Trends are coming at us thick and fast these days. The TV programming schedules seem to be full of them (green, mean, consumption less seen and so on). Meanwhile, Trend scouts such as Trendwatching.com fill their websites with lots of tempting morsels. And journalists, too, fancy their crystal-ball gazing talents. Each edition of a typical broadsheet newspaper carries in excess of 10 'trend' predictions.
With this glut of Trends, it's no wonder I've heard business people moan: "I'm drowning in Trends".
Trends can seem like cats. You think you've captured a few but some get away just as easily. Just when you think you've understood 'Thrill Pleasure' you are told there is a new 'Assault on Pleasure'. Meanwhile, 'Crude Hedonism' has apparently morphed into 'Healthy Hedonism'. The 'Body Perfection' Trend is growing but so too is 'Obesity'. Very slippery these social Trends.
Meanwhile, just as cats can look very similar one to the other, so too Trends. Are 'Affluent Activists' from agency x the same as so and so's 'Social Entrepreneurs'? And isn't 'Ethical Consumption' and 'Conscience Consumption' really the same thing - albeit baptised differently by two competing Trend scouts?
Time and again, I've seen people emerge from Trend seminars, swooning at the story-telling capacity of their favourite agency. Energised they undoubtedly are, but like a hard drug, the hit is soon over and the withdrawal sets in. Once back at the office, the dread begins: "what do I do next?" It all sounded so good at the time but what do I tell my boss tomorrow and just how do I integrate Trends into my decision-making?
If this sounds all to familiar to you, join the crowd. Many marketing people find themselves in this situation.
So if that's the problem, what is the solution?
The key to handling the mass of Trends coming your way is to have a structured framework to help you organise and sort them. Once you start collecting Trends within a System, you will suddenly find you have relaxed control over them. You can find them. You can link them. You can prioritise them. You can share them. In short, Trends become the slave and you the master - not the other way round. Having a Trend System gives you confidence that your raw materials are in-house and in order.
There are 5 stages to structuring a Trends System:
1. Get buy-in
2. Distinguishing between types of Trends
3. Collecting the right information
4. Loading the system
5. Using it!
1. Get buy-in. It's important to get a champion high up in the business. It's too easy to criticise trend work and if it is not to be seen as an exotic expense, best to get backing fore investing.
2. Distinguishing between types of Trends. Not all Trends are the same and it is vital to distinguish between: 'Fashions and Fads', (eg. Sudoku) 'Social Trends' (eg. Rejuvenation) and 'Long Wave' Trends (eg. Global climate change).
3. Collecting the right information To share Trends with your colleagues, you'll need to collect 7 key pieces of information for each Trend including photos, props, proof and stories. It's important to be able to convince both left and right brainers.
4. Loading the system. Jean Luc Godard said that it is not about where you take things from but where you take things to. So, borrow and 'steal' Trends from anywhere and everywhere. Take your existing consumer research and 'future mine' it. Speak to experts. Surf the net. Turn to the trendspotters. Read widely. Keep your eyes open as you walk down the street. I started by saying Trends are all around us and indeed they are.
5. Using it! Companies often limit themselves in the value they squeeze from Trends. Trends have to be more than the warm-up act to the Senior Managers' Away-Day! If Kodak had observed Trends - or GM - their businesses would be in entirely different places today! So think about using Trends in many areas including: decoding your offer and your communications; future proofing your business and brands; stimulating your creativity and generate new ideas and innovations; validating strategy and build contingencies; developing a futures-oriented culture.
Now more than ever, Trends should be helping your recession marketing activities and rejuvenating your brand or business for the post recession opportunities.
