Trends for theNear Future

Cannes International Festival of Creativity 2012

Marian Salzman

• Brief history of trendsWhat We’ll Cover

• Then. Now. Next.• Newscrafting the future

Brief history of trends(Will it be 20 years?)

The death of the celebrity endorser.

1993

America is going online.

1994

angst.Food1995

Americanization is not globalization.

1998

Glocalization.1998

Millennium Blue.

1999

Singletons.1999

Internet

spying.

1999

2004 M tro

Sexu

lsand the angst of maleness.

2003

2004Blogging

going

mainstream

.

Sleep is the new sex.2005

Brand sluts.2006

Radical transparency.

2007

2007Blue is the new green.

2007

Local is the new global.

2008 The prime crisis.

A children’s place.

2009

Cellphonesare the newtrans fats.

2010

2011Grey divorce.

Water isthenewoil.

2011

The new social is antisocial.

2011

Let’s get REALLY competitive.2012

2012 Beached white males.

Then.Now.Next.

MarriageThen: Straight people marriedNow: Marriage gets delayedNext: Partners marry or not depending on tax benefits

Religion

Then: Religion was decliningNow: Religion is the subtext of red vs. blueNext: Modern forms of orthodoxy fill the void for many

Then: Consumers were loyalNow: Consumers have discovered the joy of sex with multiple “partners” (brands)Next: Marketers seek monogomy in millennials

W men

Then: Women cooked the bacon, and maybe brought it homeNow: Women bring home the bacon, fry it up, then go back to work in their home officeNext: Women bring home the bacon, and more and more men will put it in the pan

Then: AmsterdamNow: BrooklynNext: Anywhere in the Southwest

Places

Branding Then: Brands were soloNow: Brands are in bed with like-minded companionsNext: Megabrands form and exploit the power of (more than) one

Then: Work in an officeNow: Work in a cloudNext: Work less, live more

Workplace

Then: The medium is the messageNow: The medium is in service to brandsNext: The message is the medium

Messaging

Then: Cash in handNow: Online bankingNext: Smartphone payments

Money

Privacy

Then: I want my privacyNow: I want to tell you everythingNext: I want to tell you everything, but leave me alone

Household Then: June CleaverNow: “The Real Housewives”Next: What’s a housewife?

FearThen: Fear over Communists and nukesNow: Fear over anything and everythingNext: Fearless takes over to innovate and survive

Weather Then: Earthquakes, tsunamis and KatrinaNow: Extreme weatherNext: Overheated planet

FinanceThen: Dull angst over savingsNow: Financial insecurity, rising costs of healthcare; where did my pension, life savings and retirement plans go?Next: Work until we die

Then: Nuclear annihilation as fearNow: Renewed hopes for nuclear energyNext: Nuclear errors

Nuclear

Cyber-PrivacyThen: Fear of Internet piracyNow: Hope for Internet privacy, fear of everything being made public or hacked.Next: Cyberpadlocks

Then: Our institutions have failed us, mistrust of corporations and investment firms (Enron, Tyco, Madoff)Now: ClawbacksNext: Radical transparency

Institutions

Then: Corporate greedNow: Occupy movementNext: Backlash against the wealthy corporate executives themselves

Corporations

Pets Then: Blended puppies like labradoodle became chicNow: Invent your own blended puppy (aka designer mutts), with owners sampling the DNA of the dogsNext: Pets being cloned to live forever

GenderThen: Women on topNow: Christian Grey puts men on topNext: Power struggles to be on top

GreenThen: Only hippies were green Now: Everyone is tired of everything green Next: Green goes beyond mainstream the power of (more than) one

NewsThen: News broke by coming to attention of the nearest wire serviceNow: News breaks by coming to the attention of someone with a Twitter accountNext: • • •

For brands and causes, the essential value of public relations is increasingly coming from its ability to master the changing forms of news as traditional and social media intertwine. PR firms have a massive opportunity to go way beyond the old practice of pitching the news to become masters of newscrafting for our clients—a mix of putting out routine news in more compelling ways, creating news opportunities and coattailing relevant breaking news.

Looking forward: Newscrafting the future

Real-time newscrafting We’re all making news as we’re consuming it, and this leads to an adrenaline-rushed world where all news seems to be breaking—even if it’s hard for everything to be happening simultaneously, in a frenzy, with epic implications for the masses.

We’ve also all become narrowcasters, sharing the news we care about with the people we touch: our fans, friends and followers. We call this mycasting.

The multiplicity of “my” viewpoints being heard on new channels is impressive.