MILK's blog delivers emerging
perspectives on changing consumer
culture, trends and social influences:
2010 The year of innovation.
The signs from budgeting and planning are clear, this year we should be set to see some genuine innovation in brand owning businesses, marketing teams and agencies alike.
Last year was about dealing with tough change, but this year is definitely about making the most of what you have and finding inventive ways to maximize opportunity.
Naturally here at MILK this is cool news. Being a company that specialises in cultural direction and how to develop new concepts to connect businesses or brands with consumers feels a good place to be.
The interesting thing is that the scope for developing concepts is broader than it has ever been. Whether it be straightforward brand strategy and proposition development, or NPD, or business diversification… the range is truly expansive.
We’re talking to clients and business partners about the different ways to innovate, sometimes with IP share on ideas and initiatives, sometimes working as an ideas creator, sometimes helping to drive innovation through business. Even the approach to innovation is becoming innovative!!!
When I used to work with T-Mobile, they had a slogan for their business philosophy: ‘Never stand Still’. It is certainly this mentality which will highlight the winners and losers in the year ahead, those brave and creative leaders will embrace this new era of pioneering and those that don’t just won’t be around for long.
Where do trends come from?
Much of the work we do at MILK is based on understanding changing culture and trends.
The interesting thing is that generally the preoccupation with trends focuses around: What is the trend and where’s it going? This has been fueled by books like Malcolm Gladwell’s Tipping Point, focusing in on why something small fads become popular trends and others fade away without establishing themselves.
For us, the more interesting point to focus on is: What is the trend derived from and why? What in culture is changing to make something of interest bubble to the surface in general societal attitudes and behaviours?
One indicator we use as a point of reference is shown in the diagram above.
Just about anyone who’s studied or worked in marketing has heard of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, but surprisingly few have come across Shalom Schwartz.
Schwartz took Maslow’s thinking and pushed it further to determine a map that demonstrates values states, it also proposes that these values sit opposite one another in a wheel like configuration.
Taking this simple reference point and applying it against society you can start to build a real picture of what makes us tick and more importantly why!
Now if you start to measure society’s values (like the smart folks over at Cultural Dynamics do!) then you start to understand the motivations and pressures driving shifts in values.
Understand this and you understand how trends form. Start to project values shifts based on known values movement and you can start to see how and if trends will grow!
For people in the communications industry or government this is like alchemy for ideas, it’s powerful stuff.