. We’ve dubbed this ‘nethoods’: NETHOODS | &quot;Neighborhoods, streets and even apartment buildings will get their own internet and intranet sites: not just to promote the many qualities they have to offer their (prospective) inhabitants, but also to provide communal interaction and localized services.&quot; And yes, if you do this well (just think of the local advertising opportunities), Google Local, Yelp or Yellow Pages will buy you. LOCALITY and exclusivity An easy way to apply the LOCALITY trend is to sell something special, something premium, something desirable, in just one (geographical) location. Which means forgoing a chain-wide rollout or selling to all from a borderless e-shop. The limitation this will put on distribution opportunities will be compensated for by enthusiasm, PR and premium prices. For shoppers, it brings back the thrill of (literally) having to go places to pick up something for others or themselves. Think about it, what better cure for retail blandness than to turn a Tokyo or Buenos Aires flagship store into a true destination again? Or what if every store/outlet/factory had its own unique experience and assortment? It’s all about combining consumers’ appreciation of a sense of place with LUXYOURY elements like limited editions and exclusive access. So in the next 12 months, make the best of LOCALITY. From the ongoing appeal of locally produced or manufactured products, to bringing back consumer excitement by restricting the availability of highly desirable offerings to specific locales, to the many new local information services, to the celebration of local pride, to the many ways you can help consumers connect to fellow residents. Don't forget, not just all politics is local, so is business ;-) www.trendwatching.com
- In August 2009, as part of its Absolut Cities Series (www.absolut.com), Absolut released the taste of Boston - a black tea and elderflower vodka that has a backdrop reminiscent of Fenway Park's Green Monster. As part of the Boston launch, Absolut unveiled a &quot;Wall of Pride&quot; on Boylston Plaza which features quotations about the city from famous Bostonians. In August 2009, New York's Ace Hotel teamed up with aromatic artists Le Labo , designing a set of soy-based candles to be distributed throughout the hotel, and available for purchase at the establishment. Made in the US, the candles are reported as having a woody accord to fit with the hotel's character, and are packaged in a wooden-look tin. UK grocery chain Waitrose (www.waitrose.com/food/productranges/essential.aspx) has announced it will only sell milk and other dairy products that come from British cows. The dairy is supplied from a network of 60 British dairy farms, a partnership now in its tenth year, which aims to ensure fair prices, quality and ethical farming practices. The products have been in store since August 2009 and sold under the 'Essential Waitrose' label. www.trendwatching.com
- On to every brand professional’s favorite topic (or so it seems at times): The Future of Luxury . How will luxury brands fare in the next 12 months? What will define luxury over the next few years? The answer is ‘luxury will be whatever you want it to be'. After all, what constitutes luxury is closely related to what constitutes scarcity. And, beyond the basic needs, scarcity is in the eye of the beholder, especially those beholders who are desperately trying to be unique. And now that there are so many more ways to be unique than just play the 'BIGGER, BETTER, HARDER ' game*, it's time to apply the various STATUS SPHERES to the concept of luxury. <Continued on next slide> www.trendwatching.com
- Here's something to play with over the next 12 months; how about luxury constituting : Anything commissioned? Providing 'access'? Secrets? Stories? Time with one's loved ones? Time for oneself? All things local? Peace and quiet, if not escape? Eco-friendly? Human-friendly? Animal-friendly? Caring? Empathy? Perks? Craft? Friends? Having a larger-than-life perspective? Households of six or more? An audience? Eccentricity? Appointment-only? Relevant information? Extreme personalization? Not having or wanting to consume? Being opinionated? Anything premium? Fuck-you money? Curation if not the absence of any kind of choice? Philanthropy? Bespoke goods and services? Knowledge? Skills? Frugality? Health? Etiquette? Or a mix of any of these? Some further insights / notes: Don't worry about missing out on the next big thing in luxury, focus on defining it. How? By finding and coining the right (status) trigger for the right audience. Just declare that the end is nigh for anything that’s getting a little too affordable, too accessible, too polluting, or just too well-known. Then introduce something very different (if not the opposite), appealing to the in-crowds ready to jump ship anyway ;-) Whatever is considered a luxury now will undeniably be seen as a necessity by future generations. * Some reports for those of you who still need numbers and stats on where traditional luxury is headed: FT Business of Luxury PDF (June 2009) (http://media.ft.com/cms/8747a9bc-5707-11de-9a1c-00144feabdc0.pdf) Reuters Global Luxury Summit (June 2009) (www.reuters.com/finance/summit/GlobalLuxury09) Bain Luxury Market Outlook (June 2009) (www.wealth-bulletin.com/share/media/downloads/2009/06/1054440296.pdf) Hey, this one is all yours... www.trendwatching.com
- Forget ‘eco-fatigue’: it’s impossible to ignore the mind-boggling fortunes (and accompanying power shifts and reductions in pollution) that are in store for those who figure out how to get the world off its addiction to polluting power sources and wasteful consumption. No wonder then that every key player—from the Obama administration to the Chinese government, plans to dominate the new (read: post-recession economy) by going sustainable, including a heavy dose of rules and regulations. But it’s not all macro-economic-geo-political-power play. Recession or not, consumers will continue to demand responsible behavior from brands, too, and they're willing to pay for greener products as well. Just one statistic: “ Four out of five people say they are still buying green products and services today-which sometimes cost more-even in the midst of a US recession .” (source: Reuters). Rest assured that the quest for who can be GREENEST will continue at full speed: GREENEST | &quot;Refers to the numerous opportunities, both short and long term, for brands that participate in the epic quest for a sustainable society. Some of these opportunities exist despite the current economic climate, others are fueled by it, not in the least because of new rules and regulations.&quot; So yes, there's an endless flow of eco sub-trends, and all of them are begging to be sustainably and profitably applied by smart entrepreneurs and marketers, today. Some of them are focused on the long-term, while others will help you come up with quick-fix, low-cost green innovations. Now, let there be no doubt that because of the downturn (lower oil prices, anyone?), we will of course see many green startups go bust—especially those with high upfront investments and zero short-term revenues . And yes, some cash-strapped consumers will (temporarily) shun premium-priced green products and services. That out of the way, here's an eco-trend dictionary to help you make the most of all the GREENEST examples: ECO-BOOSTERS “ Expect companies who are serious about GENERATION G and the environment to quickly move from merely neutralizing and offsetting their undesirable eco-effects to actually boosting the environment by going the extra mile.” Count on being sustainable or being carbon neutral soon being just the starting point, not the end goal. So think about how your brand can actually boost the environment instead of just limiting damage. Call it PR or responsibility or both. As long as you go out of your way to be generous, everyone wins.&quot; ECO-CHIC &quot;Chic, luxury, desirable and green is an enduring, winning combination. Look for ECO-CHIC to invade every B2C category, not just fashion and boutique hotels.&quot; www.trendwatching.com
- ECO-CYCLE &quot;Recycling, Upcycling, Downcycling: it doesn't matter what you call it, as long as you figure out how to eliminate any kind of negative direct and indirect environmental impact your products and services may cause before, during and after production. And yes, that includes the entire consumption cycle, too.&quot; ECO-EARNING &quot;Consumers making money by selling (back) eco-friendly goods, services, and utilities.&quot; ECO-EDU &quot;Schools and universities striving to raise and educate the next generation of Green Leaders, while making sure the entire educational process is 'green' too.“ ECO-EMBEDDED &quot;While the current good intentions of corporations and consumers are helpful, serious eco-results will depend on making products and processes more sustainable without consumers even noticing it, and, if necessary, not leaving much room for consumers and companies to opt for less sustainable alternatives. Which will often mean forceful (if not painful) government intervention, some serious corporate guts, or brilliantly smart design and thinking, if not all of those combined. Think green buildings, or a ban on plastic bags and bottles or gas-guzzlers—anything that becomes truly embedded into daily life, and by default leaves no choice, no room for complacency. In fact, the regulation part of ECO-EMBEDDED has already been called the 'fourth R', adding to the three golden rules for individuals keen on a more sustainable lifestyle: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.&quot; ECO-FEEDERS &quot;Small, sometimes tiny, new businesses and services that feed (off) big ECO players. They may never be the next huge thing but they’re sure fun to start up if you’re the niche/long-tail entrepreneurial type.&quot; ECO-FREE &quot;Giving away anything that enables consumers to live/build/consume in greener ways.&quot; ECO-FRUGAL &quot;Times are uncertain, so 'frugal' is hot, and thus count on all things ‘eco’ to be repositioned from ‘worthy but expensive’ to ‘cheap and, oh yes, worthy’. On the one hand, cash-strapped consumers are going out of their way to save money on energy bills, motorized transport and other waste-prone, eco-unfriendly activities. While the environment may not be their first concern, they will nevertheless do less damage. Other consumers are still primarily interested in sustainable consumption, but no longer willing or able to pay the usual premiums.“ www.trendwatching.com
- ECO-ICONIC &quot;Eco-friendly goods and services sporting bold, iconic markers and design, that help their eco-conscious owners show off their eco-credentials to millions of other consumers who are now actually impressed by green lifestyles. ECO-ICONIC is not about all green products, it’s about those products which have a distinct appearance or story to actually show that they're green (or at least invoke some curiosity from onlookers), and thus help their owners/users attract recognition from their peers. How 'new' is this? Well, just take a look around: a surprisingly high number of green products and services, imagined and designed in a distant past when green was seen as a compromise, still try to hide their sustainable superiority by looking as much like 'normal', 'non-green' products as possible.&quot; ECO-MAPMANIA &quot;Where 'green' intelligence meets MAPMANIA.“ ECO-MATCHING &quot;One of the myriad things the web excels at is matching supply and demand. It works for the green space, too.&quot; ECO-METERING “ This is where ECO-FRUGAL and ECO-ICONIC / ECO-STORIES meet. Expect thrifty, status-seeking consumers to embrace a growing crop of devices and services that help them make the most of energy saving options and simultaneously display the related ‘green savings’ to peers, or at least provide them with eco-bragging ammunition.&quot; ECO-MODULARITY &quot;Modular products solve the costly issue of customers having to replace everything (as opposed to just a module or part) whenever an improved version of a physical product is introduced. Another twist on this sub-trend is hardware that lasts forever, while the (non-polluting) software is perennially improved on (and thus upgraded).&quot; ECONCIERGES &quot;ECONCIERGES are firms and services dedicated to helping households go green. And while any advice that reduces a household's (harmful) consumption is beneficial enough, the fact that such advice leads to savings gives this a desirable ECO-FRUGAL angle, too. Next? How about helping consumers make money by being green, by for example letting them generate and sell excess power to the 'grid'?&quot; ECO-PERKS &quot;PERKONOMICS with a green twist.&quot; ECO-REWARDS &quot;Reward schemes will forever be a favorite of both producers and consumers. They work in the green space, too: rewarding sustainable behavior among consumers with equally green rewards is on the rise.&quot; ECO-STORIES &quot;A green lifestyle is (in some circles) the ultimate status symbol, and thus ‘green stories’ are in vogue. Everything having involvement with (eco-friendly) sourcing, production, ingredients and distribution represents a potential benefit to consumers keen on status stories. And the concept is extra attractive for service providers, since they often don't have physical products with which to convey their eco-credentials.&quot; www.trendwatching.com
- ECO-STURDINESS &quot;Another development that beautifully marries sustainability with long-term savings: eco-conscious consumers buying sturdier stuff.&quot; ECO-SUPERIOR &quot;Green innovations that are truly superior—not just eco-friendlier, but better-looking and cheaper than incumbent offerings.&quot; ECO-TIPS &quot;A broader, public take on ECONCIERGES, ECO-TIPS is all about the mushrooming of sites offering innovation tips and advice on how to lead a greener life. They make for great partners if you have a (genuinely) green service or product to promote.“ ECO-VERTISING &quot;Forget traditional advertising for promoting green products and services: make the advertising itself clean and green!&quot; A few more notes: for all green initiatives with a generosity angle, see GENERATION G. And for green initiatives of a transient nature, please see NOWISM. For heaps of GREENEST examples (including the ones pictured in these slides), please see http://trendwatching.com/premium/gateway/database/greenest/ www.trendwatching.com
- Another Mega Trend which shows no signs of fatigue: anyone joining forces with anyone, and enjoying it, too (hence JOYNING). So yes, brands are teaming up with customers, designers, brands from other industries, and even with their competitors. On top of that, consumers will continue to explore novel ways to form any kind of CROWD, or go down the SELLSUMER lane (running their own mini-businesses), joining the business arena not just as collaborators, but as players, participants, and creators, too. Which of course is closely related to STATUSPHERE: consumers who prefer doing as opposed to owning . Also, with younger generations becoming increasingly more collaborative (especially those 'born' online), JOYNING is yet another manifestation of the business world forced to mirror changes in society. After all, the online revolution has broken down barriers, increased networking, and has thus shattered the belief of older generations that you have to solve everything yourself, that asking for advice is a sign of weakness, that you have to outsmart everybody, and that you have to keep knowledge close to your chest. <Continued on next slide> www.trendwatching.com
- Last but not least, there is now a pragmatic consensus that some of our time’s biggest challenges (from global warming to the financial crisis) can only be solved if the powers that be cooperate on a global scale. Anyway, back to B2C innovations: while the sub-trends and theory may, by now, be familiar, the many novel JOYNING innovations we continue to spot are not. To bring some structure to this wide-ranging trend, check out the following sub-trends <next slides> that deal with both corporate and consumer initiatives to make the most of these partnerships. www.trendwatching.com
- As long as consumers demand the best, the BRANDED BRANDS trend will be with us: BRANDED BRANDS | &quot;Demanding consumers looking for the best of the best are the driver behind to two (or more) brands bringing their unique competences to the table, in order to re-imagine or invent a new, unique product or service, combining the best from multiple worlds.” Yes, we've been monitoring this for years. So why bring it up again? Firstly, because smart, innovative examples keep popping up. And secondly, because it’s also one of the most inspiring topics for an ideation session. Further trend benefits: the resulting product or service is pretty tough to copy, and you have two partners promoting it to both of their customer groups…all factors which are crucial when you're up against an EXPECTATION ECONOMY. One example: Tokyo's Louis Vuitton (www.louisvuitton.com) flagship store has undergone a complete makeover in the style of famed pop designer, Takashi Murakami. The store was unveiled in June 2009. Murakami has influenced every aspect of Vuitton's store, from the product design, shop interior, to the mobile / web digital presence. Scattered throughout the shop are large-scale and miniature versions of Murakami's plush figures and artwork which range from large centerpieces to tiny figures playing among the items for sale in the store. Learn from who's already doing it with whom at http://trendwatching.com/premium/gateway/database/joyning/brandedbrands/ , then decide who you should be hooking up with over the next 12 months: www.trendwatching.com
- It has hopefully been on your agenda for a while now, and it should really stay on there: co-creation, or CUSTOMER-MADE. It's all about co-creating with the cream of the crop of your customers, if not all consumers. Get them to do the work for you, then generously reward them for their efforts. Our CUSTOMER-MADE trend definition, one more time: CUSTOMER-MADE | “The phenomenon of corporations creating goods, services and experiences in close cooperation with experienced and creative consumers by tapping into their intellectual capital. Then, in exchange, giving them a direct say in (and rewarding them for) what actually gets produced, manufactured, developed, designed, serviced, or processed.&quot; And no, not everything has to, or will be, co-created in the future, but harvesting the collective experiences, skills and ingenuity of hundreds of millions of consumers around the world is a complete departure from the inward looking, producer-versus-consumer innovation model so common to many corporations around the world. Every CUSTOMER-MADE initiative starts with a conversation, and that too is a theme we've spoken enough about over the last few years. So what's hot and happening in the conversation-arena? Brands are finally joining the conversation First of all, the arrival of Twitter* has finally spurred companies into action. They are now actually replying to customers' tweets containing complaints, suggestions, questions or feedback. In fact, big brands have even assigned Chief Bloggers, Directors of Digital Care, Customer Relationships Experts, Social Media Strategists, Heads of Social Media, and yes, ‘Corporate Twitterers’ to personally (wo)man their Twitter conversations. Not surprisingly, after years of one-way conversations, those brands that finally open up (like the twitter examples above) will first have to deal with a steady flow of pent-up anger, complaints and frustration from customers who previously haven't had anywhere else to go. (There must be a billion ignored consumer suggestions, complaints, comments, questions, and reviews floating around online). But over time, when honest problem-solving (in combination with improved performance, of course) will lead to more balanced relationships, the focus will shift to cooperation if not co-creation. Including brands actively initiating conversations. Not participating yet? Don’t even think about just dipping your toes in: dive into (and learn from, if not copy) what other brands are already doing on twitter. Look, this isn't Second Life: starting the conversation on Twitter is easy (five minutes and you're up and running) and it certainly won’t cost you a fortune. Check out this best-of-the-best listing of B2C brands on Twitter, courtesy of Tracking Twitter, then peruse these 100 brands that are mentioned most often in the twittersphere, courtesy of BrandRepublic. Or get some help from CoTweet (www.cotweet.com), a platform that helps companies reach and engage customers using twitter. Clients include WholeFoods, Starbucks and Alaska Airlines. <Continued on next slide> www.trendwatching.com
- * Sure, Twitter is ‘just’ the next evolution in personal communications, and something newer will steal hearts in the future (Google Wave, anyone?), but unlike other Next Big Things, its low barriers to entry and ease of use are enticing even the most luddite consumers, celebrities and brands to join in. The forced brevity of tweets has helped, too: it's easier to deal with a barrage of interactions if both sides are limited to a maximum of 140 characters. Beta-mindset Related to mass conversations is the inevitability of companies having to start opening up the way their customers have already opened up online (INFOLUST, BRAND ME), introducing and revealing themselves, flaws and all, and relying on the crowds for feedback and advice. When that happens, the conversation will turn into more of a looping, continuous dialogue than a one-off, casual encounter. Consider operating in a humble, transparent, unpolished, almost human-like 'forever beta' mode, not just for one product, but for an entire organization. And we're not only talking about the usual suspects like software giants and web 2.0 icons, but traditional B2C brands too, be it in automotive or FMCG. For further insights on how to go into permanent beta-mode, how to humanize brands, or how to bring out the best in your customers by giving them access to unfinished, imperfect goods and services, check out this video by Clay Shirky. Now, while beta-as-a-mindset insights have been around for some years now, they may get their well-deserved moment in the sun soon. As the current recession is starting to look more like a massive overhaul of institutions (not least the institution known as ‘big business’), fundamentally new relationships between consumers and brands will attract lots of attention. And 'beta' fits the bill. Let's look at the news business, which forever finds itself the canary in the digital coalmine: ‘News’ is a telling example of how the new culture of online profiles, of updating, of beta, of following, of turning the process into the product can lead to creative destruction in its purest form. As Jeff Jarvis (yes, him again) first noted ages ago (i.e. April 2007): &quot;Interviews and articles need never end. And never start. A story can begin with a reader’s blog post: ‘I wish I knew…’ Or it can begin with a reporter’s blog post: ‘I’m looking at doing a story about ____. What do you know? What do you want to know? What should I ask? Whom should I ask?’ Who says the reporters should ask all the questions? Shouldn’t the readers? Then the interviews can appear online to be challenged, amended, and corrected by writers, readers, and subjects alike. Then the reporter writes a story. But who says the story should be over then — done, fishwrap — just because the reporter’s finished writing it? The story is online and it continues to live and grow as people add their knowledge and perspectives and corrections . So the article isn’t a product. It is a process. It’s alive.” <Continued on next slide> www.trendwatching.com
- And in September 2008, on why he thinks the article is no longer the building block of journalism, and has been replaced by the ‘topic’: “ I want a page, a site, a thing that is created, curated, edited, and discussed. It’s a blog that treats a topic as an ongoing and cumulative process of learning, digging, correcting, asking, answering. It’s also a wiki that keeps a snapshot of the latest knowledge and background. It’s an aggregator that provides annotated links to experts, coverage, opinion, perspective, source material. It’s a discussion that doesn’t just blather but that tries to accomplish something. It’s collaborative and distributed and open but organized.” Obviously, if you’re digital, then 'beta' in its purest form (including instant updates and upgrades), will be a given. If you’re involved with physical production, beta is a mindset. Meaning you’re not going to hawk inedible chocolates, or, God forbid, sell hospitals your semi-tried and tested cardio monitor equipment. But you are still going to be as obsessed with continuous improvement and innovation, as if you were a pure web 2.0 play, together with your customers. What to do today? Why not fine-tune your twitter strategy to really start the conversation with your customers? Or introduce one ‘beta’ product that you will keep improving with help of the crowds. From there on, try to make a CUSTOMER-MADE/beta-mindset part of your thinking when it comes to all client relationships. Oh well, enough theory, time for some examples from brands who are already getting their hands dirty: In August 2009, Google held the second edition of its Android Developer Challenge (http://code.google.com/android/adc/). The challenge asked developers to submit their Android applications to one of 10 categories, including media, travel, lifestyle, entertainment and social networking. Along with a public ranking by consumers, a team of Google-selected judges evaluated the applications in Q4 of 2009. The prizes reached USD 150,000 for the winning application and USD 100,000 for the first place in each of the 10 categories. In 2009, Unilever's snack brand Pepperami dropped ad agency Lowe and announced a competition with a prize of USD 10,000 to generate campaign ideas. Concepts had to use the brand's existing animal character, and the winning entry was rolled out into a TV and print campaign by advertising agency Smartworks. Ideas had to be submitted to a specially created website (www.ideabounty.com); the competition was open until 10 October 2009. More CUSTOMER-MADE examples at http://trendwatching.com/premium/gateway/database/joyning/customermade/ www.trendwatching.com
- For years now, we’ve been fascinated with everything funded, organized, sourced, managed and powered by crowds. While many innovations and initiatives are still hit-and-miss (count on quite a few of the examples in our database to eventually fail), the wisdom/persistence/power/wealth of crowds will continue to transform business processes if not entire businesses. Here's a 'crowd lexicon' to help you make sense of it all: Crowd-sourcing The act of taking a task traditionally performed by an employee or contractor, and outsource it to an undefined and generally large group of people or community in the form of an open call. Crowd-wisdom The process of taking into account the collective opinion of a group of individuals, rather than a single expert to answer a question. This process, while not new to the information age, has been pushed into the mainstream spotlight by social networking sites. Crowd–predicting Members of the crowd predicting event outcomes, football results and success on all kinds of ideas. Crowd-funding An alternative approach to raising the capital required for a new project or enterprise by appealing to large numbers of ordinary people for small donations. Also known as crowd-financing or crowd-source capital. Crowd-clout Online grouping of citizens/consumers for a specific cause, be it political, civic or commercial, aimed at everything from bringing down politicians to forcing suppliers to fork over discounts. Crowd-clout has its own dedicated sub-trend page in the database here. Crowd-manufacturing The application of the crowd-sourcing principle, not to ideas or tasks, but to the production of goods and merchandise. Crowd-casting The intersection of broadcasting and crowd-sourcing. The process of crowd-casting uses a combination of push strategies (public announcement of a prize for a particular innovation, invention, achievement, or accomplishment) and pull strategies (to provide fresh perspectives, ideas, insights, prototypes or radical/breakthrough innovations) to first engage an audience and build a network of participants, and then harness the network for new insights. Obviously, all of these monikers derive, by their very definition, from crowd-sourcing. Dive into the CROWD-EXPRESS examples at http://trendwatching.com/premium/gateway/database/joyning/crowdexpress/ for inspiration, then begin (or expand on) your own crowd-activiti es. www.trendwatching.com
- DIY/MIY (DO IT YOURSELF / MAKE IT YOURSELF) is a mainstream trend now, but one that continues to evolve, and keeps on giving, too. The DIY part encompasses all the (near) professional products and services allowing consumers to act like professionals, as well as those services that enable consumers to carry out tasks that were previously an integral (and impenetrable) part of internal company processes. The MIY part relates to the millions of consumers who are now showcasing and/or uploading their creative endeavors online. As there are thousands of easy-to-find examples of the latter, we've opted to limit our MIY focus to the growing trend of consumers digitally designing products from scratch, then having them turned into real physical goods as well. In the end, this 'rapid manufacturing' comes down to yet another push towards extreme CUSTOMYZATION: design is no longer pre-determined for those who are looking to satisfy a broad variety of individual needs. One interesting side-effect that will manifest itself in the near future: consumers not only increasingly creating, but also trading designs for physical products, if not the products themselves. This will add a SELLSUMER flavor to this trend. It never ends ;-) To clarify, we're not saying every consumer is going to design and manufacture his or her own furniture or appliances. Rather, DIY/MIY is yet another piece of the JOYNING puzzle: enabling those consumers who feel like it to call the shots, bypassing traditional players. For plenty of DIY/MIY examples, go to http://trendwatching.com/premium/gateway/database/joyning/diymiy/ www.trendwatching.com
- Whether it’s selling their insights to corporations, hawking their creative output to fellow consumers, or renting out unused assets, consumers will increasingly become SELLSUMERS, too. Made possible by the online revolution’s great democratization of demand and supply, and further fueled by a global recession that leaves consumers strapped for cash, the SELLSUMERS phenomenon is yet another manifestation of the mega-trend that is ‘JOYNING'. SELLSUMERS' staying power is considerable for a number of reasons: Being in control of one's destiny Human beings forever fantasize about control, about being in charge. SELLSUMERS represents the unlocking of these existing needs and wants in a new way; being one's own boss, even if it's only for three hours a week, is just too tempting to forego. Experience rules For decades, people in mature consumer societies have been trained to become experts in business, marketing and advertising (read: to see through the BS and to understand the underlying workings of being marketed to). The business of business has become something that interests producers and consumers alike. No wonder SELLSUMERS are confident enough to try their hand at (tiny) businesses of their own. Showing off business acumen On top of that, as Big Business is increasingly seen as being behind the times, and niche startups are stealing the show, showing off one's business acumen as a SELLSUMER yields personal status. Providing 'premium obscure' or just plain dirt-cheap SELLSUMERS provide other consumers with 'premium obscure' products and services and experiences—different, hard-to-find, special, vintage, quirky, and/or personalized. Equally important in recession times: unburdened by massive cost structures, some SELLSUMER offerings are dirt-cheap. Extra cash Oh, and let's face it, most people welcome a bit of extra cash, in bad and good times. What is it not (necessarily)? Just to be clear: the SELLSUMERS trend is not about individuals starting a business as a primary source of income (something that of course has been an ongoing trend for more than two decades, and is spiking again as we speak, with many a laid-off professional deciding to go it alone). At most, we're talking a secondary or even tertiary source of income. <Continued on next slide> www.trendwatching.com
- It's also not about: All consumers becoming SELLSUMERS: nothing ever applies to everyone. No longer spending : SELLSUMERS are still consumers, too. Making money off capital (that's investing). Bartering and swapping (that doesn't yield cash!). Efficiency, discounts, free stuff etc (that's about saving money by spending less). And in case you were wondering how this drive for cash corresponds with the GENERATION G trend and consumers being more generous: being a SELLSUMER doesn't mean that one stops being generous in other areas of life. Remember, in trends, it's always about ‘and’, hardly ever about 'or' ;-) Impact SELLSUMERS is yet another manifestation of consumer participation and consumer power. The act of doing business will help SELLSUMERS feel a bit less like string puppets. And the successful ones may even feel superior to behind-the-times corporations. In that sense, it's yet another nail in the coffin for the traditional one-way consumer arena. Opportunities Besides desperately selling to your customers, why not help them sell something of their own too? It shouldn't be too hard to come up with at least one SELLSUMER service in the next few days: just go through the examples in our database and figure out how your brand can facilitate existing or aspiring SELLSUMERS. What do your customers currently possess—from physical assets to talents—that they may want to capitalize on? What's the overlap with your industry? And what can you co-create with SELLSUMERS, generously rewarding them for their participation? Oh, and true entrepreneurs will of course want to start a new SELLSUMER platform today. The reward? Customers will be pleasantly surprised that just for once, you aren't trying to extract money from them, but are actually helping them make some. And let there be no doubt that anything you do for them during these tough times will not be forgotten. Long term, executing SELLSUMER strategies alongside your consumer strategies, will only strengthen your relationships. Time to sell your team on SELLSUMERS ;-) Oh, and masses of SELLSUMERS examples here: http://trendwatching.com/premium/gateway/database/joyning/sellsumers/ www.trendwatching.com
- The power of groups, the clout that crowds can exercise to get what they want, is nothing new. What is new, however, is the dizzying ease with which likeminded, action-ready citizens and consumers can now go online and connect, group and ultimately exert influence on a global scale. Call it group power, call it CROWD CLOUT: CROWD CLOUT | “Online grouping of citizens/consumers for a specific cause, be it political, civic or commercial, aimed at everything from bringing down politicians to forcing suppliers to fork over discounts.” Now, even though politically and civically minded CROWD CLOUT concepts such as MoveOn.org and Hummer-hating FUH2.com (they've proclaimed 'mission accomplished', by the way ;-) are fascinating, in this briefing we'll focus exclusively on the most commercial aspects of this trend. One word: co-buying. If that feels like a blast from the past, extensively discussed and unsuccessfully tried back in 1996, you’re right. Letsbuyit.com and Mercata.com may come to mind. So, what went wrong for some of the high-profile brands who tried to get CROWD CLOUT off the ground in the early web days? How about: Not enough people online in the late nineties to reach the mass needed to move quickly to satisfy urgent needs. Consumers' intentions have different time spans: how long are you willing to wait for a possible discount on that flat screen TV or new car? Needless to say, a lack of mass also made it difficult to realize significant discounts. Subsequently, colossal offline marketing expenditures were needed to get exposure, killing any kind of fiscally prudent start these types of new initiatives need. Don't forget, we're talking late nineties, when getting the word out about a new online business wasn't a matter of getting free blog-exposure or posting a viral video on youtube.com. Total apathy on the sellers’ side as the concepts were too novel, frightening or both. To a degree, there was apathy on the consumers' side as well, as the notion of online group power hadn't sunk in completely: the web was very much about browsing, about individual usage, about gathering information, not necessarily about group power. <Continued on next slide> www.trendwatching.com
- And why is the current business arena so much more appetizing for an Intention Economy and CROWD-CLOUT initiatives? First of all, 1.6 billion people are now online (see ON). Whatever web-based business you’re planning to set up, you now have a potential audience. And this audience can be reached with virtually no marketing budget to speak of, as good ideas will spread instantly (NOWISM). Secondly, this huge online audience actually shops online. Some numbers: - US online retail spending totaled USD 30.2 billion in Q2 of 2009 (Source: AppScout.) - The number of Japanese women who shop online has increased sharply over the past two years, with a survey conducted in June 2009 by major online and mail order retailer Senshukai Co. showing 66.7 per cent of respondents using the Internet for shopping. - Around 28 million UK consumers shop online today and the figure is set to jump to 37 million by 2014, the equivalent of GBP 56 billion in value. Thirdly, as the past few years have seen a decisive shift towards JOYNING (if not grouping) in the online world, many consumers may now be up for more active and involved business models such as CROWD CLOUT. Last but not least, an entire infrastructure of personal profiles is now in place (BRAND ME), potentially giving consumers a direct, private outlet to itemize and tag their intentions. And giving them readily accessible lists of friends to group with. Smart intermediaries or even the social networking sites themselves should jump on this opportunity and facilitate the aggregation process. www.trendwatching.com
- INTENT CROWD CLOUT starts with getting consumers to reveal their intentions. In fact, this is currently the missing piece to TRANSPARENCY TRIUMPH: after user reviews, recommendations, prices, and corporate inner-workings, purchasing intentions will one day become transparent, too. Accurately dubbed the Intention Economy by Doc Searls a few years ago, it all comes down to letting consumers make their buying intentions known (at their terms), inviting one or multiple suppliers to bid for their business, in order to get the most for their money. To quote Searls: &quot;The Intention Economy is built around truly open markets, not a collection of silos. In The Intention Economy, customers don't have to fly from silo to silo, like a bees from flower to flower, collecting deal info (and unavoidable hype) like so much pollen. In The Intention Economy, the buyer notifies the market of the intent to buy, and sellers compete for the buyer's purchase. Simple as that. [...] In The Intention Economy, a car rental customer should be able to say to the car rental market, &quot;I'll be skiing in Park City from March 20-25. I want to rent a 4-wheel drive SUV. I belong to Avis Wizard, Budget FastBreak and Hertz 1 Club. I don't want to pay up front for gas or get any insurance. What can any of you companies do for me?&quot; — and have the sellers compete for the buyer's business.&quot; Searl’s latest take on intentions is what he calls Vendor Relationship Marketing (VRM): &quot;A community-driven effort to support the creation and building of VRM tools”, in which the goal is “to improve the relationship between demand and supply by providing new and better ways for the former to relate to the latter (…) VRM immodestly intends to improve markets and their mechanisms by equipping customers to be independent leaders and not just captive followers in their relationships with vendors and other parties on the supply side of the marketplace. More here (http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/projectvrm/Main_Page) Now, even though there is a growing number of intermediaries helping individual consumers to get a quote or offer based on their intentions, this space remains wide open. In fact, most of these ‘information brokers’ focus on only one product/category (think mortgages, cruises, plane tickets), making it a hassle to find the appropriate site for each individual intention. Many of them also work (too) closely with a limited set of suppliers, so the bidding process becomes somewhat scripted, with less than spectacular discounts as a result. Properly aggregating these intentions would then get you to CROWD CLOUT. Access all INTENTION and CROWD CLOUT examples at http://trendwatching.com/premium/gateway/database/joyning/intentionclout/ From a commercial angle, the potentially very disruptive business models* that CROWD CLOUT will spawn should delight every entrepreneur and marketer. Whether it’s brokering buying intentions on behalf of individuals, grouping these intentions to negotiate discounts, or coordinating groups of consumers in funding products and services that wouldn't otherwise be feasible, there’s not a single product or service category that could not benefit from a CROWD CLOUT project. * OK, one more: check out CROWD-FUNDING: crowds collectively funding their purchasing intentions, especially if those intentions apply to services, goods or artists that are currently too costly, or don't yet exist. www.trendwatching.com
- www.trendwatching.com Don’t get excited: BRAND ME is not about consumers demanding to be branded (Brand me, please!), and it’s not about even more customized or personalized services (that would be CUSTOMYZED). It’s actually about the opposite: consumers building their own, personal brands online. Here too, the online world has unlocked existing needs in entirely new ways. Humans’ deep need to be interesting to others, to be loved, admired, coveted, special, recognized, unique can now be satisfied by building attractive online profiles and presences, which, if successful, will attract friends, followers, if not a proper audience. In fact, while most consumer trends are about products and services that consumers will want to buy because association with those products and services makes them more interesting, the burgeoning trend of individuals being interesting because of what they do, say, who they connect to, is one of our time's most defining 'trends'. Now, this may remind you of the BRAND CALLED YOU trend, coined way back in 1997 by Tom Peters. The (excellent) Fast Company article (www.fastcompany.com/magazine/10/brandyou.html) was all about individual employees thinking of themselves as brands, making themselves more attractive to… employers, if not Big Brand employers. Standing out as a personal brand was about standing out amidst your colleagues . From the article: “ No matter what you're doing today, there are four things you've got to measure yourself against. First, you've got to be a great teammate and a supportive colleague. Second, you've got to be an exceptional expert at something that has real value. Third, you've got to be a broad-gauged visionary—a leader, a teacher, a farsighted &quot;imagineer.&quot; Fourth, you've got to be a businessperson—you've got to be obsessed with pragmatic outcomes. It's this simple: you are a brand. You are in charge of your brand. There is no single path to success. And there is no one right way to create the brand called You. Except this: Start today. Or else.” Fast forward to ‘now’. Personal branding is still big. But it’s BRAND ME now. It’s about consumers being an interesting and desirable brand to other individuals . To peers. To friends of friends. It’s playlists and videos and pictures, one’s musings and creative outbursts, gaming scores, preferences, portfolios. It's an entire personal branding campaign trying to impress everyone except perhaps… big corporations. In fact, these days, it’s the corporations that are eager to market to individuals with profiles . And while the notion of consumers establishing and (passionately) tending to their online presences is no longer a source of wonder, the sheer scale and scope of the phenomenon is still astounding. Hundreds of millions of personal pages, feeds, status updates, tweets, profiles, blogs—courtesy of the Facebooks, mySpaces, Twitters, LinkedIns—are building up to an eternally up-to-date encyclopedia of individuals that defies even the most futuristic predictions back in the early days of the web. <Continued on next slide>
- These profiles (and billions of other digital crumbs scattered across cyberspace), will live on forever. Not just because the web is a massive caching machine, but more importantly, because younger generations will never want to dispose of their groomed 'BRAND ME' to begin with. Some (obligatory) figures on the unstoppable growth of social media can be found at http://trendwatching.com/premium/gateway/database/brandme/ Further BRAND ME insights: An online presence / profile in theory makes it possible for brands to pro-actively learn about a customer's preferences: it's no longer necessary for, let's say amazon.com, to build-up a long purchase history for customer-relationship. BRAND ME profiles are closely tied to INFOLUST (lusting after information about friends, family and colleagues): the profile is what gets read, tracked and followed. Individuals literally opening up online, making their lives (semi-) transparent will come to expect the same from companies (a point we also make in TRANSPARENCY TRIUMPH). Everybody is in the business of idendity management now: brands and individuals alike are now managing their images across multiple universes, with different messages to spread to different stakeholders. It’s a never-ending quest for generating personal awareness, in which updating one's status is the key factor. The birth of social networking has marked a significant shift away from amassing material goods, and instead opting for increased consumption of virtual goods through virtual channels: Professional thirtysomethings spend more time polishing their LinkedIn pages than pruning their front lawns. Prospective singles—men and women—focus more on tweaking their Match.com or eHarmony profiles than they do searching for that perfect convertible. (Tip of the hat to Treehugger.com.) At http://trendwatching.com/premium/gateway/database/brandme/ you will find plenty of BRAND ME examples : expect everything here from services protecting, cleaning up, and monitoring one's BRAND ME presence, to everything individuals need to keep a documented track of one’s life. Years ago we dubbed the latter phenomenon 'LIFE CACHING', and up until today, new innovations catering to consumers wanting to record and display their lives continue to pop up. Last but not least, there's a growing interest in what happens with one's BRAND ME after one passes away. We'll be adding an update on this DIGITAL AFTERLIFE sub-trend to the database a few months from now, but in the meantime, you will already find examples of services that manage access to accounts and digital assets in our database. www.trendwatching.com
- We're not branding wizards, but it is safe to say that the future of branding first and foremost depends on the importance that societies place on traditional consumption. And if there's one common theme throughout the Mega Trends and sub-trends we've highlighted in the report/database so far, it's the shift from traditional consumption to a broad framework of status fixes, lifestyles, views on consumption versus participation, and so on (STATUSPHERE). So, whatever power brands in the past had to dictate developments in (consumer) societies is quickly evaporating; the new reality is that brands have no choice but to follow, adapt to and mirror the zeitgeist; actually altering it is going to be harder and harder. And as the current zeitgeist is more about broad needs and wants of individuals (who are less dependent on brands anyway) and societies, instead of worshipping traditional consumerism , a brand's raison d'etre will increasingly be to serve, to assist, in a highly relevant , functional , responsible way. How? As a brand, try becoming part of the fabric of daily life. Not to advertise, not to sell, but to serve, entertain, surprise, help out, be good in any possible way you can think of. We've dubbed this BRAND FABRIC , and it's definitely 'work in progress': we'll continue adding insights and examples over the next 12 months. Key question to ask yourself right now: are all Mega Trends and sub-trends truly woven into the fabric of your brand? Some recommendations: <Continued on next slide> www.trendwatching.com
- Make sure you understand which individuals in which STATUSPHERE(S) you're trying to satisfy. Make GENERATION G a leading principle: this is not about giving stuff away, but how generous you are in your processes, conversations, relationships. Do everything you can to keep things REAL: be real and transparent in your communications, introduce GROW(N) UP products and services. Give customers access to any kind of information they crave; help them to get their instant information gratification fix, through CHECKING, TRACKING & ALERTING services. Mirror individuals' transparency, openness, honesty in the online world. However, also explore the opportunities of becoming an OPAQUE brand, based on a 'Best of the Best' strategy. Embrace NOWISM, live in the now, dealing with anyone and anything in real-time. Move with the speed of culture. Turn your brand, however global you may be, into a local presence (LOCALITY). Be out there. Show up. Not to sell, but to entertain, to surprise, to assist. And yes, to show your respect, too. Be greener than green, or even better, the GREENEST, in a creative, profitable way. Join forces. Participate. Ask for help. Think beta. With other brands, with institutions, with competitors, with consumers (JOYNING). Learn from how individuals brand themselves online in entirely new ways. Dip into tried-and-tested 'trends' like CONVENIENCE and CUSTOMYZED to forever bring customers something they will truly appreciate. <Continued on next slide> www.trendwatching.com
- And while all of the aforementioned should lead to an overall more appreciated (or at least more tolerated) brand, let's not forget that a BRAND FABRIC mentality will also bring back creativity and even joy to what you do on a daily basis. What's not to like about that? Again, more to follow over the months to come, please stay tuned! www.trendwatching.com
- We’re not done yet. We know that you continue to be deeply interested in demographics, tribes, lifestyles, life hacks and so on. Baby boomers! Youth! Gays! Women! Ethnic minorities! Any kind of minority! Customization! Convenience! We can’t blame you: demographics—and all of the specific needs and wants associated with them—are an endless source of innovation, and so are some of the most enduring consumer trends like personalization or convenience. These trends inspire. They make sense. They are easy to apply. Now, most of these 'trends' have been researched to death. In fact, we feel we don't have that much to add when it comes to other's trend theories in this field. What we can do though (and have been doing over the last few months) is rounding plenty of clever and inspiring examples from brands getting creative with these trends. So by all means, continue to engage in conversations with your targeted demographic or tribe, and, yes, keep a close eye on the many blogs and sites and reports dedicated to each lifestyle and tribe, too. But really, this all comes down to dreaming up new products, services and experiences. To get you started, check out these INNOVATION OVERDOSE sub-trends, all accompanied by, you guessed it, an overdose of examples. <next slide> www.trendwatching.com
- Many brands now actively target the gay community, as even the most conservative execs have come to realize that there's just too much money to be made from well-to-do, happy-to-spend GLBT consumers ;-) And merely acknowledging consumers who sadly are used to being ignored if not vilified, does wonders for brand loyalty. In the end, it all comes down to respect of course. Anyway, back to business: how much money ( PINK PROFITS !) are we talking about here? Some snippets: The total buying power of the US gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) adult population in 2008 is projected to be USD 712 billion, according to the recently updated analysis by Witeck-Combs Communications and Packaged Facts. The estimate was originally derived in a joint study by both organizations entitled, &quot;The US Gay and Lesbian Market.&quot; In 2007, the gay buying power projection was estimated at USD 690 billion. Based on a reasonable and broad range of population samples, the analysis benchmarks between 6% to 7% of the adult US population who self-identify as gay, lesbian or bisexual, or between 15 and 16 million adults. According to Community Marketing's The Gay Consumer Index and the Lesbian Consumer Index (both sponsored by ABSOLUT), the annual household income of both gay and lesbian respondents was USD 80,000. (November 2008.) The 'Out Now 2008 Millivres Gay Market Study' shows that in 2007, the almost 3,000,000 gays and lesbians in the UK earned an estimated GBP 81 billion. (May 2008). The average gay man in the UK takes home, on average, GBP 31,099 a year, which is GBP 5,203 more than the national average. Need more data? Check out Community Marketing (www.communitymarketinginc.com), Witeck Combs (www.witeckcombs.com), and Out Now (www.outnowconsulting.com). Just one example (pictured): In September 2009, US ice-cream brand Ben and Jerry's partnered with same-sex marriage campaigners Freedom to Marry to rename their Chubby Hubby flavor Hubby Hubby. This was to celebrate the legalization of same-sex marriage in Vermont. Freedom to Marry is originally from New York, and devoted to rallying public support, changing discriminatory state legislation and negative perceptions regarding same-sex marriages. The renamed Hubby Hubby, a fudge covered, peanut butter and pretzel cookie dough ice cream, is available in ice-cream shops across Vermont through September 2009. For many more PINK PROFIT examples , go to http://trendwatching.com/premium/gateway/database/innovationoverdose/pinkprofits/ www.trendwatching.com
- Women. The Mega Niche. The under-served market of all markets. And so on. Just consider the fact that women, who comprise just over 50% of the US population, make over 80% of the consumer purchasing decisions (and in case you're wondering, consumer spending accounts for two-thirds of US GNP). No wonder a growing number of companies have 'FEMALE FEVER'. We'll let the examples speak for themselves: <next slide> www.trendwatching.com
- In July 2009 in Spain, food producer Danone launched Densia (www.danone.es), a yogurt especially designed for women. The product offers twice as much calcium (320mg in 100ml) as traditional yogurt (100 mg), along with vitamin D that helps calcium absorption. Given the product content, the brand has positioned the product as an aid in helping women prevent problems related to bones and calcium absorption. Packaged and targeted at women in their 40s and 50s, the product meets 1/3 of the daily recommended dose of calcium. The product comes in strawberry or original flavor, and retails at around EUR 1.50 - EUR 2.50 for a 4 pack. Launched in mid 2009, US based the PortaJane (www.portajane.com) is the first portable restroom designed specifically for women. Pink in color and easily recognizable, the design is a female-friendly take on the traditional port-a-loo, with features and luxuries such as hands-free flush, mounted mirror, coat and handbag hangers, and vanity shelves. Made entirely from recyclable plastic, the product retails at USD 1,000 per unit. The company also donates a percentage of proceeds to breast cancer research. In mid 2009, the Netherlands based navigation company TomTom, launched One White Pearl (www.tomtom.com/landing_pages/white-pearl/en-gb/), a GPS device designed specifically for women. With reports that 90% of GPS clients are men, the brand saw a clear gap to market a female friendly design. The product comes loaded with over 100,000 popular destinations inputted, such as: shopping malls, boutiques, nightclubs, restaurants and bars. The compact device retails between EUR 150 and EUR 250. For many more FEMALE FEVER examples , go to http://trendwatching.com/premium/gateway/database/innovationoverdose/femalefever/ www.trendwatching.com
- BOOMING BUSINESS is what baby boomers are, and will be. There are numerous reports and institutes that are happy to shower you with mouth-watering numbers and indicators, highlighting the amassed wealth of baby boomers in mature consumer societies around the world. Some snippets: The rich world’s population is ageing fast, and the poor world is only a few decades behind. According to the UN’s latest biennial population forecast, the median age for all countries is due to rise from 29 now to 38 by 2050. At present just under 11% of the world’s 6.9 billion people are over 60. Taking the UN’s central forecast, by 2050 that share will have risen to 22% (of a population of over 9 billion), and in the developed countries to 33%. (Source: The Economist, June 2009.) With more than 78 million members, baby boomers—the generation born between 1946 and 1964—account for approximately one-quarter of the U.S. population, and control 50% of all US discretionary income. (Source: TheMatureMarket.com, May 2009.) In the U.S, 16.5 million adults aged 55 years and older use social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace, and AARP.org, according to a comScore survey dating from March 2009. Eons, an online community aimed at baby boomers, numbers 830,000 daily users. If you bundled all of the 60-plus people in China, with 143 million members they would be the world’s 9th most populous nation. This age group, currently comprising 11% of the population, is forecast to double by 2025. (Source: Ogilvy, March 2009.) More on Chinese boomers: UN projections say the population of working-age citizens in China will peak in 2015 and plunge by 23 percent by 2050. By then, there will be 438 million Chinese 60 or older, or 61 people older than 60 for every 100 adults of working age, up from just 16 in 2005. (Source: New York Times, May 2009.) In the EU, the population aged 60 years and above will be growing by 2 million people every year for the next 25 years. (Source: EU Demography Report November 2008.) And yes, there are myths too: collectively, boomers are the wealthiest generation in history, but only 9% are truly affluent (defined as having pre-tax incomes of USD 150,000 or more if working, or USD 100,000 or more if retired). In fact, one quarter of boomers have no savings or investments at all. (Source: Focalyst, April 2008.) On top of that, the recession has made some boomers more careful (www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/09_31/b4141026524433.htm) when it comes to spending. Further sources worth checking out: for insights, visit boomer-gurus Tom Peters and Faith Popcorn, while sites like Wikipedia, The Mature Market, Focalyst (the AARP's research branch), the Mature Market Institute, International Mature Marketing Network and Varsity Marketing will gladly shower you with statistics. And the numbers will keep coming. Hence our focus on, you guessed it, hands-on examples on how to delight these demanding, 'mature' consumers: <next slide> www.trendwatching.com
- Insurance provider Allstate (www.allstate.com) is running a pilot program that could ultimately lead to reduced insurance rates for senior drivers who play brain-building video games. Beginning in Pennsylvania, Allstate is offering the program free to more than 100,000 drivers in the senior age group to test the impact of cognitive training on driving safety. The program uses InSight, a video software package from Posit Science that's designed to reverse age-related cognitive decline and improve the visual-processing skills needed for safe driving. For many more BOOMING BUSINESS examples , go to http://trendwatching.com/premium/gateway/database/innovationoverdose/boomingbusiness/ www.trendwatching.com
- There are numerous research firms* tracking the market for goods and services aimed at infants, tots, teenagers and so on. And kids' purchasing power. And the influence these MINISUMERS wield on total household expenditures. And products and services aimed at (expecting) parents. Just a few numbers: Advertising directed at children is estimated at over USD 15 billion annually in the US. Over the past two decades, the degree to which marketers have scaled up efforts to reach children is staggering. In 1983, they spent USD 100 million on television advertising to kids. Today, they pour roughly 150 times that amount into a variety of mediums that seek to infiltrate every corner of children’s worlds. American children aged 12 to 17 will ask their parents for products they have seen advertised an average of nine times until the parents finally give in; more than 10 percent of 12- to 13-year-olds admitted to asking their parents more than 50 times for products they have seen advertised. This nagging strategy is paying dividends for kids and marketers alike: 55% of kids surveyed said they are usually successful in getting their parents to give in. (Source: the Center for a New American Dream , www.newdream.org/kids/facts.php) Hence, the focus on examples, not theory, for this one. Just remember, though: don't be evil. Enriching the lives of kids (and parent) is fun, turning them into true MINISUMERS is not. * Just one example: recently-launched “ MTV Sticky ” (www.mtvsticky.com/, a youth insight website that provides brands and agencies with a window into the minds of the youth’s latest trends and consumer culture, focusing on travel, fashion, technology and entertainment. <next slide> www.trendwatching.com
- Ford is developing a safety innovation designed specifically for teen drivers called MyKey (www.ford.com/about-ford/news-announcements/press-releases/press-releases-detail/pr-ford26rsquos-new-mykey-system-29172). The system allows parents to program a key specifically for their child that limits speed and audio volume through the vehicle's message center. MyKey also encourages safety-belt usage, provides earlier low-fuel warnings and can be programmed to sound chimes at 45, 55 and 65 miles per hour. The system debuted as a standard feature in the 2010 Ford Focus Coupe. Released in June 2009 by Australian developer Bulpadok, The Hidden Park (www.thehiddenpark.com) is an iPhone based adventure computer game for children and families. The Hidden Park is played in public parks using the iPhone to create a mapped adventure from actual landmarks. Available for download on the Apple's App Store for USD 6.99, families can play in public parks in major cities around the world including New York, London, Tokyo and Sydney. For many more MINISUMERS examples , go to http://trendwatching.com/premium/gateway/database/innovationoverdose/minisumers/ www.trendwatching.com
- While consumers love to be unique (here’s one of our favorite trend quotes, by fashion designer John Galliano: “One desire that is getting stronger than all other demands remains the desire to be unique.”), and CUSTOMYZED rules, the paradox at play is that uniqueness of course needs to be confirmed and admired by one’s peers, or even one’s tribe. Modern consumers have a constant going-back-and-forth between individuality and the collective, wanting and needing both. Which gets us to tribal marketing, a concept that has been around for years. Initial thinking about modern tribalism was that brands could create ‘tribes’ of consumers: “ Tribal marketing is a marketing strategy that attempts to create social groups or communities that are centered around a product or service. The credo of tribal marketing is that postmodern people are looking for products and services that not only enable them to be freer, but can also link them to others, to a community, to a tribe.” While brands like LEGO and American Girl have been successful in building such brand-centric tribal meeting points, accommodating and nurturing them, the majority of brands has come to accept that most tribes (especially since the rise of ON) take shape without their ‘help’. Many tribes, after all, tend not to evolve around a specific product or brand, but are about consumers/individuals sharing similar interests, hobbies, beliefs, preferences, world views and passions. This has reduced the role of brands within the tribal process to ever-more-narrowly-defined advertising, eager to find out where, when and how tribal meet-ups take place. The goal? To advertise ‘relevant’ mass-produced products or standard services, possibly with a tribe-specific message attached. If that feels like a dead-end road, you’re right. To gain—no, to deserve access, brands will have to come up with something that transcends advertising to tribes. Like adding attributes and features to existing products that make them more practical for specific user groups, while at the same time signaling to those users that the brand 'gets it’, if not paying tribute to their lifestyle. We’ve dubbed the latter TRIBEFACTURING , and it’s the beginning of the end for tribevertising . Here's why it works: For consumers, anything practical and useful will go down well in more austere times, while anything that speaks their language (and thus ultimately shows that a brand cares about its customers' interests) will be reciprocated with appreciation and goodwill. Which in today's harsh business climate is like, well, gold dust. And yes, more on this in BRAND FABRIC. <continued on next slide> www.trendwatching.com
- For businesses, TRIBEFACTURING can often be imagined and introduced at very low costs (which doesn’t hurt when budgets are tight); the only resources needed are creativity and a good feel for the consumer trends that matter most over the next 12 months. Most important of all: ultimately this is not just about gimmicky innovations: it’s about integrating the 'now' (NOWISM!) into your activities, achieving relevance for and goodwill from your customers, in an environment that has never been more about the 'now' than, well, now ;-) P.S. Besides the TRIBEFACTURING examples in our database learn from some of the PINK PROFITS and BOOMING BUSINESS examples too. Mid 2009 saw the launch of three scents by Star Trek and designed specifically for fans of the cult series. The first, called &quot;Tiberius&quot;, is noted as a &quot;commanding cologne spiked with freshness (http://shop.genkiwear.com/Star_Trek_Fragrances_s/91.htm) inspired and sensuality.&quot; Secondly, &quot;Red Shirt&quot; promises the &quot;sweet smell of expandability.&quot; Finally, for women, the &quot;Ponn Farr&quot; perfume is after the Vulcan mating cycle. London fashion brand Thomas Pink has updated the iPod Commuter Tie (www.thomaspink.com) for their 2009/2010 collection. The tie features a small pocket on the reverse side, which is designed to fit the iPod Nano. It is aimed at businessmen who do not want items in the pockets of their suits. The product has been available in eight colors from Thomas Pink stores since September 2009, and is priced at USD 100. For many more TRIBEFACTURING examples , go to http://trendwatching.com/premium/gateway/database/innovationoverdose/tribefacturing/ www.trendwatching.com
- Over the next 12, 24, 48, 96 months, there’s no category or product that cannot benefit from bold, brilliant redesign efforts. When done right, those redesigned objects and services will easily be lauded as, wait for it, innovations! In fact, with consumers' desire for the new, combined with their ever-shifting preferences, 'to-die-for design' has the ability to make status quo design instantly feel like expired diesign. So D(I)ESIGN* is a sub-trend of INNOVATION OVERDOSE, as it's all about hooking up with the right designer(s) and doing something. And yes, you can count on someone working somewhere on a new design approach to your products, services and processes as we speak. Get inspired by the examples, then just get going. On 26 August 2009, the day marking the 50th anniversary of the first Mini Cooper , the brand unveiled images of a concept coupé, which is expected to be mass produced in the future. The sleek roof with integrated spoiler is the key body feature. Under the hood, a turbocharged, 211 horsepower, 1.6 liter engine brings added performance to the car, which the auto-maker believes is the most aerodynamic and agile of the new generation models. The car is powered by a petrol engine, yet environmentally friendly additions include brake energy regeneration (which captures spent momentum while the car is slowing down), a gear-shift display that helps the driver to achieve better fuel economy, and an auto start/stop shuts the engine off at lights to save fuel. * Keep an eye out for our planned update on D(I)ESIGN, which will look at design from a GRAND OVERHAUL angle, taking into account the potential impact of design on more than just the desirability of a product or service: we're talking everything from beta-design to cradle-to-cradle design to simplicity-design to crowd-design to behavioral-design to affordable-design to DIY-design... in other words, taking our Mega Trends and applying them to the design arena. Please stay tuned. For many more D(I)ESIGN examples , go to http://trendwatching.com/premium/gateway/database/innovationoverdose/diesign/ www.trendwatching.com
- Want to come up with some timeless innovations? Then make things a bit faster, a bit more hassle-free, a bit more convenient. Time is forever the new currency, and no signs whatsoever that mature consumer societies and emerging ones won't vote time as their number one scarcity in the near future. Time—that is, the lack of it—is still one of the biggest consumer trends around. Anything that you can do to help save consumers' precious time is worth its weight in, well, long lazy uninterrupted days. And that includes not wasting people’s time, too ;-) You can’t go wrong focusing on innovations that provide convenience. The 'trend' may feel tired, but the innovations are not! Just one example: The Standard Hotel (www.standardhotels.com) chain in the US has introduced a retail concept by placing vending machines in their hotels which are stocked with designer swimming trunks. Quiksilver and André Balazs' have partnered to fill the vending machines in the New York, Los Angeles, Hollywood and Miami hotels. Four styles of men's board shorts were designed for the scheme, one for each hotel, and one black string bikini design for women. Items can be also be purchased online at the Standard's website. The first vending machine opened in Los Angeles in August 2009, with products priced around USD 75 per pair of shorts. For many more CONVENIENCE examples , go to http://trendwatching.com/premium/gateway/database/innovationoverdose/convenience/ www.trendwatching.com
- While GENERATION G may be big, don’t ever think the “Me, Myself and I” trend will diminish in popularity. Hey, all trends come in pairs, and the need for community and belonging and meaning can live in perfect harmony with the need for self and ego*. So let the following ' CUSTOMYZED ' examples help you find an innovative twist to the now firmly established 'customization' and 'personalization' memes: US based Best Made Co. (www.bestmadeco.com) is the only company in the world that manufactures one of a kind, limited-edition axes. These artisan tools are hand-painted and constructed in a small New Jersey workshop. They consist of a head forged in Maine, and a handle made of hickory from Tennessee. The company's products are said to last for generations, and each is supported by a certificate of authenticity, an edition number and a hand-engraved mark. The range of axes is available on the Best Made Co. website and retail between USD 200 - USD 400 Please note that CUSTOMYZED is purely about customizing and personalizing goods and services, while BRAND ME is about building a personal brand. For many more CUSTOMYZED examples , go to http://trendwatching.com/premium/gateway/database/innovationoverdose/customyzed/ www.trendwatching.com
- That’s it. For now. Trends obviously never end, and neither does this report: as we continue to add new trends and examples to the Trend Database, we will constantly update the 2010 Trend Report, too. You can download the latest version (at any time) from www.trendwatching.com/premium/gateway/report As for you, the report is hopefully one of the springboards to turn insights, research and ideas into new products, services and experiences for your customers. Happy spotting and good luck! Reinier Evers founder, trendwatching.com www.trendwatching.com/premium/login www.trendwatching.com