Tuesday 15 May 2012

Flash trending

Feet of a typical Generation X Mum (me) ...Sports Relief 2012
In praise of tomorrow's National Flash Fiction Day (as mentioned in today's g2) I am going to attempt a 'flash review' of Breaking Trends latest breakfast briefing last month.

The example of micro-fiction in today's g2 is reportedly written by Ernest Hemingway and very poignant:

For sale: baby shoes, never worn.

The Breakfast Briefing was at the Charlotte Street Hotel and, after being welcomed by Alec Howe, founder of Breaking Trends, began with a visual blast of everything that's important to know about strong, weak and emerging trends...

This is my slightly gnomic report, written in the dark, of the Breaking Trends blast:

Soft affluence
Web of things
Multi-channel retailing
Gesture > mind control
Limerence
Spider lives +
Telemuting
22-30 year old women earn more than men of the same age

And four points Alec thought worth highlighting:
1. Life is overwhelming for Generation X mothers (so help them)
2. How resourceful Generation Y are and how quietly confident they are about sorting it all out
3. How dangerously under motivated the West is as compared to the East.
4. The massive potential for social disruption - Europe up the creek, US companies ready to go - good balance sheets...

Your challenge is to work out how your brand can help people with the knowledge of what is happening. As Alec says, "Fluency with the future needs to be innate in your business." I think what really needs to be innate is your willingness to listen and your energy to respond and innovate in response to what you  hear.

To find out more do get in touch with Alec.