Six Key Trends

"Survival of the Fastest" has been a driving socio-cultural macro trend since 1998. Affecting all levels of western culture, and infiltrating developing countries, Survival of the Fastest is characterised by technology becoming our personal sustenance. Twenty years ago, the US spent $614-billion on food and beverages and $2-billion on computers, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That's a ratio of 300 to 1. That ratio is now at parity - we currently spend the same amount of money on technology as we do on our nutritional needs, and as a result, our lives have been transformed.

We've been living at the speed of technology, being ever more productive, linking and connecting, but also disconnecting from our biological rhythms. Processing information at 400X the rate of our Renaissance ancestors, we have adapted to "living fast" over the past decade, though we have generally felt depleted.

The global economic collapse, combined with the decline of America as the world's superpower, has jolted us out of our hyper-tasking stupor - a bottoming out that is compelling us to focus on the things that really matter. And, the election of Barack Obama has imbued countries around the globe with a cautious optimism that is one of the seedlings recently planted for "thriving" in the next decade.

Most consumers have been operating in "recession-mode" since the end of the second quarter, well before the recession was official, because they were already feeling the pain of house payments, petrol prices, at the grocery store , and lost jobs. Well before the market crash in October, most people had reduced their use of petrol and electricity (67%), cut back on out-of-home entertainment (56%), were spending less on new clothes (55%) and using their cars less often (54%). After covering essential living expenses, Americans are saving whatever is left over, though almost 25% of consumers report having no cash.

These behaviours are seeding the trends for 2009.

We take a look at six of the key "thriving" inspired micro trends for 2009:

1. Legacy: Making Your Mark

Making your mark through support of important causes, whether it's supporting the discovery of new resources, research to vanquish disease or plantetary support/recovery causes. "Causism" will replace "consumerism" as people of all ages, genders and backgrounds think about their place in the world - their purpose, contribution, personal legacy.

Brand Implications:

• "Cause marketing" will evolve from niche and promotional status to a more central place in brand communications
• Sustainability will not be an option; cause affiliations will be more prominent for the next several years
• Cause marketing has been primarily female focused, but will evolve to include men, kids, teens

Examples:

Starbucks Affinity Card, Red/Gap/AMEX, LiveStrong/Nike, Campbell Soup/Breast Cancer

2. Fantasy as Fuel

Fantasy will propel us forward... successfully into the future. A recent study by Harvard University determined that our minds need to wander because daydreaming is actually the brains' normal state, rather than a pointless distraction. Daydreaming and fantasy are the fuel for imagination and imagination is what differentiates us and makes us human.

Our fast lives are forcing us to redefine our personal and collective tempos, so fantasy -- spontaneity, creativity and daydreaming - is becoming an antidote to technology. The ability to imagine and liberate our creativity leads to optimism (vs. apathy). In the long term, fantasy and imaginational wanderings will lead to new discoveries and collective problem solving. Fantasy will ultimately be the cornerstone to a restored economy as new businesses are imagined, then developed that enable us to live non-toxically well into the future.

Brand Implications:

• Brands that liberate our imaginations and reconnect us with our creativity underscore this trend

Examples:

Disney positioning itself to adults (the Annie Liebowitz campaigns) to liberate the "kid who wonders" inside all of us.

3. Science: Expansion & Discovery

A renewed respect for science is burgeoning based on our collective need to understand how to perpetuate and expand our place in the universe. We are expanding into inner space and mapping the human genome to discover ways we can live younger longer AND we are expanding to outer space to discover new resources:

• harvesting the hydrogen from Mars and converting it into water
• mining the inner solar system for water resources
• converting Helium 3 from the moon into alternative fuel

... so we can sustain life here on earth long into the future.

Science expansion is coming from the private sector (in addition to governments) and is becoming "cool" in mainstream culture.

Evidence:

NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg promises $100 million to fund stem cell research to save the lives of millions.

Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page funding resource exploration on the moon.

Brand Implications:

• Brands need to think beyond the quarterly numbers and keep their eyes on the bigger picture by exploring and discovering alternative life forces that will propel us into the future.

Brand Examples:

• Café Scientifique: Science cafes and pubs are sprouting across the world, providing lively debates about current science topics between scientists and science aficionados
• TV channels like Discovery, National Geographic and The Science Channel are experiencing record high ratings, with shows about scientific developments and space exploration. Ratings for the Discovery Channel are up 16% this year and 11% among the elusive 25-to-54-year-old male