Trendwatching.com

Interested in trends worldwide? I have been recently told about www.trendwatching.com, and actually thought their findings and the Trend Briefing very interesting.

Trendwatching.com defines itself as an independent and opinionated trend firm, scanning the globe for the most promising consumer trends, insights and related hands-on business ideas. For the latest and greatest, we rely on our network of hundreds of spotters in more than 120 countries worldwide.

Every month they publish their findings in a free monthly Trend Briefing, that is sent to over 160,000 business professionals in more than 180 countries.

Their trend findings help marketers, CEOs, researchers, and anyone else interested in the future of business and consumerism, to dream up new goods, services and experiences for (or even better, with) their customers.

They also offer a Premium Service which includes a full Annual Trend Report and 12 months of access to an exclusive Trend Database.

Check it out and get a grasp of what's going on around the world.

Media today + Online to reach young adults

Media consumption has changed. I’m 24 years old and I hardly turn the TV on, I watch everything I can online. I go to my favorite channels online and choose when to see the TV shows. I can spend over an hour on YouTube jumping from video to video on the web. I even rent some movies on iTunes now that it has reached my country. (How I wish Hulu.com was reacheable worldwide)

When I join the rest of the family in front of the TV, I always have my Mac with me, and watch over the screen while I’m browsing and jumping from page to page: from Gmail, Blogger, Facebook, LinkedIn to following world news on my favorite newspaper, check my bank account, and look for new books on Amazon... I’m connected almost all day long.

Young adults nowadays are more online than watching traditional TV – not only from my experience (which I know I should not take as an example) but from several studies I've had the chance to hear about from experts in the field  - from Millward Brown, Ogilvy and IESE. I see that my new habits are spread worldwide. 

When companies design campaigns, they should take this into account – and develop online campaigns that will reach this target and engage them with your brand. Some years ago, TV ads, had the guarantee that they would be widely viewed, but with the media split (with more TV channels, internet, smartphones, radio, magazines, iPads ...) this “guarantee” no longer exists.

Today, I only view great TV ads when:

·       A friend shares it on youtube

·       I receive it through a viral mail

·       People talk about them or sing their songs – I later search it on Youtube

I hardly ever will see it directly on TV. Last summer we developed a TV campaign for a local brand, and two months ago, when recruiting new trainees, none of them had seen the ad – none out of 10 had watched it on TV. I believe it is significant and should be taken into account.

Online campaigns should be designed in addition to traditional TV campaigns, in order to target and reach the population that today no longer pays as much attention to TV as they used to.

iPhone + Apps + Amazon.com App

I am in love with my iPhone. Not only for its beautiful design and the fact that it is so easy to use – but because I feel I am connected, informed and up to date with new technologies, trends and everything everywhere. I have all the information I can think of in my hand anywhere I go – this , to me, is priceless. 

The AppStore is amazing. You can find Apps for almost anything that allow you to carry your guitar tabs with you, check your facebook, follow your friends on twitter, have your financial calculator always in your pocket, check your TV series updates, buy tickets for shows,... Everything I ever dreamed of is in my pocket/or purse – and weighs much less than I could have ever imagined!

One of my current hobbies is to look for Apps that will make my life easier and to discover those potentially useful technologies that will be able to engage consumers with brands.

There are many apps published by companies that are simply not useful, they just display information about their products and don’t deliver added value to the people. You may check them once... and then they are gone. Companies are that are launching simple and useless aplications are wasting amazing opportunities  - because later on consumers won’t download better apps that they may be able to come up with.

An App that I specially like is Amazon.com. Not only can you browse and search for information as you would do on the web, but you can scan a barcode or take a picture of a product, and Amazon will tell you right away if they have it, if they have a similar product, and at what price. Amazon.com has made the whole world it’s store by developing this app – anywhere you go, whatever you see, shoot a picture and you can find it online. You can even try on some shoes, take a picture, and if you find it on Amazon order it right away at a better price. Simply amazing!

Google Trends

Would you like to know if your brand, category, products interest consumers on the web? – If you can afford to pay an analisis, great, but if not visit www.google.com/trends.

You can see on a graph the search levels of the words you choose (you can compare up to five words), and you can filter the searches by geographic region. In adition, some peaks will be related to news or articles on the web that will help you understand the trend.

Here you have an example of what it looks like. I chose five random words -amazon, imdb, starbucks, disney, music- and here you can see the displayed results:

This is a cheap way to measure the interest temperature of your brand, category or subject online.


Hope it is useful!

Why She Buys - Must read book

The more I read this book, the more I have the urgency to share it. Why should you read this book:

·       Women drive consumer purchasing.

·       Men dominate the senior levels of most companies that make and market the products women buy.

·       Men and women are so different, they often have trouble communicating with one another.

·       Understanding these differences can provide businesses with significant competitive advantage, but it takes work.

·       The gender gap is a source of missed opportunities and lost revenue, and it should be addressed through education and training.

·       Political correctness stifles frank discussion of the subject, even among women.

·       Much of the biological research on the brain differences between genders is relatively new and hasn’t trickled down to either the general public or the business world.

·       Gender differences are not widely taught in business courses at the undergraduate level or in MBA programs.

·       The fish are the last to discover the ocean.

·       Women dominate the consumer economy thanks to the combination of purchasing power and influence.

>> Chapter 1 Excerpt

At school, nobody ever mentioned differences between men and women. After 5 years, not even one mention to this subject was made. I have studied differences between cultures: how to make business in China, in Middle East, in Japan, in the United States,... but never differences between genders. We are all considered the same – but the truth is we are in fact very different. We talk differently, we relate differently, we view the world differently, we are interested by different things, and respond differently to the same situations... so when targeting products to women – the main buyers of all consumer goods – we should be more aware of all these differences and drivers.

While reading this book I realise that one of the most useful subjects we could, and should, study in business schools is gender differences. We would be able to better understand men and women and their behaviours in all aspects of life – and more specifically understand better their shopping habits and drivers.

Until that day, read this book and you'll understand what I mean.

Why She Buys - Bridget Brennan

Unlike men, women feel the sense of urgency, even obligation, to tell people about a new product or service they’ve discovered.

I just read this sentence and I must say I feel it is true. As a woman I feel I must share with you this new discovery that came as a gift under the Christmas tree, a book that I truly believe to be necessary and useful: “Why She Buys – The new strategy for reaching the world’s most powerful consumers” by Bridget Brennan. 

It’s an amazing book that should be a must read for everyone who works in marketing, sales or owns a business. It helps understand in a highly informative and etertaining way women’s beliefs, values and sensitivities, and since they account for 80 percent of consumer spending in the US (and the world) alone it’s a great way to get a wide insight of your main costumer’s: women.

I wanted to introduce you to it and share some quotes and ideas that might interest you – but I strongly recommend you to read it. It will help you understand in depth through many stories and examples how and why women are as they are and, subsequently, why they buy.

Here you have Bridget Brennan introducing her book:

This book is designed to teach you what business schools don’t – how to craft your products, pitches, and marketing campaigns to cater to female buyers. Women are females first and consumers second. The ability to understand their brain structures, priorities, worldviews, and demographic patterns can provide your company with one of the most genuine competitive advantages it may ever know. And the bonus of reaching female buyers is that when it’s done well, you’ll make your male customers happier too, and they won’t even realice they weren’t your original targets.

                        >> Women are female first and consumers second – Page 5

You’ll be very happy you picked this book up and will want to share your discovery with everyone else.