Eight Trends to Watch.
January 25, 2008
Mass is back (hello Swell Society).
The trend of online popularity being institutionalized shows that mass appeal will once again define marketing attitudes. The goal is the same; reach a mass audience, the difference is how to achieve it.
Community Commerce. Community connections are being used to create new businesses for established brands and will become more central to business practice. Retailers will seek to bring the community further inside the store, adding more cafes, pharmacies, etc.
Screen Saturation. We will see the explosion of screen-based media. While the medium may remain the same, the reach, context and audience will shift. By 2010, there will be more broadcast screens than ever and they’ll only get bigger: By 2015, the average television screen will be 60″ (according to Sharp).
Gender Reversal. Men’s increasing role within the family and more women at the office will change the advertising context. Expect to see more campaigns aimed at women at work and men in the home.
Brand Guardians. The role of brands is evolving and will enter a new phase. With growing concerns over how to be healthy, safe and
environmentally friendly, mixed with confusion on how to achieve this, brands will increasingly attempt to take on a guardian role.
IP Idols. Artists are grabbing control of their creative product. Intellectual Property used to be owned and licensed by studios, record labels, etc., but we will see artists back in the driver seat.
The Data Awareness Era. The public will be more aware of their data exposure than ever before and privacy concerns will be a defining issue in the future. Expect this trend to accelerate with the introduction of GPS, explosion in online information storage and increase in social networking reflecting real life …
Social Networks Get Real. The networks begin to dictate everyday life, influencing who people do business with, which parties to attend, where to meet and with whom. Accelerating this shift is the advent and take up of mobile social networking: 14m people did it in 2007, and forecasts suggest 600m by 2012.
PODCAST: Michael Totty talks with Ben Hourahine, futures editor at Leo Burnett London — http://urlcut.com/1pjyd>
Trend-spotting for 2008 by Eric Pfenner — http://iht.com/articles/2008/01/04/business/AD07.php>
Trust is the Future of Privacy by Ben Hourahine — http://www.imediaconnection.com/content/16950.asp>
Thinking About Tomorrow — http://urlcut.com/1pjyc>
