06.09 The Rise in DIY
DIY isn’t just what you do after a shopping spree at IKEA. Today, do-it-yourself is influencing a range of categories, including entertainment, food, beauty and fashion. From locals organising and promoting their own parties and events to teens formulating at-home beauty treatments, the ethos of DIY is becoming increasingly pervasive. DIY is cheaper than the alternatives and seems like the savvy, even chic thing to do at a time when frugality and anti-consumerist sentiment are proliferating. The Internet is also a key factor, helping DIY-ers learn from and inspire each other. In a world where mass-produced goods dominate, DIY allows for a sense of discovery and a way to stand out from the crowd.
05.09 The Recession Impact on Luxury
Pre-recession, luxury was big, bold and blingy. Now, the sector is shrinking-not only because consumers can’t afford the luxe life but because attitudes toward conspicuous consumption have shifted dramatically. Luxury manufacturers are rethinking their strategies, shifting away from fast fashion and masstige. They’re returning to their roots-producing the ultimate that money can buy-and they’re responding to new definitions of what luxury is, emphasising green credentials or playing up health and wellness benefits. While the appetite for luxury goods is waning in the developed world, however, emerging markets are just getting started. In fast-growing countries like China, India and Brazil, people want to show off their success, and they’re doing so by embracing Western luxury brands.
04.09 Balancing Health and Wellness
Before the global economy took a downturn last year, companies, governments and consumers were increasingly focused on improving health and wellness. Food brands tweaked their lines to tout “organic” and “natural” products to target people looking for healthier options. Game developers created wellness-oriented options like Wii Fit and in travel, spas and cruise lines created an array of health and wellness packages. Today, of course, the world has changed, and price has become a far more central consideration. This Work in Progress examines how the boom in health and wellness has been affected by the global financial crisis and the growing consumer desire for thrift.
Anxiety Index Quarterly
This proprietary tool was launched during the run-up to the war in Iraq; it tracks the level and drivers of consumer anxiety and explores how these affect attitudes and behaviors. This publication contextualises the content in the first quarter of this year, presenting a major theme (brands focusing on low price) that has emerged and offering recommendations on how brands can address this challenge.
03.09 The Energy Race
The Energy Race is under way, driven largely by economic rather than ecological incentives. Governments, investors and entrepreneurs are all ramping up efforts to reduce dependence on fossil fuels. Doing so won’t be easy or cheap, although numerous innovative ideas are being developed around the world. Among consumers, the conservation movement has been democratised, and interest in green living is surging. Consumers feel better about consumption when they buy from brands and retailers that embrace a green ethic, and businesses that adopt forward-thinking sustainability policies will come out ahead.
01.09 Books, the Next Chapter
Books have remained largely unchanged for 500 years. But today the Internet is changing the way we think, process information, and even the way we read. Books: The Next Chapter, considers how publishers, authors and booksellers are adapting to the changing reading habits of the digital consumer. It explores how the savviest in the industry-those who realise they’re in the story business, not the paper and glue business-are engaging the digital generation through everything from social networking to mobile phone novels to multimedia add-ons to electronic readers.
01.09 90 Things to Watch in 2009
Credit card dieting ... crowdfunding ... inconspicuous travel ... Twitter copycats ... Just a few items from our compilation of JWT 90 Things to Watch in 2009. It’s a list that points to several broader trends we’re seeing, showing the ways in which they will manifest in our everyday lives. The recession is the shift that will make the biggest impact: For example, as consumers adopt a range of new behaviors, we’ll see “more under one roof” and “home as castle,” as well as a tendency toward “affordable nutrition” and “incognito luxury.”
12.08 Rethinking Aspiration
The global economic crisis is challenging the aspirations of hundreds of millions of people, especially in the developed world, forcing consumers to focus on basic needs rather than higher-level hopes and ambitions. Rethinking Aspirations, considers how expectations are being downsized as economies transition out of a long boom period into the most serious recession in decades. It explores signs that hard times are prompting people to re-examine their lifestyles, the new role that governments will play in shaping aspirations, how frugality will morph from distressing necessity to smart lifestyle aspiration, and how marketers and brands should respond to this shift in aspirations.
11.08 10 Trends 2009
Given the current volatility in the world’s markets and consumers’ greatly intensifying anxiety, it’s no surprise that the economy is a common thread. In 2009, we’ll see more consumer strategies for coping with the downturn. Among them, is making the most of simple pleasures, a trend we explore here. In this climate, authenticity will become paramount for brands as they look to regain credibility and trust, especially in the wake of a financial crisis that has seen established institutions topple overnight and many others teeter on the brink. Meanwhile, power will shift away from shareholders and toward employees as business re-seeds its shell-shocked markets.
10.08 Retail and Technology
Technology in the retail industry is helping retailers connect with their more empowered, digitally savvy and increasingly on-the-go consumers, ultimately changing the traditional consumer-retailer dynamic. Retail and Technology, explores some of the most prominent and promising technologies that are reshaping the retail industry. We look at how retailers are staying current in an increasingly digital world, focusing on in-store, online and mobile technologies.
10.08 Marketing During a Recession
The following paper-a short audit of existing thinking on the topic of marketing during a recession-is a synthesis of historical and current material published by ad agencies and organisations, marketers, journalists and research and consulting companies based on findings from past recessions. It highlights key recurring ideas about why marketers should continue to spend during down times and strategies for how best to go about it.
09.08 Enterprise 2.0
Today, Facebook, Digg and other Web 2.0 tools are seen as workplace distractions, but smart businesses will increasingly embrace a 2.0 culture. This report details why Enterprise 2.0-Web 2.0 tools for the workplace-represents the next evolution of digital technology. We explore how open source, social networking and collaboration tools like blogs, wikis and social networks have the potential to help develop the flat, fast and flexible businesses of the future, bringing employees closer to each other and stakeholders closer to the brand.
08.08 Travel
Today’s tourists and the businesses that serve them are reshaping traditional concepts of what constitutes a vacation. Travelers want more out of their trips-starting with the airport experience, which is getting upgraded accordingly. Some are looking for more authentic and/or unique experiences, while some vacationers seek a chance to focus on self-improvement. And at a time when there’s less discretionary money to spend, more people are seeing the benefits of medical tourism and starting to appreciate sights closer to home.
07.08 The End of Cheap
As the world experiences rapid changes in supply and demand, low prices are becoming a thing of the past for the first time in a generation. Across the board, we have become accustomed to cheap energy, cheap finance, cheap food and cheap consumer goods. Today, however, the era of low inflation and surprisingly low prices is fast drawing to a close. This report explores the effects of the rising cost of energy, food, money and goods on society and consumer lifestyles.
05.08 The Sex and the City Effect
While the final episode of the hit HBO show aired more than four years ago, the series continues to resonate with women everywhere, especially since networks have struggled to fill the void left by Carrie and Co. Droves of fans are counting down to the movie’s May 30 release, and in the spirit of this pop culture event, the Trendspotting Group has published an updated version of Work in Progress: The Sex and the City Effect.
05.08 Tipping Points
Several current trends have reached, or are on the verge of reaching, a tipping point. This month’s Work in Progress: Tipping Points explores those that are likely to have long-lasting consequences, transforming business as usual and reframing the standard of living. This trendletter looks at the confluence of two trends likely to set off several tipping points: As wealthier countries rein in their consumption (due to energy prices, growing environmental concern and rising anti-consumerism), many citizens in poorer countries are evolving into middle-class consumers as ultra-cheap cars, laptops and mobile phones come on the market.
04.08 Nichification
Today’s mantra is “I want to be an individual-just like everybody else.” In this age of nonconformity, everything is uniquely individual. Even if it’s “mass,” it still has to be “me.” For brands and marketers, this is a mixed blessing: It’s harder and more costly to tailor products and then reach the relevant consumers (specialised products require more targeted communications), but the payoff can be a lot bigger. For consumers, “nichification” is mostly good, allowing them to find products and services tailored to their every need; the downside is that choosing products has become much more difficult.
03.08 Kidfluence
You don’t have to work for Disney or Hasbro to appreciate “kidfluence”-the impact that toddlers through tweens make on families’ consumption patterns. Parents spend thousands a year on their kids’ toys, clothes and entertainment; on top of that, children are likely to shape their parents’ attitudes toward everything from food brands to big-ticket purchases like electronics and cars.
02.08 Blue is the New Green
In November 2007, the Trendspotting Group introduced “blue is the new green” as one of the trends to watch in 2008. While at first blush it may sound like a catchy marketing gimmick, be assured: "blue is the new green" goes well beyond the literal and the surface. It signifies a fundamental shift in the environmental movement: from a strict focus on conservation to an approach that emphasises innovation and sustainability. Fortunately (and finally), companies representing a broad spectrum of industries are analysing their business models to adapt to a “blue,” more environmentally friendly world.
12.07 Future of Print
With Internet penetration growing rapidly around the world, doomsayers have been predicting the death of the newspaper and other print media for the past decade. Add to the mix the expansion of cable programming, mobile media and a range of other new platforms, and you have a rapidly diminishing audience for print. Yet even in the most wired economies, people still subscribe to their favourite magazines and take leisure in the Sunday paper. Looking beyond the cries of doomsayers and weeding out the hyperbole from the real trends, what exactly does the future hold for print?
10.07 Innovation
With lower barriers to entry and accelerated development cycles, today even the most successful businesses face the unfortunate but inescapable reality that their competitors are only a step behind them, churning out similar products with similar functions and benefits. This is where real innovation becomes essential. But these days, the word “innovation” has become so loaded, so overused and so misused that it has lost value and, in some cases, all meaning. What does it really mean, and how can it be better integrated into the way we do business both internally and externally with our clients? We focus on the core characteristics of innovation: the ability to sustain, to fail, to play well with others, to know when to move and when to watch and wait, and to always keep the consumer at the center-from conceptualisation to development to marketing.
08.07 Blurring and Polarisation
Blogs. Cable television. Subscription radio. Thanks to the satellites that stream through space and cables on the ground, our access to different types of media is truly amazing. The variety of it is impressive too- because of technology, the boundaries between professional and amateur production and different media genres are blurring. At the other extreme, technology is fostering the polarisation of ideas and opinion. With niche media outlets, people can choose to consume only those opinions with which they agree, stimulating extreme views rather than consensus. In this month’s trendletter, Work in Progress: Blurring and Polarisation, we explore how blurring and polarisation have become commonplace themes not just in the media landscape but in morality, politics and society as well.
06.07 Health and Wellness
Am I toned enough? Tanned enough? Thin enough? In our celebrity-drenched world, these concerns are a constant for many. But looking good has little to do with feeling good, with real health and well-being. In our June issue of Work in Progress: Health and Wellness, we go beyond the superficial to explore what health and wellness really mean. We touch on issues many consumers are struggling with, such as stress and obesity, and examine how health and wellness are evolving: Will consultations with cyber doctors replace visits to the doctor's office? Will superfoods become our new staples? Will schools do away with gym equipment in favour of video games? To explore these and other questions read this month's Work in Progress.
05.07 Because We are Society
This edition examines of-the-moment global causes, as well as consumers’ growing expectations of corporate responsibility and the choice between big, global causes and small, local ones. We also explore how nonprofits are adopting some for-profit strategies and how philanthropy is becoming the latest retirement, midlife-crisis and sporting craze.
10.06 The Environment
In recent years, environmentalism has moved away from the fringe and towards center stage as a global movement. Countries around the world, particularly in Europe, are enacting measures in the name of halting climate change, and many corporations are seeing profits by climbing aboard the growing environmental movement. This edition of Work in Progress looks at which countries are the most environmentally active, compliant, complacent and downright damaging. It also explores the environmentally based efforts of giants like BP, Wal-Mart and Ford, as corporations are discovering there is loyalty and money to be gained by upping their environmental credentials.
For further information on this trend or access to the full report please contact: planning@ddfhb.ie
