New reality 5 The importance of trends in a neophiliac society
The iconic linguist William Safire mused in The New York Times on the phrase '[insert colour here] is the new black', as used in fashion and to describe something that is new or very trendy. In the piece, he highlights a word, relatively new in terms of linguistics, that perfectly describes people fascinated by the latest and greatest: neophiliac. He writes: 'I cannot let "neophiliac" go by: It is a useful word coined in 1942 for "one who believes that every change is an improvement".'9
In 1997, The New Yorker published an article by a man who has gone on to become a leading pop expert on trends and the spread of influence - Malcolm Gladwell (author of The Tipping Point). The arti-cle10 was a profile of a woman called DeeDee Gordon, poster girl for the new profession of trendspotting which was at the time becoming more important to image-based retailers and manufacturers in categories where competition to offer the next in cool was stiff: athletic shoes and gear, fashion, accessories, soft drinks, etc. DeeDee was working with Reebok at the time. This article described the perfect outlet for my passion for pop culture, and it changed the course of my life and no doubt the lives of thousands of other young people.
Today, my inbox is inundated with so many newsletters and newsflashes from various trendspotting outfits I can barely get through them all before the news is obsolete. As mentioned earlier, people today are obsessed with being the first to know. This can be overwhelming and, at times, a bit stressful for individuals. 'Is this jacket so last season, or has enough time passed that it is now retro chic?' For a multimillion-dollar corporation, it can be a nightmare - or, again, an opportunity.
One of the most popular trendspotting sites is a subscription-based push email called The DailyCandy, which was the brainchild of former New York magazine writer Dany Levy. She started the service in 2000 at the age of 28 and, at time of writing, is now covering New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco. The email helps neophiliacs (mainly Gen X women) stay on top of the latest in everything from restaurant openings to local brow-shaping experts. The service has never advertised and grew almost exclusively through word of mouth. Women began forwarding the daily update to friends and soon Levy had a booming business on her hands.While The DailyCandy is hardly underground anymore (it now serves the mainstream rather than the trendsetters), it is evidence of the importance people place on being among the first in the know.11
A sign of Corporate America's growing understanding of the importance of such services as The DailyCandy is the multimillion-dollar investment Levy recently received from an investor group spearheaded by Bob Pittman, former COO of AOL Time Warner. In a recent issue of the Los Angeles Times, Levy spoke of the power of her service: 'People we've written about get inundated with orders and calls. It's good cocktail party chatter, too. It's cultural literacy, in a way. I'm not saying you have to know what the newest jeans are to be culturally literate, but a lot of people want to know these things. "Hey, did you hear the guys from Koi just opened a new place?" Or, "Did you hear about that fat-burning water that's just come out?"'
No one can afford to ignore trends today. Pop culture whims and fads are no longer only the concern of image-related brands.Absolutely everything rides on trends in our instantaneous society. Even such packaged-goods companies as Procter & Gamble (P&G) have figured that out. P&G keeps its products fresh and buzz-y by enlisting the help of over 250 000 teenage 'talkers', who seed information among their peers electronically via message boards, short message service (SMS) and email, or face-to-face in scripted conversations in such public places as Starbucks.And P&G is far from alone.Armies of teens can disseminate information for big brands and also bring information back from the field. It's a hipster intelligence network, and it helps brands stay relevant and top-of-mind.
Buzz marketers should have a strong background in trendspotting, so their recommendations are focused on the future and up-to-the-minute present rather than grounded in the past. Recommendations for celebrity spokespeople, events, promotions, product placement - whatever the strategy - should also be under the radar. And it's important to monitor constantly the shifts in consumer behaviour around the world.
This attention to the ebbs and flows of pop culture enables buzz marketers to insert their clients' brands into a rising tide. At that point, it becomes a matter of physics. Think: Newton's first law of motion: a body at rest stays at rest, a body in motion moves - and fast, nowadays.
No brand can maintain buzz indefinitely. Remember? We live in a neophiliac culture; people are always looking to talk about the next best thing. For this reason, Buzz@Euro RSCG developed a diagram that helps track the movement of pop culture phenomena (Figure 14.1).
Buzz / momentum
Brand strategy/ longevity a.
Mainstream mania
This is the profit zone—the place where brands benefit from maximum talk and maximum purchase
It is also a danger zone; as consumers talk up the brand, prosumers move on
The buzz hotspot
What prosumers are talking about NOW This is not a long-term proposition, but a fuel injection to keep brands fresh and top-of-mind
Brands with longevity and sustained relevance, staples, trusted brand partners .
Periodic forays into pop life can keep brands living here fresh
Consumer
Prosumer
Figure 14.1 Finding the hotspot for brands
The idea is to help brands navigate the natural flow from Hot Spot to Mainstream Mania to Commodity and back to Hot Spot again. Brands that have mastered the art of riding the waves of pop culture include such companies as Apple and Nike, and such personalities as Madonna.
The more you know about pop culture and trends, the better equipped you'll be to spot rich opportunities for building buzz. Buzz is very dependent on seeding the right message with the right people at the right time. This element of timing is the trickiest part of buzz marketing and is almost completely dependent on knowing what is happening now and what will be happening next with your audience.
Continue reading here: Mastering Video Marketing: Essential Tips and Proven Tricks
Was this article helpful?