Be in Trend. Trendwatching, Trensetting, Trendmaking “ What is it and how does it work

You often hear: "I had to sell everything and buy real estate in 2005", or: "If I had known, I bought 5400 bitcoins in 2013 and would now live in Monte Carlo", or: "It took 5 years ago to study to be a programmer ". These phrases say that knowing or guessing a trend means securing a bright future. Trendmaking.

Everyone who sells online is not indifferent to trends. We are talking not only about marketers, but also about advertisers, SMM, managers, startups and business representatives in general. To realize the current trend means to be on a horse, and to anticipate - to be ahead of competitors. Sometimes this is enough to achieve great success.

 There are several approaches to studying trends:

Pragmatic (trendsetting) - to see what the industry leader is doing and try to do something similar or better. Another option is to "sit on the tail" of the growing trend and promote it. This approach works in trendsetting. Trendsetter - a promoter of a new trend, technology or brand. Such people are constantly looking for fresh trends and promoting them. This can be for profit or at the call of the soul, the key feature - attention to a third party.

The trendsetter sees the trend and follows it

Scientific - trendwatching, based on a serious study of market trends and modeling the situation. This is done by individual marketers and even specialized companies. Trendwatch calculates the trend and on the basis of data studies the environment and the general situation.

Creative - to act intuitively, create trends and become a trendmaker - a dictator of trends. Trendmaker just makes a trend Of course, there are intermediate models. I propose to leave pragmatics and creativity for later, and analyze trendwatching in detail.

What is trendwatching?

Trend watching is an analytical practice that identifies current trends. It appeared and developed in fashion, film, game design and TV in the late 20th century. In a sense, trenwatching combines the study of trends, directions of development, trends and everything that helps to predict the future. Trend watching is essentially a cross between futurism design and marketing. That is, you need to be able to collect and sort data, process information and anticipate trends. Then artistically design the idea, well, sell the result.

Where do trends come from?

 This is one of the most important questions and there is no single answer. It is often an innovation that closes out changing needs. Example: in the middle of the 20th century. many people began to eat on the run, to speed up the process was invented disposable utensils made of paper and plastic. Also, a trend can be created from an excess of one product and a shortage of another. Example: processed cheese was invented during the First World War, because in the United States there was an overproduction of ordinary cheese, which was poorly stored. At the same time, soldiers at the front needed a similar product, with a long shelf life.

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The junction of sciences or branches can also be very fruitful for discovery. Example: autopilot for cars. There are 6 factors of trend analysis:

1. Demography - answers the questions:
2. Where and for whom; Economy - how profitable it is;
3. Technique - how to do it;
4. Social - in what cultural and social environment;
5. The right - to what extent it corresponds to social contracts;
6. Natural - the influence of climate and the world.

Example: In 2013, British scientists learned how to make artificial meat, they spent more than 300 thousand dollars and two years to gather muscle fibers for a hamburger.

Let's look at the list:

• Demography - for vegetarians;
• Economy is not profitable at all;
• Technique - very difficult;
• Social - neutral;
• The law is neutral;
• Nature - probably positive.

As a trend for business, such meat is possible, but in the future. This short illustration will help you better understand trendwatching. Similar factors are in demand in trend analysis, as well as in the development of new ones. In fact, these questions should be asked by everyone who plans to enter the market.

Trends and their characteristics

When studying trends, it should be borne in mind that there are three main characteristics or basic states of the trend:

• Direction (ascending or descending, strengthening or weakening).
• Strength - the greater the influence and spread of the trend, the stronger it is.
• Duration - the longer the trend lasts, the higher this characteristic.

The direction is the state in which the studied trend is or was. It can be represented as a curve.

Example: in 2020, gauze masks were clearly trendy products. They made a lot of money sewing and selling them. In the second half of 2021, the trend is downward, the market is crowded,

Demand has fallen. This means that in 2021 it makes no sense to open proceedings or buy a batch of masks.

The power of the trend. Of course, there is no dynamometer for the trend, but you can get data on the popularity of a product or service and assume the strength of the trend. Factors may include sales revenue, distribution geography, media mentions, citations, and so on.

The power of the trend. Of course, there is no dynamometer for the trend, but you can get data on the popularity of a product or service and assume the strength of the trend. Factors may include sales revenue, distribution geography, media mentions, citations, and so on.

Example: a strong trend of recent years - environmental friendliness. Is it important for our project to understand whether environmental trends will increase or not? To find out, it is enough to analyze foreign resources. A large number of sites note that greens have now "switched to environmental shame," that is, they use psychological attitudes to evoke the right emotions.

What does this mean? About strengthening the eco-lobby.

Conclusion - you can safely bet on this trend. The duration of the trend. How much can you discuss this or that topic, and with what bias? Let's go back a year or two: in quarantine there was a trend for home exercise machines, rubber for gymnastics and yoga mats.

How to set the duration of the trend? Engage in such products or not?

In March 2020 and early 2021 quarantine periods were the rise of search queries, now demand has stabilized, buying a batch of dumbbells in China does not make much sense.

How is the study, how to distinguish a real trend from a one-off?

I offer a small checklist for trendwatching. Filling it out, you get a more or less complete picture:

• How long has there been a trend, where is the initial phase?
• What is the main idea of ‹‹the trend?
• Were there similar trends?
• How practical?
• How does the trend relate to other industries, brands, products, products?
• What sources actively mention him? How does it affect the consumer?

The more changes a trend can cause, the greater its potential in the long run. Example: a forgotten trend of 2017 - spinners, children and adults were sick of them. Those who managed to buy and sell consignments of goods in the first months managed to earn on spinners. Please note - this is a fast, impractical and one-time trend!

Study trends in practice

Thanks to the Internet, there are enough tools to study trends, let's look at them briefly.

1. Google Trends searches for trends through popular search queries.
2. Trendistic - shows the most popular articals on Twitter.
3. Binginstead of Google - Google trends with pictures.
4. Newsmap - the hottest news.
5. Trendwatching sites TrendWatching.com and TrendHunter.com.

Instead of a conclusion

 Now is a very interesting time, in 50 years, probably will talk about the "golden age of the Internet", when technology was well developed, and niches are unoccupied. The business is influenced by trends, buyers and many other factors. To navigate it, you need to have an idea of ‹‹what is in demand now and will be in demand tomorrow. We hope that the article on trendwatching will help you find tips and ideas for the right actions in business. Be in trend!