10 Crucial Consumer Trends for 2013
Serving a consumer market can be tricky and a bit frustrating at times. Just when you think you are on top on the hottest trend, it’s over and three newer, hotter trends have popped up in its place.
According to a new report from trendwatching.com, 2013 will be the perfect storm of necessity and opportunity. Some economies will do okay(-ish), others will be shaky, but those consumer goods companies that understand and cater to the following 10 crucial consumer trends (in random order) will have plenty of opportunity to profit before they slip away.
1. Presumers & Custowners: As consumers embrace even more ways to participate in the funding, launch and growth of (new) products and brands that they love, expect pre-ordering, crowdfunding and consumer equity to compete with traditional consumption in 2013.
2. Emerging2: While the last two decades were about developed markets catering to emerging ones, and emerging markets increasingly catering to developed ones, it's now time to get ready for an explosion in products and services from emerging markets for emerging markets.
3. Mobile Moments: For those wondering where “mobile” will head next, one behavioral insight should give you plenty to run with: in 2013, consumers will look to their mobile devices to maximize absolutely every moment, multi-if-not-hypertasking their experiences, purchases and communications.
4. New Life Inside: One sign-of-the-times eco-trend for 2013: the phenomenon of products and services that quite literally contain new life inside. Rather than being discarded or even recycled (by someone else), these products can be given back to nature to grow something new, with all the eco-status and eco-stories that come with that.
5. Digital technologies are the new medicines. In 2013, expect consumers to turn to the medical profession and medical institutions to certify and curate health apps and technologies, or to “prescribe” them, much as they prescribe medicines as part of a course of treatment.
6. Celebration Nation: Emerging markets will proudly export and even flaunt their national and cultural heritage in the next 12 months. Symbols, lifestyles and traditions that were previously downplayed if not denied will be a source of pride for domestic consumers, and objects of interest to global consumers.
7. Data Myning: To date, the “big data” discussion has focused on the value of customer data to businesses. In 2013, expect savvy shoppers to start reversing the flow, as consumers seek to own and make the most of their lifestyle data, and turn to brands that use this data to proactively offer customers help and advice on how to improve their behavior and/ or save money.
8. Again Made Here: The perfect storm of consumers’ ever-greater lust for NEWISM and niches, the expectation of (instantly!) getting just the right product, ongoing eco-concerns and the desire for more interesting stories will all combine with the spread of new local manufacturing technologies such as 3D-printing and make-on-demand, to trigger a resurgence in domestic manufacturing in established markets in 2013.
9. Full Frontal: So what’s next for the mega-trend of transparency in 2013? Brands must move from “having nothing to hide” to pro-actively showing and proving they have nothing to hide.
10. Demanding Brands: 2013 will see switched-on brands (i.e. brands that are embarking on the much-needed journey toward a more sustainable and socially-responsible future) demanding that their customers also contribute.
Click here to find out how companies across industries have already capitalized on these 10 crucial consumer trends.
According to a new report from trendwatching.com, 2013 will be the perfect storm of necessity and opportunity. Some economies will do okay(-ish), others will be shaky, but those consumer goods companies that understand and cater to the following 10 crucial consumer trends (in random order) will have plenty of opportunity to profit before they slip away.
1. Presumers & Custowners: As consumers embrace even more ways to participate in the funding, launch and growth of (new) products and brands that they love, expect pre-ordering, crowdfunding and consumer equity to compete with traditional consumption in 2013.
2. Emerging2: While the last two decades were about developed markets catering to emerging ones, and emerging markets increasingly catering to developed ones, it's now time to get ready for an explosion in products and services from emerging markets for emerging markets.
3. Mobile Moments: For those wondering where “mobile” will head next, one behavioral insight should give you plenty to run with: in 2013, consumers will look to their mobile devices to maximize absolutely every moment, multi-if-not-hypertasking their experiences, purchases and communications.
4. New Life Inside: One sign-of-the-times eco-trend for 2013: the phenomenon of products and services that quite literally contain new life inside. Rather than being discarded or even recycled (by someone else), these products can be given back to nature to grow something new, with all the eco-status and eco-stories that come with that.
5. Digital technologies are the new medicines. In 2013, expect consumers to turn to the medical profession and medical institutions to certify and curate health apps and technologies, or to “prescribe” them, much as they prescribe medicines as part of a course of treatment.
6. Celebration Nation: Emerging markets will proudly export and even flaunt their national and cultural heritage in the next 12 months. Symbols, lifestyles and traditions that were previously downplayed if not denied will be a source of pride for domestic consumers, and objects of interest to global consumers.
7. Data Myning: To date, the “big data” discussion has focused on the value of customer data to businesses. In 2013, expect savvy shoppers to start reversing the flow, as consumers seek to own and make the most of their lifestyle data, and turn to brands that use this data to proactively offer customers help and advice on how to improve their behavior and/ or save money.
8. Again Made Here: The perfect storm of consumers’ ever-greater lust for NEWISM and niches, the expectation of (instantly!) getting just the right product, ongoing eco-concerns and the desire for more interesting stories will all combine with the spread of new local manufacturing technologies such as 3D-printing and make-on-demand, to trigger a resurgence in domestic manufacturing in established markets in 2013.
9. Full Frontal: So what’s next for the mega-trend of transparency in 2013? Brands must move from “having nothing to hide” to pro-actively showing and proving they have nothing to hide.
10. Demanding Brands: 2013 will see switched-on brands (i.e. brands that are embarking on the much-needed journey toward a more sustainable and socially-responsible future) demanding that their customers also contribute.
Click here to find out how companies across industries have already capitalized on these 10 crucial consumer trends.