Where is the Puck?

Remember my post on digital furniture and Microsoft’s product “Microsoft Surface?” Well, here is another similar technology, it is called “TouchTable”! It works like a giant iPhone…

2011 Consumer Trends Forecast by Trend Hunter:

1. Discrete consumerism (consumers shying away from big brand names)
2. Tweetonomics (more businesses utilizing the power of twitter/social media to steal the customers)
3. Perpetual adaptation (ever-evolving aesthetics without affecting the functionality; consumers in love of change itself)
4. Geriatric Couture (modernizing the grand parents’ fashion style)
5. Luxury lives on (capitalizing on existing upper-class consumer needs)
6. Modern Kidvertising (children’s campaigns appealing to adult interests)
7. Rockstar Self-Expressionism (rebellious product/brand design)
8. Democratic Selling (consumers voting power affecting product design and price)
9. Toddler Touchscreens (interactive film apps, pillow tech and interactive fairytales…)
10. Hyperrealism (rebelling against photoshopped perfection)
11. Tangible Printing (3D printing on shoes, cloting, etc.)
12. Next Besting (consumers pursuit of the next best alternative)
13. Modern Cubism (Cubed lighting, architecture, seating…)
14. Real timing (businesses incorporating Foursquare, Twitter and live streaming to provide instant gratification)
15. On the Spot Style (street/”real” style fashion)
16. Brand reversion (brands going retro to satisfy childhood nostalgia)
17. Wearable Tech (earring telephones, holographic wristwear…)
18. Charitable Deviance (charities using shock tactics)
19. Interactive Retail (interactive shopping bags, iPad menus…)
20. Projected publicity (projected billboards)

Here is one more example of SCENT MARKETING discussed also earlier in this blog: Ford wants every car it makes to look, feel and even SMELL like a Ford!Their goal is to create a scent that “produces a sense of well-being inside a Ford,” says Derrick Kuzak, group vice president for global product development… Read more on Forbes.com

Social Advertising or Social Marketing in the new Web 2.0 era has been one of the major marketing trends during the last few years: more and more companies have been posting on various blogs, creating profile on Facebook, tweeting on Twitter, or posting news on Digg.com ,etc. While this is new to someone, here is another trend, and it is taking the web marketing one step further: it is called Social Appvertising! The leading brands are now starting to create special interactive Facebook applications to maximize consumer involvement. Examples? Coca Cola’s Facial Profiler application finding your twin on Facebook… Or American Express’ contest for creating your own ad through a Facebook application … Read more here

Earlier in this blog I wrote about how nowadays one needs to go extra mile, to excel customers “normal expectations” and delight in three dimensions in order to be successful. In his today’s post, Seth Godin goes even further and states that “All that succeeds is the UNREASONABLE”:

“You can get my attention if your product is unreasonably well designed, if your preparation is unreasonably over the top, if your customer service is unreasonably attentive and generous and honest. You can earn my business or my recommendation if the build quality is unreasonable for the intended use, if the pricing is unreasonably low or if the experience is unreasonably over-the-top irresistible…”

Read more on Godin’s blog.

Here are a few relatively new tools to help you discover and track trends, based on what people tweet, retweet and read on Twitter:

http://tweetmeme.com
http://monitter.com/
http://trendsmap.com
http://trendistic.com

Check out other trend tracking tools described here:
http://whereispuck.com/category/trend-tools/

Twenty reasons why people are willing to spread word about your idea according to Seth Godin http://bit.ly/coR21s

Location based websites / apps helping you “share where you are and what you’re doing right from your mobile” are becoming extremely popular today. Foursquare, Gowalla and Facebook Places probably first come to one’s mind. The experts say that there will probably be as many as 300,000 iPhone apps by the end of November 2010 (compare with today’s 100,000 apps), while thousands of those apps will actually be location based…

Google TV’s official site launched: Google TV lets you simultaneously search across every channel, every app, and the entire web. Control the TV with your phone… Take the tour: http://www.google.com/tv/

It looks like the apps present another big emerging (marketing) trend… “An apps culture is clearly emerging among some cell phone users, particularly men and young adults,” said Kristen Purcell, Associate Director for Research at the Pew Internet Project. Here are some apps usage facts:
- Some 35% of U.S. adults have software applications or “apps” on their phones
- 29% have downloaded apps to their phone
- 24% of adults use those apps

Learn more…