Even though the 2008 Trend Report is about consumer trends, any business professional trying to understand the future will always first want to figure out the macro trends dictating the global landscape. Which is why we've included 10 major 'forces' (political, economic, demographic and so on) shaping the world of business for years to come.

The report then addresses the ultimate question for marketers: what makes people happy? No longer can companies count on the answer to be (just) 'consumption.'
In fact, this year may be a good time to move 'HAPPYNOMICS' from the academic world to your ideation team. Expect an overview of the most current 'happiness' research, as well as phenomena like BLING ENDURANCE and STATUS DESPAIR. ( 2 videos included.)

Before the report really gets started on the 'juicy stuff' (12 themes, 20+ trends and 200 hands-on examples), it will discuss how to actually turn all these trend insights into this year's winning new products, services and experiences. Yup, in the end, the report is all about innovation, not just 'an interesting read'.

The 20+ trends covered in the report are part of bigger themes:
'REAL', 'BEST', 'STORY', 'UNREAL', 'UNFIXED', 'TIME', 'GREEN', 'DOMAIN', 'ONLINE', '(R)ETAIL', 'ASSIST' and 'PARTICIPATE'.
These themes are all about what will EXCITE consumers in the near future, and can be read/presented independently, or as a coherent 'story'.

REALLY REAL deals with the total, utter gap that exists between the real world (read: consumers) and the corporate world. From one of the slides: "Consumers these days have infinite resources and techniques to unearth and expose the fake, the untrue, the phony, the scripted, meaning unauthentic companies no longer can get away with their fakeness". The slides include plenty of visuals, brand examples and tips on how to close the gap this year, from 'real' communications to more transparency and reviews to sampling strategies. ( Video included.)

Just as big a trend is the hunt for "THE BEST". In the current sea of sameness, who really cares for the MIDDLE OF THE MIDDLE? So just like consumers, we have scanned the globe for the BEST OF THE BEST. First, we take a look at architectural developments (some of the buildings slated for completion in the next few years truly defy the imagination), including examples from Shenzhen, Beijing, Singapore, New York, London and Hamburg...

... we then monitor the growing number of mundane products getting an upgrade (from storage facilities to strollers to entire malls. And McDonald’s restaurants, and USD 300 toy ponies, and baby food, and beer, and cinemas, and caravans, and toilet paper, and coffee makers, and washing machines, and shoeboxes …

... and then investigate BEST OF THE BEST brands teaming up (think Philips, TOTO, UNIQLO), in order to re-imagine or invent a new, unique product or service, that delights consumers because it combines the best from multiple worlds...

... and then look at the ever-growing importance of edited content, of curated products, of cooperation between talented style-masters and mainstream brands (from Roberto to Sam to Giorgio to Tord)...

... and then end with UBER OBSCURE goods and services (from Barcelona, from Singapore, from New York), as consumers now want to be anything but the Joneses, Li's and Meiers.

The STORY theme is represented by the STORY INGREDIENTS trend: this year, more than ever, consumers will want products to contain story elements that will enable them to tell their own story, impressing their peers. Learn from (among others) Timberland, Tesco, Plum, and HubWear how to capitalize on this. ( Video included.)

For every trend, there's a counter trend. So while the aforementioned REALLY REAL trend will make waves this year, expect the UNREAL WORLD trend to thrive as well. We've included examples from (among others) Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Panama, Las Vegas and Singapore to highlight how the fake, the make-believe, if executed brilliantly, will still excite consumers.

The UNFIXED theme and trend deals with a shift in value perception: if consumers increasingly prefer experiences over physical goods, and if they’re keen on collecting as many experiences and stories as possible, then 'using' is better than 'owning'. The slides contain UNFIXED examples from UNFIXED brands from among others Malaysia, Denmark, US, The Netherlands, UK and France. ( Video included.)

Time is the new currency, time is the only scarce resource, time is the new status symbol, and so on. And unless consumers in the next 12 months suddenly all buy into the ‘slow life’, trading in financial gains, moving into smaller houses, and give up on shopping sprees, TIME is as big a desirable this year as it was in 2007.
Part of the 'TIME' theme, the DAILY LUBRICANTS trend lists plenty of new time saving innovations; all good input for coming up with a few yourself in the near future.

Ah, the 'GREEN' theme! First it was eco-ugly, then eco-cool, and last year, in the 2007 Trend Report, we highlighted the ECO-ECOSYSTEM. This year, we move on to ECO-EMBEDDED: goods, services and regulation that, once they’ve been installed or implemented, spread their eco-goodness without requiring too much effort (if any effort at all) from willing-yet-lazy firms and consumers. Think green buildings, green cities, a ban on plastic bags, and more. ( Video included.)

Part of the DOMAIN theme, INSPERIENCE ECONOMY highlights the trend of consumers increasingly 'importing' professional grade products and superior experiences into their homes. Next? Those insperiences actually trumping what's out there in the public domain. Examples (and innovation inspiration) galore!

We could do 200 slides on online and consumer excitement alone. We won’t. Instead, we’ll look at a few developments that will encourage an even warmer embrace of the online space by hundreds of millions of consumers worldwide in the next few years to come. And we’ll also take a peek at current and future virtual worlds. ( Video included.)

Amidst the complaints about the Wal-Martization of Manhattan, the blandness of the High Street, the mallfication of BRIC nations, there’s plenty of innovation going on in (r)etail. Besides examples of new shopping concepts, the report also lists more than a dozen quick ecommerce wins, accompanied by best-case examples. From Intention Commerce to Groupinion to Instant 1:1.

Part of the 'ASSIST' theme, BRAND BUTLERS is where advertising and branding meet REALLY REAL, as well as DAILY LUBRICANTS. Instead of stalking potential and existing customers (aka traditional advertising, which is not very 2008), why not make the new year about assisting consumers in smart, relevant ways? And yes, these slides too come loaded with examples from brands already making the most of this trend.

THE GLOBAL BRAIN kicks off the 'PARTICIPATE' theme. This year, we expect to see even more companies starting to tap into their customers’ collective experiences and knowledge, as well as many more ‘crowd’ led concepts. We’ve compiled an extensive list of new-yet-already proven concepts and ideas, as well as a number of promising, soon to be launched ‘participative’ ventures.

An update (including examples) on what we've previously described as "a vast army of consumers turning entrepreneurs; including small and micro businesses, freelancers, side-businesses, weekend entrepreneurs, web-driven entrepreneurs, part-timers, free agents, cottage businesses, seniorpreneurs, co-creators, mompreneurs, pro-ams, solopreneurs, eBay traders, advertising-sponsored bloggers and so on"". Expect this trend to include more P2P initiatives this year; examples of which are of course included in the slides.

With (in particular younger) consumers having come to expect to be able to create anything they want as long as it is digital, and to customize and personalize many physical goods (MECONOMY!), the next frontier will be digitally designing products from scratch, then having them turned into real physical goods as well. Learn (or partner with) pioneers like Ponoko and Desktop Factory.

Seriously, co-creation won't go away. One more time: "not everything has to or will be co-created in the future, but tapping into the collective experiences, skills and ingenuity of hundreds of millions of consumers around the world is a complete departure from the inward looking, producer- versus-consumer innovation model so common to corporations around the world." We've included a juicy batch of co-creation initiatives, both updates and new initiatives, from companies like Michelin, Dell, Penguin, Sebach and Nintendo. ( 2 videos included.)