Anti-Trending and Other Trends for 2005
Written by Anita Campbell
Published December 21, 2004
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  • Homeopathic Medicine: The recent decision by Merck withdrawing the drug Vioxx has people concerned over whether traditional medicine has been tested properly. People are taking more preventative medicines. Using natural remedies and alternative remedies will gain ground.

  • Low-impact Makes an Impact: Aging Baby Boomers are looking for exercise that is easier on them. A perfect example is low-impact exercise such as Tai Chi and yoga. But not all low impact exercise is Eastern. Low impact includes swimming, spinning, and other exercise not as hard on aging bodies.

  • Image Enhancement: No, not our personal images. Watts sees the cult trend of photoshopping (manipulating images using Photoshop software) going mainstream. He sees a rise in the use of technology to have images appear exactly the way we want them to create a new "reality." For instance, a blended family might eliminate a divorced spouse from a photo — even add in the new spouse.

  • Technology Convergence: He sees bundling between broadband, wireless and other communications technologies. Voice, wireless, Tivo, messaging — they all will converge. You'll retrieve cell phone messages through your computer, and computer messages through your cell phone.

  • Return of Loyalty: After years of saying "loyalty is dead" and "consumers are fickle," there are signs that when people find something that works, they stay with it. Expect to see the real power not only of service (i.e., how you provide something) but experience (i.e., how I feel about the result). This bodes well for the small business market — and Watts suggests small businesses think about customer loyalty strategies. He points to the example of the high-end Dorothy Lane grocery stores, and how they stopped advertising. They took their ad money and developed a loyalty award program: the top 10 shoppers get an all-expenses-paid trip to Hawaii.

    • And so what are the most telling trends among these? Watts suggests that the trend of anti-trending is one of the most interesting trends for small retailers and other small businesses to explore.


    Adapted from a post that first appeared on the Small Business Trends blog.

    page 1 | 2
    Anita Campbell is the Editor of the award-winning Small Business Trends (www.smallbiztrends.com) website and host of her own talk radio program, Small Business Trends Radio, on the WSRadio.com Internet network.
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    Anti-Trending and Other Trends for 2005
    Published: December 21, 2004
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    Section: Culture
    Writer: Anita Campbell
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    Comments

    #1 — December 22, 2004 @ 01:16AM — spiderleaf [URL]

    I absolutely agree Loyalty is not dead. In fact, I continue to see examples of companies doing loyalty right and consumers responding with their dollars.

    Do it wrong though and you will be punished...

    email marketing is one of the ways companies can either soar or burn with loyalty... do you have my permission or are you spamming me?

    #2 — December 22, 2004 @ 03:17AM — Eric Berlin [URL]

    I couldn't agree more: consumers are desperate for good service, especially in a world of massive corporations and customer service outsourcing.

    Provide me with good service, and, stunned, I'll tell everyone who will listen to me blather about it.

    Very cool outlook on trends-on-the-make. It seems as though several trends on the horizon for years (boomers aging, convergence, huge numbers shopping online and using technology) are finally seeing fruition.

    Eric Berlin
    Dumpster Bust: Miracles from Mind Trash
    http://dumpsterbust.blogspot.com

    #3 — December 22, 2004 @ 07:39AM — Tom [URL]

    Very interesting, especially about loyalty. Loyalty is not dead. I am very conscience of how I am treated at a store. If I am treated well, I will go out of my way to see they succeed. A local jewelry store does such nice work, and treated me so fairly and with a personal touch, I sent people his way.


    Loyalty is not dead indeed.

    #4 — December 22, 2004 @ 08:38AM — Anita Campbell [URL]

    It's terrific to hear all the comments about great service and customer loyalty.

    Sometimes that's the only advantage small businesses can offer over larger companies. Usually the big guys have greater sourcing power, and therefore can offer cheaper prices. Small businesses can offer the personal touch.

    - Anita

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