brand trends and their impact on society

Nike and their impact on society NIKE AND ITS IMPACT ON SOCIETY

The well known brand - Nike experienced remarkable escalation between the period of 1970s and by the end of the late 1990s , thereby taking control of the consumer market as a global footwear and attire market competitor . Moreover , the most important factor that contributed to its success is the use of low cost labor by Nike in the developing countries , together with efficient supply chains and marketing strategies so as to boost the market campaigns

However , by the end of the nineties era , the brand started facing

br massive customer criticism of its marketing strategies that were practiced both by the production and the marketing department . The stock prices of the brand began to dip sharply and fell by 50 by the end of 1998 , as a result of which the management had to call off at least 1600 workers from all over its global units (Egan , 1998 Nike Annual Report 1998

Globalizing Trends and Technological Change

The modern state of industry is mainly set up as one that of a highly industrialized globalized process integration , which has major effects upon the economic , political , cultural , and technological fronts of the society . Marc Smith (2001 ) highlights the relationship between technology and social networks . He states "The recent rapid changes in technology have produced profound effects globally on the quality of life , in social relationships , and in the nature and quality of communication . The technological revolution , in fact , has replaced the industrial revolution in importance (Ebner , 2001

Social Movements

The company - Nike has been one of the most easily accessible targets of hostility regarding the use of sweatshops for different reasons . Its universal presence across the globe in a short period of time has impacted the social trends economically , socially , as well as culturally . The company has been under constant attack for indulging in unfair and unjust practices . On the other hand , Nike has always dismissed these allegations and projected its activities as that of an industry leader

During the last few years , the company has offered a new perspective to the consumer market . Time and again Nike has been criticized for exploiting labors within their manufacturing plants that are set up in poor countries across the world

This misuse has appeared much heavier in that they are producing lavish products for over consuming and high income economized societies and disproportionally remunerates their star endorsers with profitable agreements . The escalating disapproval and movements against Nike , on the other hand , have not had much of a bang on a major part of their market , metropolitan African-America . Poor African Americans reasonably have some impenetrability extending

apprehension for exploitation of workers abroad when the injustices they face in their own country are similarly acute

Effect on Youth

According to the researches made , the civilizing basis of the metropolitan youth and young generation stays with the hip hop brands which was first seen at the time of the seventies era . However , the style has changed by a large extent , but fashion has...

Abstract

Macro trends provide many insights for consumer trends because they describe major cultural shifts in consumers’ lifestyles and desires. They are the broad forces of change that create the future context of societies. As consumer trends accelerate and spread, they provide steady inspiration that grounds effective business ideas and tactics. Understanding them and determining their significance allows us to strategically anticipate and adapt to change, and alerts us to the possibilities in our future business environments.

A creative business must be able to spot these trends early by understanding consumer wants and needs. It also comes from a belief that an organization may not have all the new ideas. To meet the new challenges, one response is forming strategic partnerships. Many companies are reaching out outside their own organizations in a variety of ways towards meeting these newly emerging challenges.

Macro trends track the appearance and progress of emerging global phenomena, such as market motivators and consumer values. Understanding and utilizing macro trends is now seen as a prerequisite for business performance. Understanding them and determining their significance to current business and social challenges help in identifying new opportunities, facilitate strategic anticipation and alert us to the threats in the future business environments.

It is impossible to talk about branding today without talking about the digital realm. This year all of our experts discuss how digital relates to their topic. Offline is not an option no matter what your industry.

As we plan for 2012, it’s key to keep in mind that while we live in a touchscreen-happy, tuned-in-24/7 world, the basic principles of branding still apply. Brands must stay true to what they stand for to connect emotionally with their customers. The tools may have changed but customers remain the same. We asked 11 of our colleagues to make predictions about trends in 2012, and here’s what they have to say:

Trends in naming by Jason Bice Return of the boomers in the U.S. by Susan Nelson Trends in trending by Karl Isaac Trends in image sharing by Russ Meyer

Trends in luxury in China by Monica Au Trends in innovation by Ayo Seligman Trends in mobile by Felix Stöckle and David Keefe Trends in on-demand media by Patrick Saunders Trends in design by Marissa Winkler Built to change by Allen Adamson

Trends in naming

by Jason Bice

What can we expect to see in 2012?

Expect to see names get more abstract. There are more than one million names, taglines, and logos registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Finding a name that is unique, memorable, and-very important-ownable has become increasingly challenging. Names that are coined, abstract, or arbitrary stand the greatest chance of clearing the multiple hurdles involved in the naming process.

Storytelling will increase in prominence. Coined names come with zero baggage. Unfortunately, they also come without a built-in meaning. Couple that with brands being increasingly accountable to a very vocal and socially networked public, and story becomes a crucial part of what a name needs to deliver.

Green nomenclature will decline. Green vocabulary is now so pervasive in product, service, and company naming that it has become all but meaningless. Being environmentally responsible isn’t a “nice to have” any more-it’s a cost of entry. Being green in 2012 is to naming what being “new and improved” was to packaging copy in the 1970s. It’s simply another unquantifiable message that consumers are filtering out.

What are the implications of these trends for brands?

In a word: story. The advent of a consumer public wielding an always-connected, always-on Internet in their pocket has made most companies realize, if not act upon, the necessity for two-way communication with their audiences. It’s no longer enough for a name to evoke feelings of "that’s interesting." Naming today needs to get people to say, "I want to know more." In order to succeed at selling the best names, naming professionals also need to create stories that can be tied to a brand promise in a genuine and engaging way. Without the immediate recognition that descriptive and suggestive names provide, however, the inherent value of an abstract or coined name can be difficult to socialize–even with the most intrepid of clients. Storytelling is a powerful tool for “selling in” these types of names, especially when a client's wishlist did not pass preliminary legal screens.

As for the demise of green names, it’s very possible that “blue” could become the new green in 2012. Internationally, we’re already seeing a shift away from green to blue, as Volkswagen prepares to release its electric vehicle, the Golf Blue-e-motion, and small firms and large B2Bs alike shy away from the perfunctory green tag when it comes to naming their ecofriendly offerings. Will the blue concept fly? The jury is still out. However, with corporate citizenship becoming increasingly important to consumers, it’s also possible that the green nomenclature could shift away from chromatic references to ones that communicate social responsibility.

Which brands will stand out?

Clients that invest in the naming process and give it the time, budget, and research it requires will benefit from better and deeper naming explorations that truly speak to their brands rather than to product or offering attributes. Agency professionals who help companies maneuver the complexities of the trademark and legal screening process will benefit from client trust, which then allows them to push further creatively. And on both agency and client sides, partnering effectively to balance the creative and the tactical may lead to that most elusive of victories: a name that is memorable, distinctive, and over time, perhaps even synonymous with what a company does.

Return of the boomers in the United States

by Susan Nelson

There are an estimated 77 million of them in the United States. They control over 50 percent of discretionary spending and enjoy 80 percent of all leisure travel. They represent about 40 percent of regular Facebookers. But the percentage of marketers targeting the boomers? Negligible.

Defined as the generation born between 1946 and 1964, the boomers’ time may have come around again as the recession drags on and the unemployment levels of millennials stagnate. Their legacy of invention and reinvention and unwillingness to accept the status quo leaves them open to new brands, new products, and new ideas. In 2012 look for manufacturers and marketers to take more notice of the boomers.

What are the implications of this trend for brands?

While most companies primarily target the sought-after 18-49-year-old market, savvy marketers are starting to seek segments not already bombarded by marketing messages. With a majority of boomers online, digitally based organizations such as Encore Careers and Vibrant Nation are creating movements around pride and contributions to society, while rejecting the gray closet. In its advertising, Coldwater Creek boldly features mature women flirting and playing. Eileen Fisher shows models with (gasp!) gray hair, and shoe designers have noticed that boomers have lots of money and sore feet. Even the usually myopic television programmers are appealing to a boomer audience with Mad Men, The Playboy Club, and Harry's Law. Next year, look for more products, services, and programs targeted at boomers across all categories.

In addition to those named above, other smart technology, consumer electronics, cosmetics, and social media brands have already caught on. Yet so many consumer packaged goods (CPG) and media brands seem stuck in the fallacy that early adopters are all young and cool. They don’t get that there are a lot of boomers with plenty of money to spend.


Steve Jobs got it: Nothing suits the aging boomer better than the iPhone, the iPad, and the iMac. Prestige, style, ease of use, and portability-the perfect combination for the boomer who refuses to age. Pixar got it: The portrait of a long, loving, and loyal marriage that comprises the first 10 minutes of Up spoke directly to this audience and broadened the film’s appeal.

The traditional “senior ghetto” marketers, such as FirstStreet, are redesigning their catalogs and retooling their brands for a more stylish, energetic image. The Vermont Country Store (catalog and website) cleverly markets to boomers with a kitschy combination of retro products, humorous writing, and modern interpretations of traditional favorites.

Start watching for CPG marketers to develop line extensions (and premium price points) aimed at boomers' desires to stay active. Cosmetics giants such as Olay and L'Oreal will continue to introduce new brands and really begin to pay attention to the boomer male. More consumer

electronics brands could capitalize on boomers' lack of brand loyalty and entice them with new, convenient features such as more automation, enhanced video communication, and the allure of a single device that does it all. In the memorable words of that legendary boomer song: We’ve only just begun.

Trends in trending

by Karl Isaac

This is the time of year agencies like ours send out their annual trend reports, hopefully jam-packed with valuable insights to help readers like you better anticipate the future. One challenge inherent in reports of this type is that they are published on an annual cycle, which means they are out of step with our day-to-day thirst for timely insights about trends. In this era of immediate content creation, discovery, distribution, and consumption, we’re increasing our reliance on rapid-fire, timely snippets of information about relevant, real-time topics. I like to call what we’re seeing the "trendification" of trends themselves, and with it appears to be a key shift from trends to trending.

As we look forward, we recognize there will always be value in annual trend reports. They’re well researched and present a depth of information that real-time trending simply can’t deliver. But what’s increasingly clear is that the emergence of “what's trending” is itself an upcoming trend impacting what we see (Charlie Sheen's #winning), what we don’t see (#occupywallstreet trending blocked by Twitter), and ultimately how we interact with content online. Facebook’s recent change to feeds organized by top stories instead of recent posts sparked a controversy, but sent a clear signal that trending is an increasingly significant influencer of user interaction.


It’s easier than ever to mine for topics that are on customers’ minds. Trendification gives brands immediate access to global and local consumer sentiment, creating new opportunities for

marketing and customer engagement. Check out what’s trending in different local markets with resources like Trendsmap or Topsy, or within a specific window of time with Trendistic.

Consumers are now hyper-informed, yet the content they are absorbing is highly transitory. The half-life of a posted or tweeted link lastsonly a couple hours and can span multiple channels. Brands need to learn how to adjust to this rapidly changing, always in-the-moment transmedia culture.

Trending will start to make its way into product and brand marketing to help drive engagement. We’ve already seen trending features in applications like Foursquare that show which venues are popular at the moment. This is the tip of the iceberg and the next wave of integration will appear in brand marketing settings. For example, in an attempt to increase its display ad effectiveness, Google integrated a social layer into its +1 button enabling Google+ users to associate ads they “like” with their profiles. How big of a stretch would it be to also integrate trending topics that Google+ users are tracking to help increase click-through rates of ads that map to topical content?

If trendification becomes a dominant model of content consumption, brands need to ask how they can sustain consumer engagementin a landscape ruled by transient communication. Brands will need to think creatively about how to pivot and adapt to real-time consumer conversations and adjust their longer-cycle marketing plans to account for a much more nimble-and always current-transmedia environment.

Trends in image sharing

by Russ Meyer

Everywhere you turn, people are taking, tagging, uploading, and transforming digital photos-and then sharing them online with ever-wider audiences. A staggering 90 billion images have been uploaded to Facebook alone.

As photo technology has evolved, so have the reasons we take pictures and the uses we find for them. Being able to take a great camera just about anyplace has inspired millions of people to document and make public more and more aspects of their daily lives, not only the traditional photo op moments like birthdays and weddings.


We’ll see more brands begin to explore photo sharing at social networks, mimicking the way individuals use these channels to communicate their ideas and experiences through images. Just as Twitter has spawned a new verbal marketing language, hot startups such as Pinterest and the iPhone app Instagram are making it easy for brands to connect visually with consumers online. Powerful photography, long a mainstay of the auto, fashion, and travel industries, will take center stage for brands large and small as they use their digital presence to communicate wordlessly with audiences around the globe.


For brands, the key to sharing images effectively is point of view. The brand story, the narrative that defines and expresses a brand to consumers, must be established and then reinforced through image selection, just as brand voice does through words.

Visual social networks also bring exciting opportunities for brands to differentiate themselves. Threadless, a maker of customized T-shirts and other paraphernalia, is using an Instagram feed to take people inside its factory, creating an immediate, personal look at the process behind the product. Even GE has posted photos with Instagram to give consumers a peek “behind the curtain” at its manufacturing plants and distribution channels, fostering a sense of intimacy and authenticity rarely seen among corporate giants.


The big winners in 2012 could be the pioneers who build strong image networks with social channels. Given the relatively low cost of starting and sustaining a visual stream, we’re likely to see more brands dipping their toes in these waters.

Brands that can harness these emerging social behaviors to their advantage, much the way American Express did when it partnered with Foursquare to offer special deals, will see breakthroughs in their relations with the public. To be successful in 2012 and beyond, brands will have to follow the trail blazed by consumers in regularly sharing relevant images online.

Trends in luxury in China

by Monica Au


Increased wealth and a resulting interest in luxury means China will spearhead the luxury category, running neck and neck with Japan as the world’s largest luxury market. National pride and more confidence in the country's future are fueling interest in Chinese luxury indulgences. This coupled with the Chinese market's quick growth, diversity, and changing consumer demands mean big shifts are on the horizon.

Experiences over products. Wealthy Chinese consumers are maturing. Goods alone no longer satisfy their appetite for a luxurious lifestyle. Increased overseas travel has exposed them to sophisticated brand experiences that influence their expectations once they return home. These consumers are more inclined to invest in luxury experiences such as art and entertainment, travel, and wellness activities than they are to purchase luxury products.

Chinese over global. While infatuation with and appreciation for international luxury brands persists, Chinese consumers have developed a taste for products specifically designed and made for China. Many global luxury brands, especially in the fashion category, either incorporate Chinese elements into limited-edition products or create China-specific brands.


In addition to the opportunities for Chinese brands, there are increasing opportunities for well-known international luxury brands to expand their offers in China. Chinese consumers’ quest for luxury experiences motivates well-known and beloved brands to stretch into new industries, including restaurants, hotels, and spas.

Deliver excellent service. Luxury brands need to offer a full brand experience to Chinese consumers, meaning they must focus on delivering not only exceptional products but also excellent service. They must offer an experience that goes beyond just duplicating the look of an overseas luxury retail environment. Chinese brands need to create a complete package: the right service attitude, storytelling about the brand’s heritage and value, and a tailored brand expression that's unique to the China market.

Don’t dismiss the online experience. Luxury brands can no longer dismiss the Internet as an effective way to communicate with and influence consumers. Chinese consumers search online for information and news about luxury brands, promotions, and offers. They read celebrity blogs and scour social networking sites for reviews and commentary. While the in-store experience is still the most influential when it comes to overall brand building and purchase decisions, the Internet is catching up and becoming an effective touchpoint for influencing wealthy consumers. Newer channels such as iPhone apps provide a fresh, innovative platform for luxury brands’ online marketing. And although e-commerce is still at its infancy for luxury brands in China, it is crucial for companies to establish their online presence now.


Brands that have the guts to surprise, delight, and bring unique brand experiences to the market will stand out. Some brands are already doing it: Diageo masterminded Shanghai White, a vodka created just for the Chinese market that celebrates, in its brand story, 1930s Shanghai and its long heritage of Chinese distilling traditions. Hermès launched Shang Xia-essentially the Hermès philosophy expressed as a Chinese brand. And Kempinski plans to introduce a luxury hotel brand rooted in Chinese elements and aesthetics.

What is the burning question for 2012?

Should global luxury brands localize and possibly risk losing their original niche of being “foreign”?

Trends in innovation

by Ayo Seligman


Innovation has been a hot topic for business and brands for many years. Nearly every brand positioning strategy I’ve worked on in the technology space has some form of innovation at its core. But as companies struggle for their share of the diminishing consumer pocketbook, innovation is gaining traction in unanticipated categories. Innovation is no longer constrained to the development of new, disruptive technologies and products. And it has stopped being a specialized practice left to design teams and outside consultants.

Increasingly, companies are reorienting their internal cultures and physical work environments to foster creative thinking across their organizations. From customer service to reviewing corporate social responsibility practices, innovation has moved in-house.


As companies of all stripes work to integrate approaches like nonlinear thinking, empathy-driven customer insights, interdisciplinary collaboration, and rapid prototyping, brands will show signs that change is afoot. We will begin to see innovative ideas coming from surprising industries and unexpected departments. Brands with a heart of innovation will take more risks, behave more boldly, and become more people-centric.

Think of the beleaguered financial sector. Stigmatized, perhaps indelibly, by the missteps of the mortgage crisis, these companies need to dramatically shift their thinking to regain consumers’ trust. By incorporating a more empathic view of its customers, an innovative bank could generate–and quickly test–dozens of ideas that go beyond serving financial needs and create experiences that truly delight. Those experiences will help the brand stand out in customers’ minds.

Not only will a rise in innovative ideas help drive brand preference and grow value across industries, this trend may also have a surprising consequence: employees may find their jobs are more enjoyable.


Organizations prepared to use homegrown innovative thinking to modify their behavior or offerings will see a positive impact on their brands, but it’s important to remember the kind of cultural change that promotes innovation doesn’t happen by flipping a switch.

It can take years, even decades, to move a company born of the Industrial Age to prize ideas over products. Change of this sort requires both a commitment from the top and willingness among the rank and file. Brands that have a head start, are smaller and nimbler, or have nothing to lose will be those best poised to take advantage of this trend. Also, corporate and service brands have

an opportunity to shift customer perceptions more quickly than product brands because of the time-to-market issue with any product release.


How can more traditional companies swiftly infuse innovation into their cultures, capitalize on the new ideas they spawn, and drive anincrease in brand values?

Felix Stockle on smartphones

Almost all of us carry the same three things: our wallet, our keys, and a mobile phone. And for a number of us, that mobile phone becomes smarter every day. Smartphones have become an integral part of our lives. They connect us to our loved ones through voice or the latest status update on Facebook. They also connect us to the greater world through real-time news and Google searches. They even help us shop our way around the neighborhood, give us directions to the hottest nightspots, and entertain us with music, videos, and games. Smartphones are so advanced that someday soon they may become the only thing we need to carry.

App-savvy smartphones present an exciting new channel for marketers, and bring with them an onslaught of competitors. The bad news for brands is that customers’ attention is becoming much more fragmented. But there is good news: Even on this new playing field, the same old rules of Branding 101 still apply. As more mobile apps get released, it becomes critical for a brand to stay at the top of people's minds, differentiated from the crowd. A lot of today's hottest apps will have disappeared in 10 years’ time because they weren’t backed up by strong brands.


Brands need to take advantage of the mobile functionalities that add value for their customers. Take Amazon for example. The successful e-commerce giant recently optimized its site for mobiles, added instant mobile shopping functions, and plans to introduce a mobile device many

are calling the only potential iPad killer. So what’s the secret? Amazon adapts its business model to fit the promise of its brand. And, although there may be better mobile shopping sites, no other owns as strong a brand as Amazon.


Mobile devices add a new dimension to the fight for consumer attention. Will your brand remain the victor?

David Keefe on tablets

The tablet is the first true crossover device for use both at home and out in the world. And brands are starting to understand the tablet’s relevance to retail: Their owners increasingly take them to grocery stores, pharmacies, and car dealerships.


Content anywhere. Content brands that allow access from anywhere, such as HBO GO, will gain a definitive first-mover brand advantage as both a content creator and distributor of premium content. And even though you probably haven't heard of Synacor, this company stands to prosper too: Its technologies can organize your content on any media platform, anywhere, providing a medium for the “TV everywhere” movement.

Brand benefits for enabling the mobile marketplace. Brands like Verizon Wireless provide a core technology ingredient (their networks) that enables the mobile marketplace to function. Getting credit for making possible this marketplace builds positive perception of the brands.

New uses for longtime users. The pharmaceutical industry is looking at tablets, which it has been using for a while now, in a new way. By incorporating tablets into their sales and marketing initiatives, pharmaceutical companies have started to rethink doctor detailing and the supporting brand communications.


Start today. The market is growing rapidly. Brands that capitalize on the opportunities offered by tablets will have a head start.

Migrate your audience. Getting your brand’s traditional online audience to use tablets may encourage product purchases and build a loyal community.

Think video. Include video in brand storytelling to bring stories to life for tablet users. Tablets everywhere. Understand how to integrate tablets into places that intersect with existing

brand touchpoints. For example, many new cars will soon be equipped with tablet-like devices.


To what degree will most content, intelligence, and data move to cloud technology? And will that result in ubiquitous, supersmart, instant, on-demand offerings for tablets? They said 500 channels were impossible–we shall see.

Trends in on-demand media

by Patrick Saunders


When it comes to streaming content, the lines continue to blur between “lean-back” TV and “lean-forward” Internet experiences. An increasing amount of quality content paired with a market surge of video-enabled mobile devices have given consumers more choice than ever before as to how, when, and where they consume content. As they learn to shift easily between media experiences, content and convenience will become the major driving factors of consumer choice when it comes to streaming media.


Provider brands need to recognize that content and convenience cannot be mutually exclusive: give us both, or no deal. As evidenced by the backlash Netflix experienced over the decision to split DVD mail delivery and online streaming services, consumers are not ready to sacrifice a library of traditional DVD titles for the ease of instant streaming. And they want to access it via any platform they choose.

Clearly, the company that nails the content and convenience equation will inherit the on-demand video throne. More likely, however, is that a combination of players will figure it out, providing consumers with a variety of better options in a market currently permeated by imperfect solutions.


The past few years have seen a number of alternative TV platforms emerge–Apple, Amazon, Hulu, and Netflix–while traditional television and cable networks are offering on-demand video services through both in-box cable services and mobile applications.

Regardless of the platform, consumers will flock to the brands that combine quality content with a convenient and simple experience. Exclusive and nonexclusive content distribution deals (and in some cases hardware integration) will be the necessary route for some brands. Others are exploring models that leverage ownership of both the hardware and the distribution system (as Apple does with its devices). Blu-ray players and Internet-connected set-top boxes will begin offering even easier access to streaming content, such as a devoted Netflix button or app for remotes and menus.

Unfortunately, discovering the right mix of platform, technology, and business model may not be enough. Although many cable television networks hold an advantage in terms of exclusive content, they are hampered on the device distribution side by existing agreements with cable providers. Take for instance, HBO GO, the 2010 on-demand service. HBO GO delivers the “when and where” content model, but has failed to attract consumers desiring the á la carte promise of on-demand video because it’s only available to current cable subscribers. No one cares about a network’s legal imbroglios when they want to stream Star Wars and can’t. The message is clear: Give us what we want, when we want it.


Steve Jobs’ final project was widely rumored to have been a wirelessly synced TV set with “the simplest user interface you could imagine.” Could a post-Jobs Apple redefine on-demand video just as it redefined the music industry? And if not Apple, who? For now, we’ll just have to wait and stream.

Trends in design

by Marissa Winkler

Looking at an ad on a screen and holding a letterpress print are completely different ways of experiencing design. Drawing your fingertips across the ridges of an illustration, seeing the light catch and throw shadows on the letterforms, smelling that hint of ink left behind. A drop shadow is not the same as a die cut and a silver gradient is not the sheen of metallic ink. In other words, touchscreens don't stimulate our actual sense of touch. Tactile design produces an emotional response that many think is missing from digital, and in response some designers are reverting to a tactile approach. Others, meanwhile, attempt to replicate the experience through digital tools.


Next year, young designers will push the tactile design trend even further. One to watch is Kyle Durrie, a letterpress printer from Portland, Oregon, who has made it her personal mission to teach letterpress techniques from the back of a traveling van (with support from the Hamilton Wood Type & Printing Museum). Typographer Jessica Hische is helping connect designers and businesses worldwide with specialty printing studios through her most recent web project, Inker Linker. One of the groups, Studio on Fire, is a leader in the letterpress revolution with a mission statement that resounds with the community: to “produce work with a tactile and distinctively modern edge.”

We can also expect to see the convergence of tactile and digital, and for these mediums to interact in new ways. An exhibition in Chicago this year, “Wood Type, Evolved: Experimental Letterpress & Relief Printing in the 21st Century,” examined the relationship between technology and traditional print methods. The show was curated in part by Nick Sherman, a typographer who works primarily in web fonts and user-experience design but also harbors a love for the handmade. Sherman carved and printed eight-foot-tall wood type for the exhibit. For other brands and designers this convergence means creating faux-tactile design, such as the textured leather user-interface elements in Apple's recent Find My Friends application. LetterMpress, a virtual letterpress iPad app, tries to replicate not just the aesthetics, but some aspects of the experience of printing: Designers can choose and combine “wood” blocks and then “ink” and “print” using their touchscreens.


The tactile trend is an opportunity for brands to connect with consumers on a more sensory and emotional level. Consumer packaged goods brands have the advantage because their products and packaging are literally touched and held by consumers. Jack Daniels, for example, completed a project with Yee-Haw Industries to produce limited-edition letterpress posters. Some of the whiskey was poured into the ink, just to make it more authentic. Why letterpress posters? Because, in their words, “Yee-Haw makes things the way they think is best-not the cheapest or fastest way, but with an independent spirit Jack would have been proud of.”

For brands where a literally tactile design solution isn't readily applicable, the question remains: Can faux tactile elicit the same emotional response? Perhaps in some cases it can. When it can’t, there's still an insight to glean from the tactile trend-consumers crave something that feels a little more “real.”

Built to change

by Allen Adamson

The recent Association of National Advertisers conference in Phoenix confirmed for me what marketers are focused on and challenged by as we head into the coming year: Given the fact that the world has gone from connected to hyper-connected and that companies face exponential pressure from the forces of globalization, brands that want to succeed must be willing, ready, and able to change-deftly and resourcefully. Put simply, companies that once thought in terms of “built to last” must now think in terms of “built to change.” Creative thinking and an entrepreneurial spirit are the price of entry, and any company that doesn't recognize change as the new normal will not have a fighting chance.

Real time is a reality. Given the rapid acceleration in the evolution of technology and the inherent innovation this enables, the ability to make things happen in real time will be a critical asset and competitive advantage. Companies that watch, ponder, and wait for conclusive evidence before launching into a new endeavor will be left in the dust. It’s time to get comfortable with calculated risk taking. Companies will need to read the playbook while on the field and feel confident enough with the knowledge they have to move forward with their plans. Or, as the late, great Steve Jobs remarked, “You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.”

Creativity is everyone’s job. With ingenuity and execution on the line, being creative must be highly regarded as a part of every employee's job description. This means that up, down, and across the board everyone in an organization must understand the purpose of the brand and be encouraged to look for ways to bring it to life for the customer. This is especially true for employees who interact directly with customers, as they know what’s actually happening with a brand in the outside world. All employees must be engaged and inspired by their jobs and by what they do.One of my favorite quotes on the topic of innovation comes from Intel cofounder

Andrew Grove who said, “Success breeds complacency. Complacency breeds failure. Only the paranoid survive.” In other words, average is over and tomorrow is too late.

Reinvent the line. It’s no longer enough to move the line, companies must reinvent it. For example, Uniqlo has taken the basic Gap formula and made it better, more fun, and more edgy. This trendy Japanese retailer, with its amazing new flagship store in New York, can make anyone look cool, and for a very cool price. Amazon, once known for books, books, and more books, continues to look at relevantly differentiated ways to better meet consumer needs, including expanded merchandise, technological innovations, and customer service. And lest we forget brands that have been around forever, Procter & Gamble and Ford are proving that old dogs can adopt new tricks in order to stay ahead. Brands that didn’t see the reinvention writing on the wall soon enough, including AOL, Kodak, Sprint, and Burger King, will have a tough time catching up. It’s all about real time, remember?


Will companies whose cultural DNA does not contain the genes for creativity and nimbleness be able to pick up those traits fast enough to make it to 2013?

brand trends and their impact on society

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