(Part 2) The ever-changing media and technological landscape has created opportunities for creative brands and entrepreneurs to deliver on consumer needs. 

This is the summarized version of consumer trends for 2012. Most of these are well known to some of you, for others, this may be eye-opening. The examples are brief but inspirational, click on the link for a more detailed report.

Source: trendwatching.com

Idle Sourcing

What: Crowdsourcing, bringing people & businesses together in order to contribute to socio-economic issues.

Why: For many, its difficult & time consuming to help others. Technology & services allow innovative interactions to occur which are simple and helpful.

Brand Examples:

• Street Bump App- Boston based app uses smartphones to give city officials a real-time map of road conditions.
• Waze- Israeli traffic navigation app.

Flawsome

What: Brands are expected to make mistakes, honesty about their flaws continues to win the hearts of consumers.

Brand Example: Dominos- NYC launched a promotional campaign using a Times Square billboard which live-streamed good and bad customer feedback.

Screen Culture

What: Screens will be everywhere, allowing consumers to continue with their daily activities in different locations.

Brand Examples:

• Sainsbury- UK supermarket chain partnered with Sky Tv allowing shoppers to watch key sports events whilst they shopped. iPad docks & speakers were used on the carts.
• 8ta- South African mobile telecommunications brand installed touch-activated windows into their stores. Enabled catalog viewing and the “whispering windows” informed shoppers about product.

Recommerce

What: The resale of items.

Why: Craving new & exciting experiences, status boost & cash-strapped (spend less) consumers.

Brand Examples:

• Decathalon- French sports apparel & equipment store allowed the exchange of used equipment in return for coupons valid for 6 months.
• Levi’s Singapore- offered consumers SGD 100 for exchanging old jeans for new ones.
• Amazon Student- enabled students to scan barcodes of books and see the trade-in price, if accepted, the students were rewarded with funds on a gift card.

Emerging Maturialism

What: There is a growing trend in mature consumer societies, people are more connected & spontaneous. Brands can push risqué ads in emerging markets with traditionally conservative customs.

Brand Example: Johnson & Johnson China, ad campaign for gynecological health featured a diary written by “V” (Vagina) which took users to a microsite which had info on relationships, sex, fashion and friendship.

Point & Know

What: Augmented Reality & QR codes—information about objects and people.

Brand Examples:

• Google Goggles- image recognition app
• Amazon Flow- access info about products and purchase them
• Shazam- music recognition app.

Keep an eye out for more trends which you can integrate into your business strategy.

Does this all come down to the color of our skin?