Where is the Puck?

 Another great trend research tool based on the search popularity. Check out what / who were the most popular search items  year by year (since 2001):

http://www.google.com/intl/en/press/zeitgeist.html

Similarly like Google’s Hot Trends , Yahoo! has its own service called Yahoo Buzz that shows most-searched-for subjects and the biggest movers.

Great resource of Internet statistics by Clickz.com:

http://www.clickz.com/showPage.html?page=156101

Find out about:

- Online population worldwide
- Average Monthly Online Hours by Country
- Top Worldwide Online Properties
- Advertising breakdown by industry
- Top 50 Internet advertisers

… and more!

Great resources for your trends research (from (“Pocket World in Figures” by Economist magazine):

- Economic and financial indicators (including world markets)
http://www.economist.com/markets/indicators/

- World Rankings (including population, economy, purchasing power, life expectancy…)
http://www.economist.com/markets/rankings/

As we do more and more things online, we leave more digital real-time data trails. Especially when we actively participate in generating content on various websites (writing blogs, participating on social networking sites, using online chat or VOIP, using GPS, scheduling meetings online), but also if we just passively post our personal profile on various websites. The data trails combined from various digital sources will create “massive universe of metadata” (see: Jan Chipchase, article in Harvard Business Magazine), which will have important privacy implications, but it will also present great opportunities for marketers. According to Jan Chipchase, for example, we will be able to figure our where the greatest concentration of our target demographics at any particular point of time is, and not only that, but also we can read their current emotions… so we can create and place our ads accordingly… Wow, this is great! No, wait, this is actually scary!? What do you think? Anyway, the trend is almost here… Click here to read the article in Harvard Business Review Magazine.

Here is the outlook for 2008 according to Glen Hiemstra (video “Outlooks 2008” as posted on Futurist.com) – partial list of trends and events:
- Turmoil in financial markets in US
- Continued growth in China
- Nanotechnology: more breakthroughs
- Home management trend: competition for managing all electrical devices, cable, phone and Internet
- Climate crisis: no progress in 2008
- Oil prices will continue to increase in 2008 (from $90 to $140 per barrel)
- Population Trends: Generation from 18-22 will be the key innovators in Internet developments drawing most attention of venture capitalists

Check out www.futurist.com to learn more…

(Article written for “Where is the Puck?” by Stephen Park and Stephanie Savage, 4th year students of School of Business at the Capilano College, Vancouver, BC, Canada)

Scent marketing is a subgenre of “sensory branding,” it’s using smell to attract consumers. Smell is one of the strongest senses, and it creates long lasting memories. It’s not solely used to sell houses and cars anymore, marketing teams are using it to sell everything from cell phones to air travel and other consumer products. Recent examples are the ‘Got Milk Campaign’, Sony, and Weeds Television series. The ‘Got milk campaign’ used bus shelters which had the scent of cookies along with a picture of cookies and the ‘got milk’ logo. Furthermore, Sony is selling new phones which come in a variety of colour and smells such as apple pie and vanilla.

The pros of scent marketing include originality, attention grabbing, and consumers remember it and talk about it. The cons include: ongoing expenses to upkeep scents, and identifying scents which are pleasing to the largest sample population.

We are currently fourth year business students from Capilano College. If Cap were to implement a scent marketing campaign for the college, it would be a smart idea for them to use the scent of pine because the College prides itself on its beautifully wooded campus.

There is a whole new world of advertising ready to be tapped, the opportunities are endless – it’s up to you. Learn more about scent advertising at:

http://www.trendhunter.com/trends/scentvertising-top-10-scent-marketing-campaigns

Stephen Park and Stephanie Savage

Yes, it is true that we can learn a lot about today’s and tomorrow’s life and business by reading “old” books… As promised before, here is my comment of Davis’ and Davidson’s book “2020 Vision” published in 1991; the following thoughts particularly caught my attention:
• The emergence of bio-chip and bio-economy…
• The emergence of info-mediaries – linking buyers and sellers electronically…
• An 80-20 Rule for the 2020s: “By 2020, 80 percent of business profits and market values will come from that part of the enterprise that is build around info-business… The new info business will include services that provide turbocharged information, industry-wide product offerings, preview, twenty-four-hour access and self-design features…
• “Do you and your company spend less then two thirds of your time and energies on your business, and more than one-third on your organization? If so… it may be time to kill your organization before it kills your business… The best place to look for the basis of organization change is in the future businesses, and the worst place to look is in the current organization”.

In his recent presentation before Capilano College School of Business students (Vancouver, BC), John Jensen, VP Technology of GMI, one of the world’s leading online marketing research firms, identified a number of important marketing research related trends:

MACRO TRENDS (AFFECTING MARKETING RESEARCH)

a) From OFFLINE to ONLINE: More and more business done via the Net
b) From ON-SHORE to OFF-SHORE: Off shoring of fulfillment and production-oriented work
c)From DOMESTIC to GLOBAL: Use of panel-based research goes global
d)From DISTRIBUTED to CENTRALIZED: Mainstreaming of software as a hosted solution

INDUSTRY TRENDS

a) Consolidation of market research companies
b) Online research is mainstream
c) Research panels are coming to the fore
d) Enterprise research software is becoming a necessity

HOW ARE THESE TRENDS AFFECTING MARKETING RESEARCH BUSINESS?

a) Just collecting data online is not enough
b) Customers want
- More accurate results, faster and cheaper
- Integration with CRM, SFA, audience measurement, customer satisfaction, BI tools, etc
c) MR firms need to become technology-driven

***

Obviously people from GMI got it! No wonder, of the world’s 25 largest research firms, 21 use GMI market research software and services… GMI has experienced over 100% annual revenue growth for the last seven years…

I went to the Ikea store the other day. Time and again I am amazed with the way they do their business. No wonder they are one of the world’s most successful companies. No wonder their owner, Mr. Ingvar Kamprad, is ranked #4 on Forbes 400 list of billioners.

IKEA taught me something: Marketing is not just about 4Ps. One can have excellent and innovative Product, competitive Price, great Promotion and convenient Place, yet there is something more. This “something more” is actually the INTANGIBLE ingredient. You can’t copy it. You can’t manipulate it as easily as 4Ps. Yet, it is the heart and the soul of the business. It is called: EXPERIENCE.

IKEA experience is very, very unique. Here is a small sample of innovative things they do to create unique experience:
* Self-service: you are picking and carrying your own items - like in the grocery store!
* Furniture self-assembly
* Great kids playground
* Great restaurant in the middle of the store
* Pen and paper available everywhere to note your ideas while shopping
* The walking path from the entrance of the store to the exit
* The culture of humour (ads, funny names of products, etc.)

And so on and on…What an experience! Wow! I am starting to enjoy shopping… Oh, by the way, this same marketing instrument (”experience”) has its Internet equivalent. It is called website (or: user) experience and by many it is considered as the ultimate key to online success.