Among 2005’s predictions and guesstimates, I ran across 10 consumer mega-trends from Datamonitor, a London-based information company. Item 5 says consumers want “even more personalization, be it in the way they live, the marketing they receive and the products and services they consume (coffee bars that allow you to customize your drink, for example). Food and drink companies are starting to respond with customized labels and customizable single serve machines (e.g. Senseo coffee).”
What does this tell us? One, don’t buy any stock in tea companies. Two, people are the same all over. They want personalization and personal attention, but they’ll scream if you take it too far. Other trends:
· Kids are growing up younger, but more adults want to act like teens.
· The distinctions between the sexes are blurring as women marry later and take on more male roles. Also, per-capita consumption of alcohol among U.S. women jumped 25 percent between 1998 and 2003.
· Traditional lifestages are being delayed or abandoned, particularly among Hispanic families.
· Consumers are curbing their spending in some areas to splurge in others.
· Consumers are rooting themselves in home and family more.
· People want to be better connected, and not just through technology.
· Consumers tolerate risk more and seek intense experiences.
· Expect even more multitasking and on-the-move consumption.
· People are putting greater value on healthiness and their own well being.
It sounds like you’re golden if you’re marketing an edgy product that contains alcohol to a single, busy Hispanic woman who doesn’t get enough sleep and is caffeinated out, yet she wants to feel better about herself and likes to try new and exciting things.
Ed McLean Omitted From Columnist List
In our 25th anniversary retrospective issue last fall, DM News founder/owner Adrian Courtenay invited former columnists and contributors to let us know if they had been left out in our list of credits. We received a sad note from Ylavaune McLean, wife of Ed McLean, who wrote a number of columns on copywriting in the early 1990s. Mrs. McLean said her husband, one of the most highly regarded copywriters of his day, is in very poor and deteriorating health. We deeply regretted hearing this news. Friends and colleagues may contact Mrs. McLean at P.O. Box 355, Ghent, NY, 12075.
