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NEWSLETTER
TRENDWATCHING.COM
ISSUE 23
January 2005
Start 2005 with a bang: get inspired by our new "READY-TO-KNOW" trend, global "GRAVANITY"
spottings, and new creative services spawned by "GENERATION C".
Need even more? We've made all of our past publications accessible and have added coverage
of our trends by major publications worldwide.
And,
book
June
More
last but not least, for those of you who want TRENDWATCHING.COM all to yourselves:
yourself and your team one of our on-site Corporate Trend Briefings. From February to
2005, we will visit a number of cities in Europe, North and South America, Asia-Pacific.
>>>
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JOURNALISTS,
EDITORS, PRESS
Repeat after us: there is NO information overload. Sure, Google indexes 8
billion+ documents, images and items, and that same Google has
announced it may scan up to 50 million books currently only available in
old-world universities like Harvard, Stanford, Oxford, University of Michigan,
and the NY Public Library, yet for consumers craving relevant information on
everything and anything, there is still a massive information shortage.
Feel free to publish part
or all of these trends at
your convenience. As
long as you properly
name, credit and link to
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www.trendwatching.com,
we're happy.
If you're a journalist
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After all, consumers, or, as we pointed out in our previous publication,
MASTERS OF THE YOUNIVERSE, depend on extreme transparency to
maintain control of their private and commercial lives. From instant price
comparison and extensive product information, to independent reviews &
opinions & recommendations. They're on an ongoing quest for the Best of
the Best, the cheapest of the cheapest, the healthiest of the healthiest: they
want to make informed choices, with knowledge of food ingredients, carb
levels, medicines, production methods (environmental impact, child-labor
free, animal friendly) and so on. On top of that, mature Experience
Economy consumers crave any kind of context just for the sake of a story,
for something that engages them. When it comes to compelling stories, no
amount of interesting information can ever be enough.
And all this information should be available 'on the go', i.e. accessible in the
offline AND online (wired and wireless) world: think of it as the Google
effect (demanding and getting instant answers) permeating all aspects of
daily life. TRENDWATCHING.COM has dubbed this phenomenon READY-TOKNOW: demanding consumers are in a constant 'Ready To Go, READY-TOKNOW' state of mind, expecting any information deemed relevant to be
available instantly, at their own terms. The latter is crucial: we're talking
pull here, not push. Expect to see more click-and-know, more point-andknow, more text-and-know, more touch-and-know and more snap-andknow than ever before.
As always, we've compiled a number of spottings that should not only make
the above more tangible, but should also inspire you to come up with goods,
services and experiences that will satisfy your increasingly READY-TOKNOW customers.
••••
READY-TO-KNOW and music
Consumers who hear an unknown song while hanging out in the pub,
listening to the radio or sitting in a restaurant, only need call 2580, point
their phone to the music source, and London-based Shazam will then send
a text message (SMS) reply with the name of the artist and the track.
out our extensive PRESS
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Besides the technology enabling recognition of the songs, Shazam has built
a database with 2.2 million tracks (adding 5,000 songs per week) to
surprise even the most hard to please READY-TO-KNOW customers.
Revenues come from partnerships and from the actual calls. Other services
include sending song clips to friends, accessing your 'tags' on a personalized
web page, and buying the CD straight away on Amazon.
Shazam is currently active/available in 12 countries around the world.
Besides the UK, its home market, Shazam works with MusicFinder in
Germany and Austria, and with a host of other partners in Poland, Italy,
Greece, Turkey, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia and Australia. Shazam's mobile
user base in the UK counts nearly 600,000 people (the company serves 1
million customers worldwide), who are charged 9p per call and 50p (USD
0.95 / EUR 0.75) per successful tag.
In the US, a similar technology has
been developed by Gracenote, in
conjunction with Philips Research.
The service is called Mobile MusicID,
and comes with an impressive
database
of
over
7
million
'waveform fingerprints', growing by
25,000+ each week. The MusicID
technology is used by MusicPhone in
the US (available on AT&T Wireless,
now Cingular). KTF, Korea's largest
mobile
carrier,
launched
Gracenote's MusicID in September 2004. Gracenote also has partnerships in
Spain, Portugal and The Netherlands, with Japan and Mexico going 'live'
soon. Now, if they could only get pixel recognition to work so cameraphones
could be used to identify movies or any object for that matter?
••••
READY-TO-KNOW and real estate
Yet another cool 'text-and-know' service, this one from the world of real
estate: Dutch www.SMSeenHuis.nl ("text a house") works with real estate
agents to enrich 'for sale' or 'for rent' signs with a unique text code,
allowing passers-by interested in a certain property to text, instantly receive
and store detailed information on their cell phone. Details include asking
price, address, number of rooms, square footage, seller, etc. Participating
real estate agents pay a EUR 20 fee (USD 27 / GBP 15.50) subscription fee,
EUR 50 per unique property code, and EUR 0.50 per text message (capped
at EUR 50 per month). No word yet on an MMS (picture message) version,
which would go down well with READY-TO-KNOW consumers, since few
things evoke a craving for more visual info quite like spotting one's potential
dream loft or castle!
••••
READY-TO-KNOW and retail
Amazon.com Japan's new 'Scan Search' enables consumers in any realworld store to point their cell phones at a product's barcode and then be
instantly directed to Amazon.com.jp on their phone screen, where they
can view the -- no doubt lower priced -- item, and have it sent to them
straight away. The future? Nokia is already working on a phone that can
'read' RFID tags, the latter being the new bar codes. (A supermarket-ready
RFID tag is shown above.) Stay tuned, this is definitely READY-TOKNOW's next frontier.
••••
READY-TO-KNOW and advertising
British Hypertag specializes in poster advertising campaigns that talk
directly to your consumers' mobile phones, without the need for connecting
to a wireless network. READY-TO-KNOW enthusiasts enable the infra-red
port on their mobile phone or PDA and point it at a Hypertag enabled
billboard. Within seconds, a piece of content is downloaded to their phones.
Think words and numbers, a prompt to remind them of an important event,
a picture, a ringtone or a game. Hypertag currently focuses on two
applications: the visitor attraction market and the outdoor advertising
market, and has plans to develop more applications in the future.
Advertising clients include O2, HP, Procter & Gamble, UIP, Nintendo, and
London Underground. The current network consists of about a 100
billboards in the UK. The first commercial advertising roll out was in 20
London cinemas for O2, with billboards telling moviegoers where to
download music, trailers or stills from the movie, where to find the nearest
cinema or how to call up the online box office. A sensible READY-TOKNOW application: advertising that is available on request, not shoved
down consumer's throats, and offers useful solutions, too.
••••
READY-TO-KNOW and story-telling
Chicago based Orange restaurant is going the extra mile to please its
curious READY-TO-KNOW guests: its menu is an actual 21 page full-color
glossy, with the actual menu on the first pages; the rest of the 'menuzine'
consists of editorials (written by the staff) and local ads. Credits list the
entire staff, from management to bussers, and the editorials include recipes,
interviews with the chefs, where to find exotic ingredients in Chicago, where
to go out in the hood, etc. Not only is the Orange menuzine a great
conversation piece, it adds to the story of the restaurant, and gives READYTO-KNOW customers all the possible info and story elements they'll ever
need. So much for information overload: the restaurant frequently finds its
'zines out of stock. ;-) (Spotted by Lynde Gillis, Springspotters.com)
OPPORTUNITIES
Is there more to this trend than the above? Of course. We could go on and
on about READY-TO-KNOW, from how it fuels PLANNED SPONTANEITY
(big picture stuff) and the looming revolution in local search to how it may
shape the actual content stored on RFID tags (we're rooting for extensive
product information and stories, not pushy advertising!). But we'll save that
for the inevitable update. In the meantime, chances are you're not
anticipating your customers' READY-TO-KNOW state of mind. Are you
providing them with all the price/product/comparison/story elements and
info you can, at THEIR terms, not yours? Are you making this information
available to them wherever they need it most, accessible through whatever
channel or device or exchange they prefer? Are you partnering with leaders
in READY-TO-KNOW? Mind you, this is NOT about corporate IM systems or
content management systems, or, even worse, about sending out more
information: this is about consumers adopting a Google attitude even when
they're not behind a desk, and all you can do is obey and provide ;-) >>
Email this trend to a friend.
RELATED TRENDS
PLANNED SPONTANEITY
MASTERS OF THE YOUNIVERSE
SEE-HEAR-BUY
WANT TO LINK TO THIS TREND?
www.trendwatching.com/trends/READY-TO-KNOW.htm
"This is where graffiti meets vanity to form GRAVANITY: an entire
industry catering to the obsession of ordinary citizens wanting to
leave something behind in print, audio or imagery, preferably in the
public domain."
Status, which consumers crave more than almost anything else, is at the
core of our 'new luxury' MASSCLUSIVITY trend. But if the luxury market is
one way to provide consumers with status, GRAVANITY is another. There
is no end to consumers' secret (and not so secret) vanities, and thanks to
fresh marketing thinking combined with newly affordable printing,
publishing and broadcasting technologies, a whole new breed of Warholian
services has sprung up. Check out our latest GRAVANITY spottings, from
around the world:
Mondanité
Mere mortals love to gawk at the bold and the beautiful: think society
pages, celeb parties, glamour pics. No wonder then, that Lebanese
magazine Mondanité (published in French) is so popular: it is solely
dedicated to glam parties attended by living-it-up, dressed-to-the-nines
party goers. The GRAVANITY twist? All the parties covered take place in
Beirut, and the people in the pictures are NOT international sports heroes or
local movie stars, but rather all of the Lebanese people that are part of the
considerable 'It' scene. Each issue's pages are packed with pictures of
Beirut's finest as they drink, dance, prance, meet and network. Think
contractors, businessmen, heirs and descendants of family dynasties,
politicians (and all of their partners and kids).
Naturally, this broad coverage dramatically increases chances for any
GRAVANITY-stricken Lebanese to appear in a real glossy. The mag has a
healthy circulation: not in the least because the hundreds of featured 'stars'
happily buy multiple copies to distribute amongst friends and family. The
opportunity? Well, show us one city where a GRAVANITY glossy for the
masses would NOT work! (Source: Red Cell Beirut, Springspotters.com.)
••••
Personalized M&Ms
When M&Ms introduced customized candy a few years ago, enabling
consumers, businesses, universities and any organization crazy about its
personal corporate colors to mix and match M&Ms colors to form the perfect
gift, promotional material or office-treat, TRENDWATCHING.COM thought it
was an excellent example of mass customization. Now, adding a hefty dose
of GRAVANITY, M&Ms also allows consumers to personalize the actual
texts on the chocolate candies, with two lines of up to 8 characters each.
Everybody's happy: consumers and companies because they can have their
own personal, branded sweets; M&Ms because it can charge USD 9.49 (EUR
7.50 / GBP 5.25) for an 8oz bag (a non-personalized bag sells for only USD
2.85). Lesson to be learned? If M&Ms can infuse its commodities with a
splash of GRAVANITY, so can your company!
••••
SMS Guerilla Projector
Troika, a London-based collective of artists and designers, have created the
SMS Guerilla Projector. The device delivers instant GRAVANITY by letting
individuals and companies project SMS messages on anything with a
smooth surface, from buildings to signs. Thanks to the global ubiquity of
texting, seeing one's name or brand up in lights has never been easier (or
more networked!).
••••
B-on-GO
Avid readers of our other newsletter, Springwise New Business Ideas, may
recognize this one: South African B-on-GO Net. Launched in February 2004
by M-Net, B-on-GO was the first incarnation of M-Net's idea to combine cell
phone-activated TV cameras, the SMS/texting platform, a dedicated
interactive website, and an entertainment twist on POP-UP RETAIL and
GRAVANITY, to produce reality TV content by and for the masses. Unlike
most reality shows, no application process or contest was used to screen Bon-GO hopefuls. Remote mobile studios popped up in shopping malls, and
anyone was welcome to step inside and "do their thing" for a chance at
instant stardom. Special technology allowed entrants to dial a number from
their cell phone to activate the TV cameras, and then a live M-Net director
remotely guided them through the process of recording their clip on the
spot.
Stats from the first show identified the youth demo as the primary market,
so M-Net now airs the broadcasts on their existing youth channel, GO. Five
half-hour themed episodes are broadcast daily, and the website now
includes expanded content and interactive capabilities. Why bother with Big
Brother if you can have Big Everybody?
••••
Soapshow
Prefer soap shows over reality TV? Then check out this case of GRAVANITY
par excellence from The Netherlands: Soapshow, a multimedia concoction
that enables any needy individual to create his or her own soap series, for
all the world to see. Users create their own soap by posting texts, voice,
pictures, and video of their daily lives onto their own dedicated soap page,
with 'fans' signing up to receive updates via email and cell phone (soap
stars are encouraged to actively manage and involve their fan club).
Fans and visitors can then vote for their
favorite show, increasing a soap star's
celebrity status and popularity ranking. The
amount of content uploaded on a regular
basis also helps to up one's ranking. Soap
stars with high rankings are eligible to win
prizes such as a feature in a 'real' celebrity
magazine (courtesy of publisher Sanoma,
who initiated the concept), lend their face
to product labels, have their own branded
VIP booths at glam parties, and so on.
Participation is free, though users can
purchase credits to buy promotional tools
which may increase traffic to their show.
And, in a B-on-GO twist (see above), soap
stars can now promote themselves on
Soapshow TV as well, in short video clips
airing on Soapshow's streaming media
page. Let a billion GRAVANITY shows grow ;-)
••••
EyeToy
Quick update on Sony's EyeToy, a small camera that sits on a TV set and
plugs into a Playstation2, to project users' images in the center of the action
on-screen. This wildly popular GRAVANITY toy, which has sold more than 4
million units worldwide, recently launched AntiGrav, the first and only 3D
character based EyeToy game that uses facial and body recognition
technology to control a character in futuristic hoverboard gameplay. It also
recently announced Kinetic, slated for release in early 2005 (Europe), a
game allowing players to improve not only general fitness but also
reactions, posture, balance, breathing and all round body toning and
conditioning. Kinetic was developed in coordination with Nike: sounds like
an interesting BRANDED BRANDS take on GRAVANITY. Which other brands
will partner with Sony next, to put the YOU in YOUNIVERSE?
OPPORTUNITIES
Business is about customers, and customers only. And most of these
customers are obsessed with just one thing: themselves. Their status, their
mortality, their appearance, their popularity. So why not take a cue from
M&Ms, Sanoma, Nike and others and start developing goods, services and
experiences revolving around, named after, dictated, centering, and starring
your most important 'assets'? >> Email this trend to a friend.
RELATED TRENDS
MASSCLUSIVITY
WANT TO LINK TO THIS TREND, OR READ THE ORIGINAL ARTICLE?
www.trendwatching.com/trends/2002/11/GRAVANITY.html
"C is for Content. The GENERATION C phenomenon captures the
avalanche of consumer generated content that is building on the
web, adding tera-peta bytes of new text, images, audio and video on
an ongoing basis. We are all creatives, and our creativity is about to
be unleashed like never before, because we have the hardware, the
software, the skills, and, via new distribution channels, an
audience... and a dose of CASUAL COLLAPSE."
Expect plenty of GENERATION C thinking and spottings in 2005, as this
mega-trend has only just begun to take off. TRENDWATCHING.COM
continues to identify drivers behind the fast growing number of creative
consumers, from affordable 'professional' hardware & software to society
finally realizing the economic value of the Creative Class.
In this update we'd like to highlight two other major drivers:
• The increase in classes and courses aimed at improving GEN C's creative
skills (after all, what are all those pro-am, prosumer tools and software
programs worth if consumers don't know how to use them to their full
potential).
• The proliferation of 'personal showrooms' helping GENERATION C to
instantly display its creations to a global audience.
COURSES & COURSES
Educating GENERATION C on how to make best use of their creative urges
is hot. What good would Apple's iLife software be without courses on how to
benefit from GarageBand or iMovie? No wonder then, that one of the most
popular offerings at Apple Stores across the US (and now in the UK as well)
is The Theatre, where Apple fans can participate in one-hour workshops
every day, free of charge. Workshops are divided into three categories:
'Introductory Presentations', designed to provide an introduction to the
latest hardware and digital lifestyle applications; 'Workshops', which offer
more in-depth information about Apple's applications; and 'Pro Workshops',
aimed at professionals looking to get the most out of advanced creative
tools like DVD Studio Pro 3, Final Cut Pro HD and Logic Pro 7. The extensive
agendas for each Theatre are online: check out the one for the NY SoHo
store. Observing dozens of GENERATION C members crowd the theatre on
a Saturday afternoon will give you a taste of things to come.
Other hardware manufacturers and
software developers are also rushing
to GENERATION C's help (and
selling more of their stuff in the
process). Check out Sony 101,
which offers free online courses to
consumers
on
a
variety
of
technology and industry topics,
including digital photography, HDTV,
wireless networking and how to
protect their data.
Same drill for HP Online Courses;
HP
also
runs
a
Digital
Photography Center on eBay, helping students to take better pictures,
which should then lead to higher sales for GENERATION C members with
entrepreneurial aspirations. After all, who said all this creation was for
creativity's sake only?
PERSONAL SHOWROOMS
This one was a long time in the making. From the day the web set in motion
a virtual world without precedence, futurists, trend watchers, and everyone
else obsessing with the dynamics of control, vanity and communications has
predicted that individuals would all have their own website one day. After
all, where better to show off personal creations and profiles than online,
where a global audience is guaranteed. Sure, it took a new generation of
OLDBIES, those raised online, to prove them right, but still.
Witness how millions of professionals and digerati occupy blogland, sharing
their insights and creative achievements with an ever growing audience,
while many younger members of GENERATION C choose to open up their
own showrooms on younger and funkier platforms like Cyworld. About the
latter: this South Korean phenomenon now provides more than 10 million
South Korean citizens (25% of the entire population) with their own cyberoutlet, where self made poems, stories, songs, photos, videos and what
have you can be shown off to other GEN C members and producers, agents,
talent scouts and employers alike. Pleasant Cyworld detail: as users can
liven up their space with funky digital decorations, or spice things up with
videos and music, bought with acorns, Cyworld's currency, this is bringing in
about 150 million won (USD 160,000 / EUR 116,000) a day. Cyworld plans
to conquer Japan, China, Taiwan, the United States, Hong Kong and Taiwan
within the next six months.
Another sign these showrooms are going mass: Microsoft's newly launched
MSN Spaces (blogs for the masses). It might not satisfy hardened
bloggers, but this Show and Tell service has managed to attract more than
1.5 million GENERATION C-ers since its launch six weeks ago! MSN Spaces
offers basic blogfare like online publishing, photo sharing, all kinds of access
levels for one's space, postings, automatic updates to registered visitors
when one's space has been updated, and so on. Users can update their sites
via the web, through e-mail, or with a mobile phone. If they choose, they
can publish a feed in the RSS 2.0 format, which will allow readers to view
the content in an RSS aggregator. 'Spaces' is available in 14 languages and
26 markets worldwide.
OPPORTUNITIES
Professional hardware and software, skills, showrooms: understanding the
GENERATION C trend and its many drivers will help you make sense of the
many creative outpourings currently sweeping the world. It adds context to
crazes-du-jour like podcasting (internet-based radio shows created by GEN
C members with access to a microphone and a computer, from the comfort
of their own home; for more, check out www.ipodder.org) or the tens of
thousands of consumers who have now seen George Masters' do it yourself,
60-second animated iPod commercial.
Next step? YOUR company surprising and delighting consumers with the
tools, the software, the skills, and the showrooms to unleash their creative
passions. Step after that? Turning GEN C customers into co-creators,
something we discussed recently in our CUSTOMER-MADE trend. Ah, so
many opportunities and so little time ;-) >> Email this trend to a friend.
RELATED TRENDS
ONLINE OXYGEN
CUSTOMER-MADE
LIFE-CACHING
WANT TO LINK TO THIS TREND, OR READ THE ORIGINAL ARTICLE?
www.trendwatching.com/trends/GENERATION_C.htm
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Want even more inspiration? Our next newsletter, which we'll send out on 14 February
2005, will bring you new trends like NOUVEAU NICHE and updates on our BRANDED
BRANDS and LIFE CACHING trends. Did you receive this edition from a friend or
colleague? Get your own free subscription here.
DISCLAIMER
The author reserves the right not to be responsible for the topicality, correctness, completeness or
quality of the information provided. Liability claims regarding damage caused by the use of any
information provided, including any kind of information which is incomplete or incorrect, will therefore
be rejected. More information can be found in our Terms and Conditions.
COPYRIGHT
All trend descriptions and trend names are copyright TRENDWATCHING.COM. Feel free to publish or
reproduce the trend information found in this newsletter and on our website, on the condition that
TRENDWATCHING.COM is properly credited (and linked to) as the source, including our URL:
www.trendwatching.com.
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