Trendency

Trendency undergoing a big redesign

2006-07-29T09:57:00.000-07:00

It´s been rather quiet here on Trendency the last few weeks. We apologize for this but the reason is that Trendency is currently undergoing a redesign and in a few weeks we will be back. And this time we will be better and more stylish than ever..

The crew behind Trendency also operate as consultants in research and trend analysis under the brand Urban Lifestyle (www.urban-lifestyle - also under construction right now).

Please keep checking in here, and soon you will find the new Trendency blog. Same content but more of it, and we promise it will also look better than now.

- Tomas (tomas@urban-lifestyle.se)
- Linda (linda@urban-lifestyle.se)

Trends in logotypes

2006-07-12T00:52:00.000-07:00

We found this interesting article about trends in logotypes through Swedish blog Researcher.

Some interesting examples from the logos for companies such as Cingular, TiVo Nickelodeon and MSN.

Some of the design agencies behind this logos are the likes of Landor, Grapefruit Design and Planet Propaganda just to mention a few.

The article is well worth reading and interesting not only if you work at a design agency.

Tomas

Microsoft challenging iPod?

2006-07-08T04:54:00.000-07:00

This week we heard that Microsoft is planning to release a portable mediaplayer set to compete with iPod. To really give Apple a match Microsoft declared that if you buy their mediaplayer, it will scan you computer for purchased iTunes music and automatically but them and put them in your Microsoft mediaplayer - for free.

But can Microsoft really threaten "The iPod Economy"?

We will get back to you on this when we know more.

Tomas

Almedalen mostly interesting to media professionals

2006-07-06T00:32:00.000-07:00

Swedish media are producing a massive amount of articles about the Almedalsveckan that we wrote about yesterday. But are regular people interested in this?

Well a good guess is that the answer is - No.

I tried a few searches on YouTube. These days most things that people find interesting end up on YouTube. Maybe not everything just yet, but more and more is this turning into a thermometer for what regular people are interested in and what is important in their lives right now.

For instance, right now the most viewed video clip is entitled "My parents suck". The clip is all about a teenage girl complaining about how her parents ruined her 4th of July this year.

Parents beware!

Tomas

Swedens biggest annual PR circus - Almedalen

2006-07-04T02:59:00.000-07:00

Every year in July the Swedish island called Gotland is invaded with herds of politicians, media representatives and PR professionals. The purpose is to talk politics, sell more newspapers and to mingle with the powerful people. It's called "Almedalsveckan" (the Almedal week - Almedalen is the place for most political speeches during this week).

PR consultants sell personal meetings with politicians and other powerful people to the highest bidder. And the PR circus is in full motion.

Tomas

Nice prank from web agency Farfar

2006-07-03T02:32:00.000-07:00

This fake video is so well executed I have to promote it here on this blog too. The background is a fake story about an employee ad Swedish web agency Farfar has burried their prize from the recent ad competition in Cannes - The Golden Lion.

According to Farfar's site this is not a prank, not like their campaign Pjotro:
http://www.pjotro.com/

Which is also brilliant.

Great job Farfar! Congrats!

Tomas

The small mysteries that makes me love Apple

2006-07-01T02:47:00.000-07:00

This blog is being updated on a one-month old Apple MacBook, one of the first MacBook sold over the counter in Sweden.

Buing a Mac is an experience in itself. The packing and the 100 per cent design experience of starting you fresh new Mac is impressing. The first few hours was in a happy daze after purchasing this little wonder.

But after just a few days i ran into problems.. The hard drive was faulty and had to be changed and a disturbing humming noice from the processor fan going on and of has been troubling me so today I had to talk to the Apple phone support again. The only this the support guy could do was to try a maneuver that felt "very Apple":

Restart the MacBook and then press these buttons: Apple, Alt, R and P at the same time...

So I did this and now I hope the problem is history.

But the moral of this little story is that after the phone session with the support, I couldn´t stop thinking about the people who designed this maneuver. What an imagination! Just executing this maneuver made me fell happy to own a Mac.

I guess this was just another mystery that makes med love Apple.

Tomas

There is no such thing as internal information

2006-06-27T10:34:00.000-07:00

In the recent days two great examples have occured in the blogging community teaching us that no information is internal. Just about every video clip we record or everything we say or do just might end up on the Internet.

A few days ago we wrote about the surveilance video from the raid on The Pirate Bay ending up on YouTube. Today we have two other examples of video clips turning up on YouTube causing turbulence for unsuspecting companies.

Example 1
Autodesk recorded a video for an internal conference where they made fun of a competitor and also their customers. The clip ended up on YouTube causing big damage for this company how also tried (and failed) to cover it up. The clip was later removed from YouTube but you can still see it here:

http://www.vmix.com/viewVideo.php?ID=520017

Example 2
An American student called the cable operator Comcast and asked them to fix his cabel TV while he was away. When he returned home the cable repair person was still in his apartment - asleep on his sofa! What makes the story even more alarming for Comcast is the fact that the cable repair person fell asleep on the phone waiting for Comcast's own phone support... You can see the clip here, just as more than 400 000 persons already have:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvVp7b5gzqU

Tomas

Free movies legally

2006-06-27T00:52:00.000-07:00

In these days of infected debates about file sharing and copyright issues, Coolz0r gives us some tips of old movies that have fallen out of copyright and therefor can be downloaded by anyone - and legally too!

These films are available on Google Video:

Night Of The Living Dead (1968) - (1 hour, 35 minutes)
The Iron Mask (1929) - (1 hour, 12 minutes)
The Outlaw (1943) - (1 hour, 55 minutes)
Dressed To Kill (1946) - (1 hour, 11 minutes)
The Amazing Adventure (1936) - (1 hour)
The Mark Of Zorro (1920) - (58 minutes)
Gunsmoke Ranch - The Three Mesquiteers (1937) - (52 minutes)
The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934) - (1 hour, 15 minutes)
The Phantom Of The Opera (1925) - (1 hour, 46 minutes)

Enjoy these classics and let us know if you liked them.

Tomas

Cristal brand in danger or "set for life"?

2006-06-26T06:57:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago BBC ran an article on their webb about yet another traditional anglo saxon brand facing new "challenges" due to attention from the flourishing hip hop industry.

This phenomena is not new and luxury brands in clothing and premium cars are already facing this trend and many of them do not know even how look at this callenge. Is it good or bad?

According to traditional branding thoughts this trend is doing damage to many old brands like Don Perignon, Cristal, Bentley, Gucci, Prada and Burberry. At start the sales can rise dramatically when big hip hop icons pour Cristal on the dance floor, but these brands are scared of what happens next. Will their old loyal consumers leave them, and what happens if the old consumers leave them and then the hip hop icons find "the next big thing" in another brand?

These are all controversial and not easilly answered questions. But they might just challenge the traditional view on desired target groups and traditional branding thoughts. And these questions won't just go away if marketers and branding professionalls just ignore them..

Tomas

Viral video great deal for Coca-Cola and Mentos

2006-06-19T08:22:00.000-07:00

You might already have seen it, the video clip where Fritz Grobe and Stephen Voltz puts a Mentos in a Coca-Cola bottle with a dramatic chemical reaction as result.

If you haven´t seen it yet you can see it here.

Both Grobe and Voltz are members of a theatrical group and have no connection to either Coca-Cola or Mentos (besides perhaps as regular consumers). But nonetheless great advertising for both brands. The video clip is spreading like wild fire and the interest is huge. David Letterman even invited them to be guests on his show.

Not a penny spent by either Coca-Cola or Mentos, but the result is priceless publicity for both brands.

Congratulations Coca-Cola and Mentos!

Tomas

Viral campaign gone bad

2006-06-19T07:48:00.000-07:00

In the Swedish communication industry there is somewhat of a hype around viral and buzz marketing. But recently there were a couple of examples of buzz marketing gone bad according to Swedish marketing blog Researcher. In one of the examples Swedish buss marketing company Buzzador was assigned to do a buss marketing campaign for big a Swedish poultry company called Kronfågel.

A number of chickens were to be delivered to a selected number of people including some important bloggers on the subject. The problem though was some of the chickens that were delivered came in broken pakages and some of the chickens were to warm to be fresh hygenic. This incident created, and is still creating, bad publicity for Kronfågel as well as a negative impact on brand image.

Some people in the industry now thing that if the number of bad examples of buzz marketing, and the the bad publicity this generates, exceedes a certain level, then the whole buzz marketing business might be severally damaged.

The understanding of both buzz marketing, and the people it is supposed to reach, is therefore crucial to planning a successful buzz marketing campaign. Hopefully we will not see to many bad examples of this in the future, at least not so many that the whole phenomena will be killed off.

Tomas

One goal - to be the best place to work

2006-06-15T00:50:00.000-07:00

German adertising agency Jung Von Matt is opening an office in Stockholm according to the Swedish marketing magazine Resumé (the article is in Swedish. BUT now you wonder - "What is so interesting about that?".

Actually the interesting thing about this is that the only goal for the new office is to be the best place for people to work, according to the owners. This is very interesting and it surelly comes from the perspective that happy creative people makes good business as well.

Hopefully more and more companies will focus on this factor, and I´m sure it would give most companies a good boost in results.

More on this subject another day.

Tomas

World Cup advertising for 27 million Euros per day

2006-06-14T07:06:00.000-07:00

According to Swedish news page Realtid.se the total advertising cost around the World Cup in Germany (soccer or "fotboll" in Swedish) totals a stunning 7.2 billion Swedish Crowns which is about 765 957 500 Euros.

This means companies are spending a total of 27 million Euros every day during the one month long World Cup. During the Olympics in Beijing experts are predicting the biggest advertising hype ever with record braking spendings from sponsors. Will this hysteric sponsoring continue?

Is it really worth all those million? Well the only ways is to evaluate the results after the World Cup is over. Counting earnings is easy, mut measuring the impact on brand image is not just as easy..

Tomas

Big logos soon not big business

2006-06-13T13:00:00.000-07:00

The last couple of years big logos on clothes has be a big sails success in Sweden. On the streets of Stockholm, Göteborg and Malmö every other young person have been walking around like bill boards with oversized logos for J Lindeberg, WESC, Tommy Hilfiger and so on. But trend gurus are expecting a decline the coming years. This is actually not that new in the "trend arena" but is yet to start showing on the streets.

Clothing brands have earned big bucks on these big-logo clothing lines but the question is now how much it has damaged their brand image when smaller logos and more low key cloths are to be expected. Here is a big market opportunity for new up-and-coming clothing brands to take this chance to differentiate themselves as more sophisticated and not as commersial as other labels.

What new labels will take this opportunity? I have my theories, but what do you think?

Tomas

More on The Pirate Bay

2006-06-09T07:51:00.000-07:00

It turns out that the raid against The Pirate Bay in Sweden was filmed and turned up on YuoTube.

Here is the clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30HF-m_I6yY&feature=Views&page=1&t=t&f=b

Tomas

A few video clips from sunday's Hoodsfred

2006-06-09T01:14:00.000-07:00

Here are three video clips (on YouTube - what else?) from the Hoodsfred festival I wrote about earlier this week. They are quite low res, but it gives you and idea of what it looked like at least.

Clip 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hl43ZwceOOo

Clip 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcMxFt2JH_Y

Clip 3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpEFSSyxaS4

Tomas

File sharing effecting the election?

2006-06-08T00:52:00.000-07:00

There is a big debate in Sweden right now due to a recent survey (from Sydsvenskan and Temo Synovates) about first-time voters' stand on copyright issues ("upphovsrätt" in Swedish) and file sharing ("fildelning" in Swedish). According to this survey more that three out of four first-time voters think it is ok to download files illegally.

Two of the policital parties in the parliament have changed their stands in this issue as a result. Both Moderaterna (the moderate party) and Vänsterpartiet (the left wing party) today think the new law against downloading of copyrighted files haven´t been successful. The result of the new law has only been a wich hunt on small time private downloaders - not on illegal businesses making money on illegal material.

This issue is so big right now it might even effect the election this fall.

What sparked this infected debate was a raid on the site "The Pirate Bay". Which is a site that only links to illegal material, it doesn´t contain any illegal material itself.

Very interesting! I´m sure we will get back to this issue again here on Trendency.

Tomas

American racial issues in reality show

2006-06-06T07:14:00.000-07:00

Reality TV shows have been struggeling with decreasing interest for a couple of years following a big hype a couple of years ago. The latest trend in reality shows have to capitalize on the ongoing "transformation trend" - which means people aspiration to transform themselves to better people, through sessions with Dr Phil, Extreme Makeovers and Supernannies.

Now this trend seems to have reached the point of trying to reach peoples views on racial and cultural issues in the American society. The latest buzz in American TV has been about the new show "Black And White". In this TV show one Caucasian and one African-American family swap skin color for a month. Their experiences during this month is televised and both families share the same house for this period so they can discuss their different experiences in this.

Etchical or not? Good TV or bad? I won´t get into that discussion. But it is and interesting phenomena, that I must say..

Tomas

Things are cooking in the hood

2006-06-05T03:26:00.000-07:00

In a suburb called Alby, south of Stockholm, there was a big festival this weekend called Hoodsfred. Usually the stream of people leads people from the suburbs into the city at weekend, but this weekend people from all around Stockholm went to "the hood" instead.

Several wellknown artists where there, such as Petter, ADL and Stephen Simmonds.

The aim for the festival was to create a meeting point for people from all over the country sharing the same passion for street culture and music. But the festival isn´t just about having fun, there were also political debates and more serious parts as well.

From a trend perspective it is interesting and posivite to see a growing movement of suburb selfconfidence. There are still huge economical and social problems in many suburbs, but there is also a growing pride of both heritage and the subcultures that are flourishing there.

From the perpective of a street music appreciator it was great to find seeds of a growing Swedish hip hop scene - with many new still unknown artists that we might here on the radio or in a podcast in a couple of years.

Here are a few small pictures from the festival´s last day:

Tomas

Hectic times

2006-06-02T06:18:00.000-07:00

These last few weeks have been hectic and lots of exciting new things will happen here soon. In the future this blog will much more frequently updated. I will get back to you on this soon.

One thing that might be a detail to some and a huge thing to others, is that Trendency.net is now produced on two brand new MacBooks fresh from
the store.

T

Swedens first "real" iPod magazine

2006-05-26T11:21:00.000-07:00

The new magazine iPlay is launched as Sweden's first iPod magazine. This is almost true because a few months ago there was a magazine callet "Allt om iPod" if I'm not mistaken. But that magazine was a "one shot" magazine meaning only one issue was published.

There is no doubt that we are still seing a huge iPod hype. Consumers seem to be leaving all other MP3 devices in favour of the iPod. The device that was the outsider a few years ago when almost all other manufacturers only sold flash memory devices. The hard disk players are still a minority when it comes to number of models, but my guess is that in volume these devices rule the market.

In the years to come I think this iPod hype will further rub off on computer sailes and th number of Mac users around the world will increase with many per cent.

Wal Mart increasing poverty in the US?

2006-05-21T04:35:00.000-07:00

Yes they are. At least according to a study by Stephan Goetz, a professor of agricultural and regional economics at Pennsylvania State University, and Hema Swaminathan for the International Center for Research on Women.

According to the study of of the reasons are that Wal Mart expands to the cost
of closing small businesses across the US. Small family-owned stores can´t compete
with Wal Mart and neither can the companies they rely on such as such as wholesalers, transporters, logistics providers, accountants, lawyers and others.

When these small local companies close the choice for the citizens of these
communities is either to apply for a job at Wal Mart with very low wages or to
leave the community for a bigger city and add more fuel to the rural to urban
movement.

Is this study going to change peoples image of Wal Mart? In a short time
perspective this study should effect the Wal Mart in a negative way. But in a
long perspective I´m not so sure.

It is said though that young people of today "vote with their wallet"
- and I hope they will vote against Wal Mart in this issue...

T

Nokia and WESC helping young people discover the world

2006-03-21T01:46:00.000-08:00

Swedish clothing brand WESC and Nokia have started a partnership to help young people find the best beaches, kebab places, second hand stores and other interesting places around the world.

WESC have already launched a web version of the travel guide but this next step means that Nokia now have integrated the software in their mobile Nokia 3250. This means you can take the travel guide on the road, just bring your Nokia and you can access the information anywhere you are.

I think this is a great idea for bot WESC and Nokia. WESC have for years been successful in inovative marketing centred around "WESC Activist" which are basically brand ambassadeurs. These activists around the world are now filling the travel guide with information.

Nokia has a clear focus on younger consumers and this is a great way for them to show young people that they are still in the game. Which is something that companies need to do everyday these days...

T

Cinemas turning into a much bigger experience?

2006-03-15T23:37:00.000-08:00

Today in Swedish business paper Dagens Industri there is an article about a premium cinema concept in Hampstead, England. The experience is not only about the movie itself, they have created a unique atmosphere by mixing one part cinema and one part bar.

The customers (which include many celebrities like Fredrik Ljungberg, Salman Rushdie, Michael Palin, Liam Gallagher and Ewan McGregor among others) can enjoy champagne, and different premium snacks at the same time as they enjoy a good movie. Also many customers gather in the bar area 30 minutes before the show starts. This makes going to the cinema a more social event than traditional cinemas.

The owner of the cinema also mentions that Stockholm might be just the right place for this concept. Both big cinema chains in Sweden (Astoria and SF) are also planning to launch premium cinemas in the future.

Well that sounds great, doesn´t it?

T

Traditional advertising lost on teens?

2006-03-15T03:49:00.000-08:00

Yesterday on FutureWire there was an article about companies and marketing professionals struggeling to reach teens. They are not as receptive to traditional advertising and they (more or less) always multitasking, almost never consume only one media at a time.

And at the same time few of the brands that have succeeded in the teen market have done this with traditional advertising. This means taking marketing to another level with these consumers and use the right techology to interact with them instead.

We have written about this before on Trendency, but it can´t be stressed enough...

T

Jody Turners InsightsInflux interview

2006-03-06T04:50:00.000-08:00

Here is an excerpt from my InsightsInflux interview which might interest the readers of Trendency:

Do you see a backlash to the "design everywhere" culture?
Rather than a backlash, I see an evolution in the definition of design. Creative design is empathic and goes where it is needed. Within our "me" evolution we are excited about the steps forward in manufacturing, about the effects on product creativity and the impacts on our personal experiences. As we move into the "we" community models of youth the design mind will focus on conceptual experiences, designing processes/ exchanges and community evolution design. We are seeing the tip of this with community branding. We are seeing the beginning of this as designers step forward and begin to design meaningful and real brand processes and experiences in which what the brand does not say stands as powerfully as what it does say.

What innovative small companies are interesting you at the moment and why?
My political mind is intrigued with Nike Considered. It is not a small company but it is being given permission to act as one. I am intrigued with a company that can take a stand toward long-term evolution against the pressures of shortterm gain. I am tracking how youth embrace materialism AND sustainability concurrently which is a far different model than my generation. This shifting of either/or thinking to embrace new products that satisfy ingrained hunter/gatherer instincts (survival based) and betterment thinking (the innovative mind) is a solid pathway for our world. Nike Considered feels like a bridge to future products that will care for materials use, educate consumers in interesting ways and provide a product that is different than all others.

Jody Turner - Culture of Future (www.cultureoffuture.com)

Google brand turning generic?

2006-03-03T07:14:00.000-08:00

The other day I commented on an interesting blog called I Have An Idea about the Google brand turning generic. This could happen if Google don´t do something about this pretty soon.

The thing I found most interesting was another comment saying Google was a term that could never turn generic in French. Quote:

"It's extremely unsettling and unnatural to say 'Je vais googler ca' (I'll google this) in french, and I can only imagine how crackling it must sound in other languages."

But in Sweden we can already see this happening, at least among young urban people, we use the term "googla" which means "to Google" or "to search the Internet".

I don´t know about other languages. Any comment on that?

T

2006-03-03T04:19:00.000-08:00

Swedish rap artist Petter declared in an interview for the news paper Sydsvenskan that he thinks all file sharing Internetusers should be shot. Later his record company (Universal) allegedly made the journalist remove that quote from the article and then put him on their "black list" - meaning they will never let him write about another of their artists.

This has caused a flaming "blog war" againt Petter on Swedish blogs. Every blogger seems to thrash both his actions and his music right now. Many bloggers are encouraging a boycot of his musik now.

This incident is another sign showing how conservative the music industry really is. The world is constantly changing and companies strategies and business models should also change to adapt to the new circumstances. But the music industry refuses to change, and the distance between the consumers and the record companies' executives keep growing. The record companies are almost looking like dinosaurs right now and we are all just waiting for the big bang killing them off.

And parallell to this, amateur media is on a steady rise as we have discussed her earlier...

An advice to the music industry - Wise up or your days are numbered.

More blogs on this topic.

T

Latest pet trends in Japan

2006-03-03T02:33:00.000-08:00

In the western world we have seen a change in the dog-human relationship the last few years. The current trend is dogs as an accessory, a trend fueled by media portraying celebrities like Paris Hilton with her world famous Chihuahua Tinkerbell.

The trend probably started in the US but now we see it in the whole western world. Especially in more “posh” parts of the major cities. In Stockholm for instance, the trend is most visible in an area of the inner city called Östermalm and also in some of the more posh suburbs.

But let´s take a look at the lastest in dog-human relationships in another part of the world – Japan. What are the lastet trends concerning dogs in Japan?

Well in Japan there are more dogs and cats than children under the age of 15 in Japan. The Japanese people are very fond of their pets in general. In fact for many Japanese dog owners the stage of dogs as an accessory are long passed – the dog is turning into an equal partner.

In Tokyo’s trendiest part you can take your dog to the beauty parlor and get your hair cut or extensions put in at the same time as the dog is getting the same treatment in a chair next to you. The dog is a part of the owners identity and a very important factor for his/her self confidence.

After the trip to the beauty parlor some japanese dog owners would take their dogs to a session of holistic dog masssage – trying to find balance in life together with their pet.

Another trend in Japan, that could sound extreme to some western counties, is the staged dog wedding. A two-hour drive from down town Tokyo trendy japanese dog owners take their dog to get married to another family’s dog. This is a serious ritual and an important social gesture not only bringing the dogs together but also the different dog owners. In Japan this way of looking at dogs as equal to humans is for some Japanese dog owners almost a religion in itself.

Losing a dog is a traumatic experience for many dog owners, and now in Japan you can rent an undertaker to visit you in your home for a dog funeral. It costs $200 and the seremony is conducted in you home and in a mobile funeral parlor.

However in reality in Tokyo as we mentioned earlier, most people are not allowed to have dogs in their apartments. But there are two interesting solutions to this problem. The first one is a popluar solution – to rent a dog. There is actually companies specialised at renting out dogs by the hour, week och over a weekend to dog lovers who can´t have a dog full time (due to regulations in apartment houses and sometimes just lack of free time). The second solution is the robotic dog – for instance Aibo, which emulates a real dog and answers to voice command and recognizes it´s owners and so on.

Will we see these trends in the rest of the world? Well actually I think many of these things are something we eventually will see here too. It seems a like natural step after the whole Chihuahua-as-an-accessory-trend.

T

Jody Turner on US loss in the global brand marketplace

2006-03-01T05:50:00.000-08:00

The paradigm shift has occurred, top-down iconic brand leadership has shifted to a co-creation model. This means
consumer humanism and the meaning culture are now motivating us to engage.

Brands that have intrepreneurial (www.trendwatching.com) spirit and allow inspirational and energized segments to
bring forth THRIVING ideas and products that address the emotional concerns of the consumer will sustain.

Nike will continue to do well because it has just this spirit of evolution and involution.

Jody Turner - Culture of Future (www.cultureoffuture.com) for Trendency

Jody Turner guest blogging on Trendency

2006-03-01T05:18:00.000-08:00

Jody Turner, from US company Culture of Future (www.cultureoffuture.com), is one of the most well known and appreciated trend analysts in the world.

This is her first appearance here on Trendency and we hope it will not be the last.

We are honored today to have her share her thoughts on the rise of brands that interact with and let consumers be a part of the brand. Which we discussed here yesterday(http://trendencyblog.blogspot.com/2006/02/us-brands-losing-teens.html) as a part of the reason why US brands are losing teens as consumers.

More information about Jody:
http://www.cultureoffuture.com/jody_info.html
http://www.reklam.se/page/16/16/195 (in Swedish)

T

More on teenager consumption

2006-02-28T08:18:00.000-08:00

I just wrote about the BBDO GenWorld study on Ypulse and found some more interesting results from the study.

According to the results US teens might not be as trend setting as they have been in the past. Their values have generally become more conservative than in the rest of the world.

Quotes from Ypulse:
---
"In questions about their values and expectations in life, American teens overall emphasize morality and family. The majority list 'living by high moral standards' as a top life expectation, 58%of USA teens versus 33% of teens globally. Forty-five percent believe it is best to remain a virgin as long as possible versus 22% globally."

Marriage and kids are among their top life expectations: 83% expect to get married (vs. 58% globally; 74% expect to be a parent (vs. 52% globally).

American teens are more religious than teens in any of the other countries studied. They are much more likely to believe in God, more likely to consider themselves religious and more likely to have attended a religious service in the past 30 days than other teens around the world."
---

T

Microsoft redesigning iPod

2006-02-28T05:32:00.000-08:00

Funny video clip found through Seth Godin:

What if microsoft redesigned the iPod packaging?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAGr3mVVUwE

I have no further comments on this topic..

T

US brands losing the teens

2006-02-28T04:33:00.000-08:00

In a recent study on teenagers and consumtion study entitled "GenWorld," conducted by Energy/BBDO, we can see a dramatical decline of US brands- they now account for just half of the 10 brands that are favorites among teens globally.

In 1995 8 out of 10 top brands were US labels, last year only 5 of them where from the US.

Here is the list - Most Popular Brands With Teens Worldwide 2005
1. Sony (1995 it was Coca-Cola)
2. Nokia (1995 it was Sony)
3. Adidas (1995 it was also Adidas)
4. Nike (1995 it was also Nike)
5. Colgate (1995 it was Pepsi)
6. Nestle (1995 it was Kodak)
7. Cadbury (1995 it was Colgate)
8. Coca-Cola (1995 it was Disney)
9. M&Ms (1995 it was also M&Ms)
10. Kodak (1995 it was Reebok)

One part of the explaination is that teens want to be a part of their favourite brands. This is just one of the signs showing us that we are leaving the "information society" and entering the "interaction society". Brands that do not allow this will be abandoned - no company can live on old merites when it comes to teens.

You will read more on this topic right here on Trendency further on.

Three tips for further reading on this survey:
http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/brandnewday/archives/2006/01/whose_teens_are.html
http://www.mediaincanada.com/articles/mic/20060207/#bbdostudy
http://www.hispanicad.com/cgi-bin/news/newsarticle.cgi?article_id=18474

T

Traditional PR on the way out?

2006-02-28T02:28:00.000-08:00

The PR industry (in Sweden) is a traditional industry and the logics are still the same as it was 20 years ago. There is a paradigm built upon the thesis that the media sets the views of people all over the world. The way to influence media is still foremost a matter of writing press releases and talking to journalists.

This method is still working for many companies and they still reach about the right target groups. But the world is always evolving and change is the only constant. Young people - the consumers of the future - are more critical of traditional media. They trust their friends and some people with high credibility, like doctors and scientists. But when it comes to ads and media content they are eqcuiped with more fine-grained filters than previuos generations of consumers.

PR is, or at least should be, about influencing people without using conventional advertising - not only making news papers write articles from press releases. In this world when amatuere media is on the rise and there is a blog explosion how do you reach the consumers? Well I don´t think a press release is the right answer - at least not in 9 out of 10 times.

In the US some experts mean that the press release is dead. I wouldn´t go that far, but I think many Swedish agencies should see that message as inspiration and start thinking in new more creative ways.

T

Nobody likes vanilla anymore?

2006-02-27T04:08:00.000-08:00

The last couple of years the food industry in Sweden have abandoned "single flavours" like for instance vanilla when it comes to adding new flavours. Instead we se flavours like "Cactus-Lime", "Dandelion-Lemon" or "Passion-Grape". If vanilla is even in the mix it is always together whith another flavour like in "Rubarber-Vanilla".

This is a trend in all types of drinks, ice cream and other food products. Just take a look at recent big sellers in Sweden "Ben & Jerry", try to find a simple vanilla flavoured ice cream in their product line - you won´t find it.

In fact vanilla has become a symbol for boring and unexiting things. In different industries companies are trying their best not to be the vanilla of their industry, in other words "stuck in the middle".

But is this a sign of changing consumer demand or a desire from the food industry to create more new products to increase sailes?

I have my theory but what to you think?

T - PS. I actually like vanilla, at least when it comes to ice cream...

Net mobbing or harmless gossip?

2006-02-24T03:47:00.000-08:00

In these days when "net mobbing" (mobbing using the Internet) a big infected debate arouse in Sweden recently from the leaking of a mailing list called Elit (Elite in English). On this mailing list you will find many people considered having great power when it comes to media. Many journalists are on the list which to many people is another ethical issue, besides from serious "bad mouthing" of various people not on the list.

The person behind the list - Alexander Bard is being accused of using his connections with various journalists and editors to produce articles with the intent to defend this list and the people on it.

In a country like Sweden such a list based on a view point that some people are part of an elite group and therefore see themselves as better that other, is extra controversial. In the US there probably wouldn´t be at all as much debate about it.

It is interesting because it shows how different things become news in different cultures. And also it is interesting because of the recent debates in Sweden about net mobbing.

Is it net mobbing or just harmless gossip? Well that´s up to you to decide.

T

Murderball killing predjudice?

2006-02-22T01:32:00.000-08:00

US movie Murderball is taking critics and the audience by storm all over the world. The movie is a fast paced documentary about the american wheel chair rugby team showing a side of people in wheel chairs seldom portraid in media.

The people in the movie shows the audience that they are athletes and a force to be reckoned with. Maybe this will be the start of a slow journey for media producers towards understanding that many important target groups are missed today. Predjudice agains these potential target groups are blinding many excutives when it comes to advertising and entertainment. That is both tragic from a human standpoint as well as bad business.

Hopefully this will change soon.

T

Amateurs vs Celebrities

2006-02-21T05:40:00.000-08:00

According to an article in Los Angeles Times last week the TV show "American Idol" had more viewers than the Grammy Awards (featuring artists like Madonna, Coldplay and U2).

The article takes a stab att trying to explain why this could happen. Why do the viewers prefere watching amateurs to big celebrities? A big part of the explaination is probably, as the article also states, the new media landscape now taking shape. With new techology like blogs, camera phones and podcasting everybody can be an entertainer or entertainment producer.

What happens on the Internet is not isolated to the Internet. But it is in fact influencing the total media consumption in our society. Watching "ordinary people" living out their dream in the spotlight makes other "ordinary people" feel like they can too.

The unknown spectator wants his or her 15 minutes of fame now. Andy Warhol was right.

T

read.io turns blogs into podcasts

2006-02-21T05:22:00.000-08:00

Yes that´s right. This service will convert your blog, via a RSS feed into spoken words and turns it into a podcast.

Sounds very interesting. Unfortunately the service is not public yet. But if you like the idea check out this URL and sign up to get an e-mail when it turns public.

T

New iPod store in London

2006-02-21T02:49:00.000-08:00

This week London will get their second iPod store - PopXpress near Piccadilly. A minimalistic two-floor store following the distinct iPod aesthetic off course.

PopXpress is a chain that only sell iPods and accessories for iPods. Today they have a store at Liverpool Station.

Now why is this interresting? Well there is no denying - iPod is a phenomena. Whether you like the product or not, you will are exposed to it everywhere you go. This is just another example of Apples success in "iPodding" the world.

But my thought is this (and I love iPod for the record) - Apple is used to being the cool underdog. Mac computers has always been the choice of a certain breed of enthusiasts, but never a product for a mass market. iPod on the other hand has become a mass market product. How will this effect Apple´s brand in the long run? Will we soon se a peak and will the trendsetters abandon iPod soon?

Time will tell, but for now I will stick to my iPod.

T

MMS marketing vodka

2006-02-21T02:28:00.000-08:00

New Swedish advertising agency RBK are preparing to launch the new vodka Skyy in Sweden using MMS as main communication channel.

Consumers are invited to send in MMS-pictures of situations when they are drinking Skyy Vodka, either on their favourite sofa or out on a club. Some lucky consumer will win a travel check worth $10 000.

When it comes to marketing a vodka product this is a new strategy in Sweden.

Source: Resumé (In Swedish)

2006-02-20T08:46:00.000-08:00

An importand trend in market communications today is interactive communication.

Smart companies invite their consumers to be a part of the brand. One easy way to get interactive is to let consumers be a part of the marketing strategy. One example is Converse Gallery - a site where Converse invited their "fans" to create their own 24 second commercial for Converse.

Another recent example is the company 1-800-Flowers.com in New York. They are letting people chose their outdoor ad's tagline by entering it on their website. The reward is a $5 coupon. Not a revolution - but an easy and smart implementation of consunmer interactivity.

T

2006-02-02T06:30:00.000-08:00

India has for several years been the favourite destination for every outsourcing advocate.

High technical competence in combination with low wages has made cities in India like Bangalore

a haven for services that generate high employee costs.

But according to FutureWire this is no longer the case. Rising wages and high staff turnover

are making American and European businesses turning to their next hope - China.

At the same time outsourcning advocates face critics at home claiming that process improvements at home can often get the same results in cost reductions as outsourcing.

Will China be the new India or will the industry think again about the benefits of outsourcing?

Time will tell.

T

And a new blog is born!

2006-01-26T01:53:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Trendency!

Here you will find information, links and thoughts on
trends and the future, especially in the field of
market communication, consumption and brands.

My name is Tomas Nihlén and I have up 'til now been blogging
in Swedish on an another swedish blog. But I will tell you more about
that later.

The name - Trendency - stands for Trends and Tendencies and that
is exactly what you will find here. Trends are ongoing changes in society
and tendencies are small signs that might be evidence of underlying
trends. Here you will find a mix of both.

If you are interested in writing here on Trendency please send me
and e-mail to:

tomas.nihlen@spray.se

I hope you will enjoy it!

T