Kiss Insight

TOP 12 CONSUMER TRENDS FOR 2012 30 January 2012

At Kiss Confidential we love to know the latest trends, be that in music, fashion or gaming. It's no surprise then that one of our favourite websites is trendwatching.com – a one stop shop for new, hip and happy happenings from around the world. This week we've been reading all about the world of trends in the world of broader consumer research. We thought it would be nice to share with you the top 12 trends that they see as crucial for this year. To read the full list in more depth please go to http://trendwatching.com/trends/12trends2012/

1. RED CARPET

In 2012, businesses around the world will shower Chinese customers and visitors with even more tailored services and perks, and in general, lavish attention and respect.

China is the new emperor, and outpaced companies, flailing nations and even broke monetary unions are looking to the Chinese to bail them out. No wonder red carpets are being rolled out wherever Chinese politicians and CEOs currently set foot. In 2012’s global consumption arena we see a similar picture: department stores, airlines, hotels, theme parks and museums, if not entire cities, around the world are going out of their way to shower Chinese customers with tailored services and perks, and in general, lavish them with attention and respect.

In July 2011, Hilton Hotels Worldwide created a service targeting Chinese travelers. Called "Hilton Huanying" (Mandarin for “welcome”), the program is available at 30 Hilton hotels across the world, and offers tailored assistance for Chinese guests, including check-in in their native language and in-room facilities such as Chinese tea and television channels, as well as slippers and a welcome letter in Mandarin. There's also a breakfast buffet available, with congee, dim sum and fried noodles on the menu.

2. DIY HEALTH

DIY goes ‘good for you’ in 2012: novel apps and devices will increasingly let consumers discreetly track and manage their health by themselves.

The Do It Yourself trend is not going to slow down in 2012. Now, there are two kinds of DIY: the kind (most!) consumers hate and the kind they love. For 2012, the latter category will show endless innovation driven by, what else, technology, which in turn feeds off a never-ending desire among consumers to be in control. And while innovative DIY spottings keep pouring in (check out true DIY luggage check-in at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport), for this 2012 overview we’re focusing on DIY and health, as countless new apps and devices are actively targeting consumers keen on preventing, examining, improving, monitoring and managing their health. In fact, Apple’s App Store currently offers 9,000 mobile health apps (including nearly 1,500 cardio fitness apps, over 1,300 diet apps, over 1,000 stress and relaxation apps, and over 650 women’s health apps) and by mid-2012, this number is expected reach 13,000 (Source: MobiHealthNews, September 2011).

Other positive implications for consumers tracking their own state of health include less necessity for potentially intrusive and embarrassing trips to the doctor, or for those that do need medical attention and supervision, a much more convenient and accessible way for their doctor to keep a remote eye on any troublesome conditions or changes.

Some further stats: research company Technavio predicts that the global mobile health applications market will reach USD 4.1 billion by 2014, up from USD 1.7 billion in 2010. So, what can you do to make life easier, if not healthier for your customers in 2012? Some examples to get you going:

Pain Free Back, an interactive back pain relief product, lets users enter specific data as they’re taken on a guided discovery about their back pain. Exercise solutions are offered afterwards.

The Play It Down app enables users to test their hearing. The app offers several interactive features including 'The Ear Knob' that lets friends compare who can hear the highest frequencies, and 'The Volume Zone' which measures sound volume in decibels.

3. DEALER-CHIC

Deal hunting has become an integral part of daily life for millions of consumers. Yes, there are many new and innovative ways in which brands are using promotions and offers, but consumer attitudes to discounts and deals are what’s really changing. Obviously, consumers have always loved getting good deals or exclusive rewards, but rather than having to hide one’s haggling, securing the best deal is now accepted, if not admired by one’s fellow consumers. In fact, it's now about more than just saving money: it’s the thrill, the pursuit, the control, and the perceived smartness, and thus a source of status too. Just three reasons why DEALER-CHIC is set to get bigger and bigger in 2012:

• MORE FOR LESS: While many people in developed economies may have less money to spend right now, consumers everywhere will forever look to experience more.

• THE MEDIUM IS THE MOTIVATION: Consumers are now being alerted to, using, reusing and sharing offers and deals via new (and therefore infinitely more exciting and attractive) technologies.

• BEST OF THE BEST: With instant mobile or online access to not only deals but reviews as well, consumers can now be confident they’re getting the best price for the best product or service.

4. ECO-CYCOLOGY

While in times of recession, economic interests tend to overrule eco-causes, the quest for a more sustainable lifestyle will remain a most pressing issue for years to come. We picked one ‘green’ trend (out of many) for this 2012 list: the phenomenon of brands helping consumers recycle by taking back all old items from customers, and then actually doing something constructive with them.

Consumers are increasingly aware not only of the financial value in their past purchases, but the material and ecological value of ‘stuff’ as well. We have dubbed this all-encompassing recycling on steroids ‘ECO-CYCOLOGY’. Sometimes prompted by new legislation, sometimes by brands seeing the light, these programs leave consumers no excuse to not recycle in 2012. 

• As part of US outdoor brand Patagonia’s Common Threads Initiative, any item bought from Patagonia that has reached the end of its ‘life’ can be returned for recycling into new fiber or fabric. The company claims to have so far taken back 45 tons of clothing for recycling and made 34 tons into new clothes.

Nike’s trailblazing Reuse-A-Shoe scheme (first launched waaay back in1990!) has collected and recycled over 25 million pairs of worn-out Nike shoes to-date. Old shoes are sliced, separated and ground up into a material called Nike Grind, which is then used in creating athletic and playground surfaces, as well as a variety of Nike products.

5. CASH-LESS

Sure, the cashless society has been popping-up in every trend list since 2005. And while 2012 (again) is not going to be the year that consumers en masse will forego coins and notes and just swipe their smartphones, it is going to be the year that major players like Google and MasterCard will actively roll out their cashless initiatives around the world. For consumers, the initial lure will be convenience, but eventually mobile payments will create an entirely new data-driven eco-system of rewards, purchase history, deals and so on.

• In June 2011, US online payments processor PayPal demonstrated a mobile payments application for Android devices. Users install the app and activate the PayPal widget, and can then request to send or receive funds from another individual with a smartphone and PayPal account.

6. BOTTOM OF THE URBAN PYRAMID

Driven by extreme urbanization on a global scale that will not slow down in 2012, expect more BOTTOM OF THE URBAN PYRAMID (BOUP) consumers than ever (the hundreds of millions of CITYSUMERS who don’t have middle-class salaries to spend) to demand innovation tailored to their unique circumstances, from health issues to lack of space to the need for durability. And remember, BOUP consumers have materialistic and aesthetic desires too.

An example:

Developed by NCR, the Pillar ATM harnesses biometric technologies, making it suitable for use by illiterate and semi-literate populations. The device features a contactless card reader, a biometric fingerprint scanner, fast cash buttons, a dispenser and a receipt printer. Users of the free-standing device can simply place their thumb on the sensor and push the color-coded button for the amount of cash they want to take out. In Q3 2011, NCR began testing five prototype Pillar ATMs in the US, with the aim of launching the device in developing markets.

7. IDLE SOURCING

In 2012, count on the crowdsourcing trend to continue to shake up business processes and spawn endless innovations. After all, being given a chance to contribute, or to be a part of something bigger than themselves, will be forever popular with people.

However the reality is that most consumers- while they might want to contribute- find that it’s too difficult or too much hassle. Which is why you can expect to see more IDLE SOURCING initiatives in 2012: products and services that make it downright simple (if not effortless) to contribute to anything, from pinpointing roads in need of repairs to finding signs of extraterrestrial life.

Just one development unlocking new possibilities: the ubiquity of always-on, GPS and accelerometer-enabled smartphones in 2012, means that consumers themselves can and will increasingly broadcast data about where and what they are doing.

For example:

Israeli crowd-sourced traffic navigation app Waze reached seven million users across 45 countries in October 2011. The app provides free turn-by-turn navigation alongside live information about road conditions, crowdsourced from other users. Users can also sign-in and view their friends' locations.

8. FLAWSOME

While many trends are all about the new, it's always worth remembering that success in business in the end is more about being aligned with consumer culture than just being aware of 'new' techniques and technologies.

While 2011 saw new levels of consumer disgust at too many business' self-serving and often downright immoral (if not criminal) actions, stories of businesses doing good (Patagonia, Ben & Jerry's) remind consumers that personality and profit can be compatible. In fact, in 2012 consumers won't expect brands to be flawless; they will even embrace brands that are FLAWSOME, and at large (or at least somewhat) human. Brands that are honest about their flaws, that show some empathy, generosity, humility, flexibility, maturity, humor and dare we say it, some character and humanity.

9. SCREEN CULTURE

SCREEN CULTURE is less of a trend in itself, but more the medium through which so many trends in this Trend Briefing will manifest themselves. 2012 will see three mega-tech currents converge: screens will be (even more): ubiquitous / mobile / cheap / always on; interactive and intuitive (via touchscreens, tablets and so on); an interface to everything and anything that lies beyond the screen (via the mobile web and, increasingly and finally mainstream in 2012, ‘the cloud'). In fact, the future for most devices will be a world where consumers will care less about them and just about the screen, or rather what’s being accessed through it.

Some random signs of the times:

UK supermarket chain Sainsbury’s, in a partnership with television provider Sky, is allowing shoppers to watch key sports events while they shop using in-cart iPad docks and speakers. The Sky Go trolley comes complete with a tilting iPad holder, speakers and an onboard battery with self-charging solar panel. All sports-minded shoppers need to do is download the Sky Go streaming app onto their tablet and then load it into the shopping cart’s dock.

South African mobile telecommunications brand 8ta installed touch-activated windows in its stores, enabling customers to browse the retailer’s catalog throughout the day and night. Using technology from digital media company One Digital Media (also based in South Africa), the store's 'whispering windows' act as speakers, allowing shoppers to hear about products, as well as view them in the storefront. In the retail space, further touchscreens utilized on product display tables and embedded in walls showcase 8ta’s products.

10. RECOMMERCE

Consumers have always resold large, durable goods like cars and houses; but in 2012, almost anything is ripe for resale, from electronics to clothes, and even experiences. Novel brand buy-backs, exchange schemes, online platforms and mobile marketplaces offer smart and convenient options for consumers keen to ‘trade in to trade up’, alleviate financial strains (double dips, anyone?), and/or quell environmental and ethical concerns.

Three drivers behind the RECOMMERCE phenomenon:

• NEXTISM: Consumers will forever crave new and exciting experiences promised by the ‘next’.
• STATUSPHERE: The growing status boost that comes from being savvy and shopping (environmentally) responsibly.
• EXCUSUMPTION: Cash-strapped, recession-stricken consumers embracing creative solutions to spend less and still enjoy as many experiences and purchases as possible.

A few examples:

• Decathlon, the French sports apparel and equipment store, launched Trocathlon for a week in October 2011. Stores bought back any used equipment in return for coupons valid for six months

• Amazon Student released in August 2011, enables students to scan the barcodes of books, DVDs, games or electronics they own, and see the trade-in price. If accepted, a shipping label is generated, and the funds awarded as an Amazon gift card

11. EMERGING MATURIALISM

This is what we said about MATURIALISM a while ago: “Thoroughly exposed to (if not participating in) an uncensored, opinionated and raw world (especially online!), experienced consumers no longer tolerate being treated like yesteryear’s easily shocked, inexperienced, middle-of-the-road audiences. Able to handle much more honest conversations, more daring innovations, more quirky flavors, more risqué experiences, these consumers increasingly appreciate brands that push the boundaries.”

This mainly applied to consumers in mature consumer societies, but in 2012 we will see more and more MATURIALISTIC manifestations in emerging markets too.

Why? For all the many cultural differences that may exist, the global consumer class is remarkably alike in its needs and wants, not to mention more urban too (read: more connected, more spontaneous and more try-out-prone). So if you’re a Chinese or Indian or Turkish brand, or you’re a Western brand selling to emerging markets, 2012 is the year that you can push things a bit further.

Examples:

• In 2011, Diesel India ran an in-store promotion headlined with the phrase 'Sex sells. Unfortunately we sell jeans' that offered a spoof sex toy to customers spending over USD 150. The leatherette 'Knee J' knee pads came boxed in packaging featuring risqué retro cartoons and the tagline "Knee Jerk Reactions Guaranteed."

• US pharmaceutical brand Johnson & Johnson created an advertising campaign in China during September 2011 to raise awareness about gynecological health. A video commercial advertising a diary purportedly written by “V” (vagina, “?V??” in Chinese) took internet users to a dedicated microsite where users could view a fictional online diary written about women's sexual health. The 30-page virtual booklet had articles and information on relationships and sex as well as fashion and friendship.

12. POINT & KNOW

With textual search and textual information now being available to most people most of the time, the race is on to add a (useful) real world element – and by ‘real world’ we mean the world of objects and people.

2012 will see a mix of the known (Apps! Augmented Reality!) and the very known (QR codes!) bringing information about the objects (and even people) that consumers encounter in the real world instantly. And like some other trends, it’s the rise of the (always-in-my-pocket) smartphone that will fuel full-blown POINT & KNOW in the next 12 months. After all, the need and expectation for instant information and instant access to everything one wants to know, is already deeply ingrained in the SEE-HEAR-BUY consumer. Use POINT & KNOW in a practical fashion: adding depth of knowledge, communicating stories, origins, price comparisons, reviews, ecommerce and so on, or by all means, just have some fun with it!

An example:

• Google Goggles is a free image recognition app which enables users to search based on photographs taken with a handheld device. By taking pictures of objects, places or product barcodes, users can find out further information.

If you'd like to know more, please email mark.crawford@bauermedia.co.uk