The Intelligence Factory, an independent unit of advertising and marketing firm Young & Rubicam’s global communications network, has noted 10 trends it will be tracking through 2001.
Trend #1 — Demanding New Thrills and Chills:
Entertainment will become even more sense-sational as the “extreme” trend spills over into just about every aspect of leisure. Whether riding a surfboard over icy slopes or ensconced in the stadium seating of a multiplex, consumers will be seeking new sights, sounds, and sensations.
Trend #2 — Sci-Fi Living:
The stuff of science fiction will become (virtual) reality as “intelligent” appliances and housewares invade our nests. Get ready, too, for wearable computers (already marketed by at least one U.S. company) and for ‘Net-access devices that substitute voice recognition for clicks and keystrokes.
Trend #3 — Undercover Aging:
From healthcare to fashion, businesses will strive to keep up with a graying world. Yet even as the trend continues, those at its center will be doing their best to ignore it: Boomers have already succeeded in renaming their middle age “middle youth,” and are using every tool at their disposal to stave off the inevitable. Smart marketers will play along with the mass delusion.
Trend #4 — Minding One Another’s Business:
So long, free-agent nation. Going it alone will give way to getting and giving guidance, as mentoring becomes an increasingly institutionalized part of corporate, educational, and even neighborhood life. Companies will recast still-vital retirees as corporate gurus and will send executives into schools and communities to pass along their business smarts.
Trend #5 — Commerce and Media Blurred, Blended, and Reconstituted:
The growth of contextual commerce (with buying opportunities embedded in editorial matter) and sponsored Web content will make it harder than ever to distinguish information from persuasion. The as-yet-unnamed hybrid will be controversial — of that there’s no doubt. Equally certain is that it’s here to stay.
Trend #6 — Everyway People:
The query “Who are you?” will be more difficult to answer. Defining ourselves will no longer be a matter of checking one box or another: Sometimes we’ll be single, sometimes we’ll be partnered; we’ll be corporate executives one day and contract workers the next. We’ll identify with multiple ethnicities, interest groups, and philosophies. Marketers seeking to segment consumers will try in vain to set their sights on a moving target.
Trend #7 — “Brand Me:”
Having caught on to the value of brand building, people will aim to stand out from the pack by forging distinctive brand identities. Creating a personal brand will be an ongoing process and may include the adoption of unique “packaging” (clothing and accessories) and individual “taglines” (pithy statements of personal philosophy). Up next: personal branding coaches.
Trend #8 — Are You Talking to Me?
If you think it’s a pitch-happy world now, just wait. Advertisers desperate to cut through the clutter will be seeking space in every imaginable place — and some unimaginable ones as well. Marketing messages will become truly inescapable, emanating from sources ranging from talking gas pumps and food displays to people who rent out their cars and bodies as billboards.
Trend #9 — Hagglemania:
The bazaar is back. In the near future, the Internet-auction mentality (a.k.a. the eBay ethic) will permeate every industry with something to sell, online or off. Consumer confidence and heightened competition will weaken the notion of fixed prices throughout the retail world, while the rapid growth of B2B e-commerce will facilitate bidding for materials, services, and talent.
Trend #10 — The Great Free-for-All:
Price resistance will start at a lower point than ever — namely, any price will be considered too high. In the post-Napster era, consumers will expect free access to all kinds of data and services, even those they once paid for without question. Those doing business as usual will be vilified, while outlaw hackers will become the heroes of this particular cultural revolution.