2010 Trends

FROM TRENDWATCHING


HAPPYNOMICS, UNCONSUMPTION, STATUS DESPAIR, STATUS SKILLS, ECO-BOASTING and STATUS STORIES.

The major forces that define the business arena in 2010: from CREATIVE DESTRUCTION to the EXPECTATION ECONOMY.

Still continuting -- Generosity is replacing greed. With lots of new, insightful examples for (CO)-DONATE, BRAND BUTLERS, FREE LOVE, PERKONOMICS, TRYVERTISING and RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS.

As 'online addiction' is still spreading, and as both mobile speed and time spent online are set to explode (again), expect plenty of new material illustrating ONLINE OXYGEN and OF = ON at its most powerful ever.

A colorful overview of how earthly authenticity and well-executed 'fakery' will co-exist in a consumer society that paradoxically embraces both with gusto. Includes trends like GROW(N) UP (only for mature audiences) and FAKETASTIC.

One of the most impactful themes for 2010, we'll be looking at the endless new services and brands now helping consumers to satisfy their lust for information, for transparency, for tracking, for mapping, and so on. Includes CHECKING, TRACKING & ALERTING, TRANSPARENCY TRIUMPH and MAPMANIA.

The future is uncertain, and the past is, well, the past. No wonder then, that the now, the live, and the instant will continue to dominate consumer desires. Get ready for an avalanche of insights and examples covering trends like OWNER-LESS, PULSE, POPUPPING, and more.

Overlapping many of the other themes, the force of all things local, from PRIDE to MADE HERE to MEETING UP to SOURCED will prove to be an endless source of innovation in 2010 and beyond.

In 2010, who's not joining forces, and deeply enjoying it, too? Brands are teaming up with customers, with designers, with brands from other industries and even with competitors. On top of that, consumers will continue to explore novel ways to form any kind of CROWD, or go down the SELLSUMER lane, joining the business arena not just as collaborators, but as players. Includes numerous new (and surprising) examples from the collaboration arena.

From BRAND ME to DIGITAL FOOTPRINT to PROFILE MYNING, consumers are embracing everything that has to do with personal branding, but not for the reasons most corporations are hoping for.

It's not just the impact of the current recession: traditional luxury as a theme or trend has been up for a serious revision for quite a while. So now that the economic crisis collides with a fast changing STATUSPHERE, expect luxury to mean a great many different things to a great many different people in 2010.

Building on our ECO-BOUNTY trend, the report brings you the best of the best in clever eco-thinking and innovating. From ECO-NAKED to ECO-STURDY to ECO-SUPERIOR to ECO-REWARDS. The sheer amount of smart green innovations leaves you no excuse to not go all out on profitable sustainability in 2010.

A take on the role of brands and branding in 2010, focusing on the need for brands to not only mirror societal changes, but become an integral part of consumers' daily lives, in a relevant, interesting, surprising and caring way. Sounds like an incredibly intense journey? Maybe, but the alternative is to end up as road kill. Closely linked to the GRAND OVERHAUL trend.
Some trends are so well-researched and so pervasive, that the only thing they're good for is relentless innovation. Think certain demographics, lifestyles, or themes like 'convenience' and 'personalization'. Hence our focus on fun new products and services from around the world, delivering on the specific needs and wants of BABY BOOMERS, THE GAY COMMUNITY, WOMEN, KIDS & PARENTS and so on. Oh well, you get the picture: this Mega Trend is solely about the latest and greatest innovations waiting to be copied or improved on.

Want the biggest countertrend to most of the trends above? Try SURRENDER (and sub-trends like OPENLY OPAQUE and CURATED), which highlights how many consumers (despite rampant consumer power) are actually willing to embrace (and surrender to) trusted brands, as long as their needs for entertainment, for surprise, for convenience, and for fairness are met in superior ways.