Trendwatching.com is often a bit too gimmicky for me - with words and phrases that border on silly. They've just released their latest trend briefing and there are a handful of good calls. Here are a few:
Real-Time Reviews - In short, with even more people sharing, in real time, everything they do, buy, listen to, watch, attend, wear and so on, and with even more search engines and tracking services making it easy to find and group these ‘live dispatches’ by theme, topic or brand, this year will see ready-to-buy consumers tapping into a live stream of (first-hand) experiences from fellow consumers.
(F)Luxury - This year, luxury, and what it means to a bewildering number of ‘consumer segments’, will remain in flux. Closely tied to what constitutes status (which is becoming more fragmented), luxury will be whatever consumers want it to be over the next 12 months.
Mass Mingling - Online lifestyles are fueling and encouraging 'real world' meet-ups like there's no tomorrow, shattering all cliches and predictions about a desk-bound, virtual, isolated future. 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 friends and followers in the real world.
Eco-easy - To really reach some meaningful sustainability goals this year, corporations and governments will have to forcefully make it 'easy' for consumers to be more green, by restricting the alternatives.
Tracking & Altering - Tracking and alerting are the new search, and 2010 will see countless new "infolust" services that will help consumers expand their web of control. Consumers are asking for relevant information, even giving you permission to provide them with more.
