FUTURING€¦ · Futuring The basic principle is very simple. There are trends in different shapes...
Transcript of FUTURING€¦ · Futuring The basic principle is very simple. There are trends in different shapes...
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FUTURING
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INSIGHT •• HILDE ROOTHART (TRENDSLATOR)
THE FUTUREOF YOURBRANDTRENDS BRANDS
stephen elop, the new ceo of nokia, sent all his
co-workers a letter in which he described the company as
a 'burning platform' a 'sinking ship'. It was made clear in
the letter what the worst problems at Nokia were. "What
happened at Nokia when our competitors fed the fire? We
fell behind, we missed the big trends, we lost time. We
thought we were making the right decisions, but with the
knowledge of now we see that we were years behind."
See here the importance of trend investigating in a
nutshell. Companies that are not connected to the spirit
of the time could capsize and find themselves at the
bottom of the sea. The other side of the coin is that
innovation is not simple because a lot of innovations fail.
The good news is that companies can not only anticipate
on trends to translate to their supply of products and
services. Product development is only one way to
anticipate trends. By translating trends into brands,
companies are much more effective and sometimes
easier at anticipating trends. Here it also applies that
good preparation and a structured approach are crucial.
This way of thinking and of working is being described in
From Trends to Brands (Kluwer 2001) through three
examples: Futuring, Domaining and Brand in Time.
Futuring is investigating and translating trends to a vision
of the future. Domaining is the mapping from the brand
portfolio and Brand in Time is the translating of trends to
brands.
TREND WATCHING? Not so difficult if you do your homework. TREND TRANSLATING? Very difficult if you don't know where you have to start and how it needs to develop.
Trends translating to brands gives a company the decisive advantage to be well prepared for the future. trends to brands offers a structured approach.
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FuturingThe basic principle is very simple. There are trends in
different shapes and sizes, like different levels of trends.
In the research of trends there is a distinction being
made between duration and impact.
Product and market trends, short terms trends that are
happening in certain branches, last a maximum of 5
years. What is at stake here is the changing of the
supply. In every branch there are market trends. As an
example of a market trend is an 'art collective'. At
various communities and platforms artist, musicians
and designers offer their creative products. Take for
example Etsy.com. In addition, they find each through
music and art projects, where collectively they work
together on art work or charity projects.
Consumer trends, trends of mid length, have a duration
of between 5 to 10 years. In this case it is about
changing behaviour, preferences and needs of consum-
ers or citizens. An example of a consumer trend is the
need for connectivity. As described with terms as Share
(MOOD 07, Trendslator 2006) and Connect (MOOD 10, Trendslator 2009). We are witnessing the end of
privatization, market working and the extreme form of
'the biggest interest is self interest'.
What has to change is a society in which self interest is
replaced with common interest. The time of extreme
capitalism in which the individual freedom was of
central importance has passed. The essential term New
forms of solidarity are born.
Finally, there are trends that have their impact for a
period of 10 to 30 years. Societal trends are overshad-
owing market trends. They have their impact on big
groups of consumers in society as well as governments,
companies and organizations. Nothing and no-one can
escape from societal trends.
An example of such a long term trend is 'socialization'
(Zien, Business Contact 2005). The age of the
individual is reaching its end. The main question for the
future is not how individual needs can be fulfilled but
rather how we bring everyone back together. What
replaces the individual will not be a return to the pillar
society or the target groups of the eighties. What is
more likely to happen are flexible forms of socialization
in which every individual contributes to the group.
The examples in the trends described are not contra-
dicting each other, they go in the same direction. Short
term, mid term and long term trends can be compared
with each other based mutual content.
DomainingWhere trends are constantly under the pressure of
change, brands are static, rock solid. But nothing is
farther from the truth. Brands need to go with the flow
in order to be and to stay relevant for the consumer and
shareholders.
After the economic crisis more and more companies
replaced the capitals in their logos with lower case
letters. For example, Nationale-Nederlanden is now
called nationale nederlanden and Alex is changed to as
alex. This is how companies take a step back, instead of
being over confident in their logo, they express
modesty, soberness and restraint.
Most companies do not have one brand but several.
These brand can also be classified just like trends by
certain classification. There are sub-brands or product
brands, main brands or consumer brands (in case of
B2B; buyers brands) and corporate brands or organiza-
tion brands. These levels of brands are comparable with
the level of trends mentioned above.
In some cases these brand levels are noticeable to the
consumers. Dolce Gusto is a sub brand that is part of
the main brand Nescafé. The corporate brand can often
be found on the back of the package, in this case Nestlé.
Sub brands like AH Excellent, Allerhande and Euro
Shopper are brands under the umbrella of the main
brand Albert Heijn. The corporate brand is Ahold.
The main brand Coca Cola offers three sub brands. Coca
IT IS OVER WITH THE ExTREME FORMS OF CAPITALISM IN WHICH FREEDOM OF THE
INDIVIDUAL IS THE CENTRAL FOCUS
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Cola (the classic cola), Coca Cola zero and Diet Coke or
Coca Cola Light. The Coca Cola Company has more
brands than coca cola.
For every brand in a portfolio it is possible to identify
values (market-, consumer-, communal-, values). For Coca
Cola, for example, it is happiness, living positively.
Brand in TimeThe (precondition) for success for companies is not only
to know what the trends are (futuring) but also to know
yourself (domaining).
The challenge is to select and translate trends that are
connected with the different brands in the portfolio.
Sometimes this is simple, for example with organizing an
event, sale or a campaign. As KLM did with the premier of
a Twitter flight. KLM promised to organize an extra flight
for a concert in Miami if there were enough registrants
on www.fly2miami.nl. Within five hours the flight was full.
KLM cleverly and swiftly anticipated the market trend
'online actions' or 'Twitter events'.
A similar example is Flexa Let's Color. Let's Color is an
international movement that brings color to the
neighborhood, the street or building. With this campaign
Flexa anticipates on the market trend 'involved actions'.
Communication can be a effective means to anticipate
market trends. What provides more impact is to
anticipate on consumer trends. Potentially resulting in
the adjustment of an existing consumer brand or the
introduction of a new brand. Current examples are Sizz
from Vodafone and RTL, Inshared van Achmea and the
'Friends lottery' from the 'National Good Cause Lottery'.
Achmea as well as the National Good Cause Lottery
anticipate on the consumer trend of connectivity more
specifically, fair sharing. With InShared this is referred to
as 'we all benefit' and at 'Friends lottery' if you win, your
friends win, too.
The most far reaching translations of trends are those
trends that not only entail the department of communica-
tion or marketing but have their influence on the whole
management of the company. For example think of the
communal trends such as 'humanization' and 'sustain-
ability'. Annual reports about communal responsibility
and sustainability are not enough. The good intentions
have to be translated into good conduct.
Unilever explains on www.sustainable-lving.unilever.com
how it wants to make a difference in the long term on the
areas of health, sustainability, livability through many
small steps. With this a vision for the long term has been
translated to the corporate brand in the form of the
Unilever Sustainable Living Plan. In the future this plan
will be feasible through all kinds of main brands and sub
brands carried in the portfolio of Unilever. With this
Unilever is an example of a company that successfully
anticipates on all brand levels to trends. Leading by good
example.
BronnenVan Trends naar Brands
Hilde Roothart en Wim van der Pol - Kluwer 2001 Zien - Trends van vandaag, markten van morgen -
Hilde Roothart - Business Contact 2005MOOD 07 - Trendslator - Trendslator 2006MOOD 10 - Trendslator - Trendslator 2009
hilde RoothaRt
is a trend watcher and founder of Trendslator.www.trendslator.nl
www.trendstobrands.nl
TRENDS HAVE TO MOVE WITH THE WINDS OF TIME
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TRENDS TO BRANDS
FUTURINGThe research and translation of trends into a vision on the future
DOMAINING Structuring of the brand portfolio
BRAND IN TIMEResearch and translating of trends to brands
A foundation for a new professional area. That is what Hilde Roothart from Trendslator and Wim van der Pol had in mind when they described the method
to integrate trend- and, brand management. Ten years after VAN TRENDS NAAR BRANDS (From Trends to Brands) it is time to look back and ahead.
And to prove that the methods described in this book do work.
WWW.TRENDSTOBRANDS.NL
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