In the stressful and time pressured days the desire for slowing down is emerging. Slow is a buzzword which can be applied on lots of areas of life, such as slow town, slow tourism and slow hospitality – all of these work well. At most of the cases it is a desire which can be satisfied by smelling a lavender soap or a fresh tomato. Most of the people could not transform their own lives based on this. The object of slowing down desire is to live a slow life with full of enjoy and fun. This trend returns from time to time, but it has new elements every time.
The aim for slowing down is expanding in the emergence of local values, thus it supports those products and services which are produced locally. The slow movement has environmental friendly elements as well that is why an offer which provides the protection of the local environment can be important for participants.
smart stucking
Smart gadgets appear lots of time nowadays, whether it is a smart watch, a fork, a home or clothes. These devices are mobile that is why people stuck with these all day. They use their smart phones as the first screen no more second screen. This phenomena is extreme in case of youth, because they do not look up from the device when they are on a course, wait for the bus or are in a shop…and especially when the parents want to talk to them.
Smart devices make it real to reach lots of information immediately and anywhere. Every smart device allows tracking, controlling different slices of life, such as job, free time or our body. Since more and more devices can be online and we are connected online as well, these devices provide an experience of sharing. It means that we can share information or knowledge with others. Too many usage of smart devices can cause addiction that is why we can see lots of movements (countertrends) which support the blocking of smart devices.
BUZZresistance
Today because of the trends of self-presentation and self-expression resistance can reach its target audience if it appears in a creative way. The wording is important (image, video, graphics), but the usage of the communication channel is important as well for a topic to become a rumor. It is possible to generate higher attention and to recruit supporters with the usage of creative (funny, entertaining) elements. The force of the mass and the individual’s will to act can support ideas and enterprises with crowdsourcing. Lots of people can be mobilized and their attention can be raised with encouragement.
shrinking intimacy
Intimate space is shrinking, there is less and less space to experience intimacy. Almost every movement of our life digitalized: in case of shopping, identification, managing personal issues or even communication with family members or in the business world. Our data is systematized – to manage these data is not as easy as we think. These data become statistical elements, so our future movements are better predictable than ever. BIG DATA generate a kind of fear in the consumer. On the other hand it has its advantages through the rewarding of loyal consumers. Personalized offers can save time for us. A database can provide advantage for a company but it should be treated with knowledge. It means that new professions emerge. These companies can have advantages from shrinking intimacy.
Digital managing of personal issues make the consumer impatient. The consumer refuses to wait without reason, because for example with the help of GPS he/she knows where the Uber taxi is. Thus, the HOW of the waiting changed: he/she is willing to wait, if he/she knows the exact time of waiting. It is the interest of the brand owners to fill and give a content for this waiting time. Let’s just think about those people who can be seen waiting for the bus, the train and using their smart devices…
smalls go ahead
Small and medium enterprises and start-up companies have a high level of recognition. These companies have good opportunities to build their future – it is not just because of governmental financial supports, but also because of that potential what small companies have. This potential appears in the concentrated knowledge and that knowledge which makes possible to realize ideas with a special focus. Those companies also appeared which support small ideas with their knowledge in order to help the effective market entry.
The joy of shopping and having something will not be as important as it is now. Do it yourself and creativity will be more important. Practically there will be no barrier to produce something on a high level, thanks to the democratization of professional solutions, availability and transparency. Everyone can try to create something huge, new ideas and solutions can work global, without borders. Because of this the competition is high, but the small companies’ will to act is high as well. People start to produce products, food, services themselves, because they do not trust other producers and bigger market participants.
experiences by participation
When a brand is evaluated by the consumers the experience connected to the brand is evaluated. Because of this the followings are becoming important: where and among what kinds of circumstances the consumer meet and use the brand. The role of participation and to experience the whole, real brand is more important than it was before. Those communication channels and services which facilitate the presence of the brand are more and more important as well.
Today it is possible for a teacher to teach children from the bottom of the ocean. There are lots of devices available to record our experiences. The immediate experiences and sharing these experiences became a key issue for today’s internet generation.
mentor paradise
Owing to different digital connections – such as through social media or with the usage of different smart devices – an increasing community build up around the same topic, an interest or even the same device usage. After all, it is easier to find those people in this set who have more knowledge about a given area or have more experience about that. Our trend called ”blind leading the blind” persist, having that uniqueness that people give more attention for those opinions and evaluations which are from a community where people deal with the same topics. These opinions even get more attention than experts or brand owners. Today we ended up where we think about the member of a digitally available community as our mentor, and we listen to this mentor’s opinion, offers and evaluation, even on a long term period.
With the democratization of knowledge and skills it is much easier for an average person to do researches about a given topic and thus become some kind of expert of the area. They share the acquired knowledge – even for money, but also in order to grow the online reputation of the self (digital status), but sharing can be an important level of personality and knowledge development as well. Consumers are thirsty for knowledge and developing skills, that is why those brand owners who share their knowledge can count on to be more successful. Digital contacts and knowledge became essential at this trend.
circular economy
Circular economy is a smarter and a rousing solution than today’s economy where entrepreneurs are focusing on creating new products or services with a creative and innovative point of view from those materials which became unnecessary. This can provide new jobs and a more stable and safer future for the children. From the aspect of brand building this is an innovative solution as well, because on one hand, the product life can be lengthened, on the other hand the contact with the consumer can be deepened, which means increasing brand loyalty and number of committed people.
Owing to the development of new technologies older solutions such as recycling are complemented by new applications, like community utilization. To enter to circular economy is not simple and it requires rethinking from the company, since in this case lending is a buzzword rather than selling. Moreover, the transformation of preferred products is important as well, which means to find those solutions which support to make the product’s life longer. In total, circular economy means that companies apply a different business model which force the leaders and owners to rethink the process from the planning to the implementing. Moreover, that is also important to take into consideration their relationship with customers, involve them into the processes.
back to reality
Digital communities often reorganize themselves in real time, because there is a need for people to be together and get to know each other. Brand owners have to prepare for the real meetings with customers, they have to give space for these meetings. Brand can expand in providing experience during shopping, but it also has to give some more, such as entertaining, relaxation or services which are connected to real, everyday life, such as a coffee shop or a playground. Brands can fill that space what communities cannot fulfill because of their barriers. Thus, brands can create real spaces which mean meeting points for people. Street as a location is still a good and valuable place for brands to expand.
Accepting new norms points the way toward reality which means that people should be accepted as they are, even if it is about the same-sex love, minority, adopting, diseases or handicapped people. New types of families and system of norms can be seen day by day.
Here you can watch a videoloop of our 2015 trends (HD quality is recommended)!