theentrepreneurialmother.com.au » trends

12 Crucial Consumer Trends for 2012… trendwatching.com

theEmother — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 07:05:49 +0000

In 2012, much as in previous years, some brands may be staring into the abyss, while others will do exuberantly well. And while we can’t offer any help to defaulting nations or bankrupt companies, we do believe that there are more opportunities than ever for creative brands and entrepreneurs to deliver on changing consumer needs. From Canada to Korea. Hence this overview of 12 must-know consumer trends (in random order) for you to run with in the next 12 months. Onwards and upwards: read on…

Source: www.trendwatching.com. One of the world’s leading trend firms, trendwatching.com sends out its free, monthly Trend Briefings to more than 160,000 subscribers worldwide.

Trends in Business Networking…

theEmother — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 05:37:05 +0000

When Dr Ivan Misner, Founder and Chairman of BNI, the world’s largest business networking organisation, wrote his first book on business networking in the late 1980s, there were virtually no books or materials on the subject.

When he did media interviews, the most common question was: “Isn’t networking just a fad?” After 25 years, he doesn’t get asked that question anymore. This is a field of study that is coming into its own.

When he did my research for his first book, he could find almost nothing in the library on the topic. Today, type the words “business networking” into Google and got 150 million hits! Times are changing and so is networking.

Read about his three “trends” in business networking, as reported in mybusiness.com.au, that he foresees over the next several years. They relate to

integration,
education
association

So, what comes next? according to Futurist Chris Sanderson…

theEmother — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 03:46:18 +0000

As reported in TheAge.com by Michael Short for The Zone…

…Chris Sanderson of the Future Laboratory talks of ”the turbulent teens”. We are, they say, entering a time of unusual volatility, driven primarily by mobile technology and demographics.

”We coined the expression to describe a decade in which change is the norm, rather than the exception. That’s coming at us from all different angles . . .

”We sense that all of this turbulence is going to cause these trends to behave like teenagers. So, one minute you swing and the next minute you swing back the other way.”

But there’s a beacon. ”All our research has shown that the more engaged, the more involved we feel, the more we can then talk about our experience, the more we tend to remain loyal to that brand.”

”If you’re in a period of transformation, revolution even, where things are just moving so quick, a solution from a business perspective is to be absolutely rock solid . . .

”So, when you start using metaphoric language to describe potential business strategy, either your philosophy is written in stone and is unchanging – you present the same thing you’ve always presented because people will come to you because you represent security, stability – or you’ve got to be as flexible or kind of fluctuating as the consumer. You’ve got to anticipate and appreciate their mood swings and their desire to be able to tip onto the next things.”

For those who opt for agility, Sanderson has come up with a mantra: ”betapreneurialism”. Actually, it’s a cute, clever word for the classical notion of winning by constantly testing ideas and methods. Ditch the 100-page business plan and just do it.

”We saw the continued growth of small, young businesses that were just having a go, trying things in the face of often intense competition from much bigger, established brands . . .

”It is not about being an underground movement and trying to bring down the doors of capitalism. It is about a generation of people who are very pro-commerce; they are very engaged with commerce. But, what we’ve seen is a freeing-up or removal of the traditional structures that define commerce.”

”Whilst people have always been able to stand on the street corner and sell something, the combination of the digital world and access to digital technology shifts the way that we think about traditional constructs of business and the organised process of what it meant to be in business.”

Where Sanderson is trying to give some fresh value, though, is by helping people understand what this means for retailers and their customers. The potential watershed is the power of the computer so many of us carry around in our pockets, and the ability for retailers to know exactly where you are at any moment, should you allow them… continue to article and interview transcript

11 Crucial Consumer Trends for 2011, care of trendwatching.com

theEmother — Sat, 15 Jan 2011 01:25:32 +0000

Source: www.trendwatching.com. One of the world’s leading trend firms, trendwatching.com sends out its free, monthly Trend Briefings to more than 160,000 subscribers worldwide.

Brief overview of the 11 consumer trends:

1. RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS

In 2011, expect companies to monitor consumers’ public moods and act upon them with random acts of kindness…marketing may never be the same

2. URBANOMICS

Are you ready for hundreds of millions of more daring, more experienced consumers? Oh, and that’s just one side effect of rapid global urbanization…

3. PRICING PANDEMONIUM

Flash sales, group buying, GPS-driven deals: this year, pricing will never be the same…

4. MADE FOR CHINA (IF NOT BRIC)

Expect an increasing number of ‘Western’ brands to launch new products or even new brands dedicated (if not paying proper respect) to consumers in emerging markets…

5. ONLINE STATUS SYMBOLS

This year, you can’t go wrong supplying your (online-loving) customers with any kind of symbol, virtual or ‘real world’, that helps them display to peers their online contributions, creations or popularity…

6. WELLTHY

As good health is now as important to some consumers as having the biggest, newest or shiniest status symbols, growing numbers of consumers will expect health products and services in the next 12 months (and beyond) to prevent misery (if not improve their quality of life), rather than merely treating illnesses and ailments…

7. SOCIAL-LITES AND TWINSUMERS

Expect even more consumers to become curators: broadcasting, compiling, commenting, sharing and recommending content, products, purchases, and experiences to both their friends and wider audiences…

8. EMERGING GENEROSITY

Brands and wealthy individuals from emerging markets (yes, especially China) will increasingly be expected to give, donate, care and sympathize versus just sell and take. And not just in their home countries, but on a global scale…

9. PLANNED SPONTANEITY

With lifestyles having become fragmented, with dense urban environments offering consumers any number of instantly available options, and with cell/smartphones having created a generation who have little experience of making (or sticking to) rigid plans, this new year will see full-on PLANNED SPONTANEITY…

10. ECO SUPERIOR

When it comes to ‘green consumption’, expect a rise in ECO-SUPERIOR products: products that are not only eco-friendly, but superior to polluting incumbents in every possible way…

11. OWNER-LESS

This could be the year when sharing and renting really tips into mainstream consumer consciousness as big brands and governments put their weight behind this cultural shift…
Read more »

12 Sales Trends for 2011 – Sue Barrett

theEmother — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 04:47:27 +0000

It’s been another challenging year for Australia’s sales professionals. While most sectors have now weathered the storm of the GFC, markets remain tough, buyers remain reluctant to spend and sales people continue to be tested. And while economic conditions are expected to improve in the coming 12 months, 2011 looks set to throw up a new set of challenges.

Without doubt the second decade of the 21st century will bring unprecedented change in how we sell and do business. With many businesses wondering what to expect and how to align their sales efforts moving forward, Barrett has identified the 12 Sales Trends of 2011.

It’s a list that highlights the holistic approach sales professionals need. Today’s sales person must be able to demonstrate leadership, an ability to collaborate, an ability to develop personal relationships with their clients and, above all, integrity.

As you read these trends, think hard about those that will have the greatest impact on your sales efforts next year, then go to our 12 Sales Trends in 2011 Poll to tell which trends will be on your radar in 2011.
read on…

Turning Social Capital Into Financial Capital…

theEmother — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 03:30:10 +0000

By Marcia Conner for ChangeThis.com

Social media has the potential to dramatically improve the inner workings of every business. The connections can quickly cross business silos, inform decision making, educate people at all levels, and allow employees—especially new entrants—to pick up the natural rhythms of how people around them work. But only if the business allows access to social networks. And most don’t… read on

Make Your Web Site a Real-Time Machine…

theEmother — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 03:13:43 +0000

By David Meerman Scott for ChangeThis.com

So ubiquitous have Web sites become that it’s hard to believe they’ve been with us for less than 20 years. It was the 1994 introduction of the browser-enabled World Wide Web that gave birth to the Web site. Since then they have gone through about four stages of evolution…
Now, we’re entering a fifth era of the evolution: transformation of the Web site into a real-time marketing (and sales) machine. This is the natural evolutionary outcome of a process that started with a new way to slip brochures under people’s doors… read on

EXCEPTIONALL…the rise of new powerhouses in new brands

theEmother — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 02:53:02 +0000

www.trendwatching.com. One of the world’s leading trend firms, trendwatching.com sends out its free, monthly Trend Briefings to more than 160,000 subscribers worldwide… here is the latest

With the entire world now battling it out in the consumer arena, the number of innovations aimed at consumers from Brazil to Belgium is staggering. Enjoy!

EXCEPTIONALL | “Exceptional B2C (business to consumer) innovations will increasingly come from all corners of the globe, with brands and talent from emerging markets in particular getting ready to shine.”

Now that virtually the entire world has joined the consumer arena, prepare for an avalanche of new brands, entrepreneurs and innovations from ‘emerging’ markets that will have global potential and appeal. From aggressive Chinese brands to Turkish creatives to Brazilian apparel, we’re seeing a sharp increase in world-class companies that can and will compete for consumers’ Dollars, Reais, Euros, Pounds, Rupees, Rands, or Liras.

Sure, the expansion of global markets creates new opportunities for existing well-known brands, but the real story of the rise of these new powerhouses is the new brands that are making waves, both within their domestic markets, but increasingly outside these, competing and even beating the established, entrenched incumbents at their own game. One thing’s for certain – the range of brands that consumers covet will be even more diverse in twenty, ten or even five years… read on

Look Around the Corner, not just ahead…

theEmother — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 02:43:03 +0000

By Robert H. Bloom for ChangeThis.com

Today, looking ahead is useless. Prior to this moment in our world, ‘looking ahead’ was the time-tested protocol, perhaps essential and potentially valuable when the world told time in seconds, not nanoseconds. Today, it is almost useless, because when you ‘look ahead,’ you will see and learn little or nothing… read on

ICA reports Small Business Policy and Program failure…

theEmother — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 09:36:37 +0000

ICA Overview:

Professor Ken O’Neill is one of the world’s pre-eminent authorities on small and medium policies. In a keynote address to the International Small Business Congress, Professor O’Neill has declared that government policies and programmes for SMEs globally over the last 25 years have produced no results and are a complete waste of money. He called for urgent review and reform. Below is an edited profile of Professor O’Neill and an edited version of his speech.

This talk will suggest that much of what we variously (and imprecisely) describe as enterprise entrepreneurship and small business policy probably doesn’t work—with great waste of money as a result.

We say it doesn’t work because overall rates of entrepreneurship or business growth are not rising or, where they are, it is difficult to attribute them to specific policy interventions of the sort which are universally applied… read on