Consumer Forum

I thought I would share with you the ‘bones’ of an interesting briefing I read the other day. Trendwatching.com has identified 10 consumer trends they see as being significant in 2010. Here’s my summary with some valuable opportunities for all businesses over the coming months. We, at Ella’s Kitchen, will certainly using the insight to influence our strategy and connections with our consumers this year and next.  

1. 1.      Business as unusual

It’s time to follow the Amazons and Virgins of this world, tune into consumer’s desires and do things a bit differently. Ruthless capitalism is out of the window and sustainability is the way forward. And this means more than just talking the ‘being a good, ethical business’ talk and actually walking the ‘greater transparency and honesty’ walk. It’s time to stop one-way advertising and for companies to actually engage with their consumers and understand what they really want.

1. 2.      Urbany

Less than 5% of the world’s population lived in cities a century ago. In 2008, that figure exceeded 50% and by 2050 it will have reached 70%.  More sophisticated and more demanding urban consumers are snapping up more ‘daring’ goods, services and experiences. And with nearly everyone online these days, rural dwellers are not far behind their city cousins. This creates fertile grounds for B2C brands as wealthy, urban communities are increasingly becoming the epicentres of innovation. A subtrend is urban pride with brands developing city-specific products and communications. Follow the example of Absolut’s mango and black pepper blend inspired by New Orleans, Guerlain’s city-themed perfumes and bank ATMs in East London where communications are given in Cockney rhyming slang.

1. 3.      Real-time reviews

Nowism is a mega-trend at the moment. A sub-trend of this is consumers tapping into a live stream of first-hand experiences so we can all follow what others are doing, listening to, watching, buying etc. Online access and device convergence – with Twitter currently leading the way – allow more on-the-spot reviews which, in turn, evoke conversations between potential buyers without the brand being able to monitor what is being said, let alone being able to respond. For example, EezeeRator from French Air Valid which allows passengers to post airline reviews while in flight. The best course of action for dealing with this new phenomena is to outperform so reviews are positive. Alternatively, look at involving consumers in all your development processes so eliminating the possibility of out-of-the-blue bad reviews.

1. 4.      (F)luxury

This year the concept of luxury is likely to remain in flux. Essentially, what constitutes luxury is closely related to what constitutes scarcity. And these days there are so many more ways to be unique than just buying the biggest and most expensive. Luxury could be anything commissioned? Time with one’s loved ones? All things local? Escape? Friends? Extreme personalisation? Knowledge? Health? Eccentricity? Or anything else? It’s all about finding the right trigger for the right audience. Brands need to appeal to the in-crowds ready to jump ship from products that have become too accessible. One initiative coming out of this is brands choosing to sell something desirable in limited locations such as Burberry’s Blue Label sold only in Japan and even an exclusive Krispy Kreme Terminal 5 doughnut at Heathrow.

1. 5.      Mass Mingling

More people than ever will be living large parts of their lives online in 2010. But social media and mobile communications are also fuelling mass mingling and increased human interaction in the real world. The more people socialise and network online the more likely they are to meet up with existing and new friends. Online services Foursquare, Google Latitude, Loopt and FireEagle are all about following, connecting to and ultimately meeting interesting people. When combined with blogs, tweets and Facebook updates ‘life-streaming’ is a reality. Terabytes of local online content and the mobile internet just add to this further. Mass mingling will be increasingly impromptu, temporary, meet ups of crowds with similar interests and the opportunities for anyone involved with anything that helps people get and stay in touch are obvious.

1. 6.      Eco-easy

Corporations and consumers these days are full of good intentions but serious eco-results will depend on making products and processes more sustainable without consumers even noticing or being left with any alternative option. This is likely to depend on forceful government intervention but also some serious corporate guts and brilliantly smart design and thinking. Examples such as Mexico City’s ban on businesses giving out plastic bags that are not biodegradable and Pret a Manger’s decision to stop selling tuna sandwiches leave consumers with no choice but to do the right thing.

1. 7.      Tracking and Alerting

If infolust (consumers lusting after relevant information) is the mega trend then tracking and alerting is the new form of searching sub-trend. Saving consumers time, it means they won’t miss out on things important to them so giving them a sense of control. Consumers crave relevant information if provided in a meaningful way. Users can wear Fitbit around the clock to monitor their activity and fitness levels; MySkyStatus lets passengers keep friends up-to-date on their travel progress; Mediclim alerts people suffering from arthritis, asthma and cardiovascular disease when weather conditions may trigger health problems; the NetHaggler allows users to set an alert when products reach a certain price and can create aggregate demand to negotiate bulk discounts and The Warm Cookie Radar send their customers email alerts when just-baked cookies roll out of their ovens.

1. 8.      Embedded generosity

With collaboration being such an integral part of the zeitgeist, expect lots of corporate giving schemes that allow consumers to co-donate or co-decide so making donating painless, if not automatic. Why not follow, or improve on, any of these intiatives – for every IKEA solar powered SUNNAN LED desk lamp sold another one is donated to UNICEF; Disney offer vouchers to their theme parks in return for participating organisations taking part in volunteer schemes; and Servus, a Canadian credit union, is handing out ten dollar bills giving 200,000 people the opportunity to create a Feel Good Ripple by spending the money on someone else.

1. 9.      Profile Myning

This isn’t about companies making money from creating personal profiles but rather consumers creating, and taking ownership of, their own profiles. Now that hundreds of millions maintain some kind of online presence, who’s going to set up an intermediary representing consumers willing to disclose part of their purchasing intentions and then invite companies to put in bids?  And expect a burgeoning market for services that protect and store a person’s increasingly valuable digital estate.

10.  Maturialism

This year will be more opinionated and more in your face than ever before. Thanks to the anything-goes online universe, consumers can handle much more quirky innovations and risqué communications than traditional marketers could ever have imagined. Dubbed maturialism (mature materialism) the question is how far brands should go to keep up with our daring and diverse culture. Maybe not as far as The Icecreamists with their x-rated flavours or Air New Zealand’s ad campaign with employees dressed in nothing but body paint, but we all need to be entering more mature, real conversations with our customers, making the most of them and displaying the same transparency and openess about our actions as individuals now display about their own lives.

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