Part of what we do as business people and marketers is to try to see the trends in business and markets and take advantage of those trends before others do.
One of the great trend guru’s is a chap named Rohit Bhargava. His latest book for 2015 is called “Non Obvious”. It would be the best $20 you will spend so I highly recommend you buy the book.
To give you a taste of what awaits you, here are some of the authors thoughts and some of my thoughts and interpretations of his great work.
His list of trends for business, society and marketing include the following:
1. Everyday Stardom … we live in a world of millenial’s who are used to being rewarded and honored for everything; you can create your own stardom and persona and marketers can make us all stars. Think about the Museum du Jeff … hmmmm
2. Selfie Confidence … we all can create our own world using the selfie and share it with others and through this process gain personal confidence. How does marketing participate to help us build our own confidence in what we do to build our online persona. Help your customers build their self-confidence using the tech tool of today. Shared experiences are a way to help build an online persona …. What experiences are you as a marketer offering that can become part of the persona of your customer, and how do you make it shareable.
3. Mainstream Mindfulness … yoga, mediatation religion are back. Were they gone? Watching Mad Men the other night, I think the movement has returned with a both a new generation as well as some of us old folks rediscovering the sixties. Can they be used to improve your customers health, performance, learning, motivation and mindfulness? Think about this in terms of how customers today want everything, in short bursts … not an hour long class but more like a daily affirmation.
4. Branded Benevolence …. Brands need to be a part of the lives of their target audience. And with the millenials rising, there is a need for authenticity and relevance. Beyond donating money or a PR event, brands need to be intimately tied to a cause. Think about Tom’s Shoes where they give a pair for every pair WE buy …. We are tied to the effort! Social impact of the firm is rising. Give time AND money. Acts of kindness and genuine sacrifice are important.
5. Reverse Retail …. Brands are building in-store experiences (golf club fitting) as a way to gain commitment, whether the sale occurs in the store or online. Multi-channel marketing is now more omni-channel … online and in-store are becoming more of a seamless total experience. Social retailing is helping to close the sale as friends are brought into the retail process during a store visit. The merging of the physical and the digital is what is going on here. Think about the digital world of APPLE using the store based Genius Bar to gain a long term relationship with its fans.
6. The Reluctant Marketer … I would call this the NEW AGE Marketer. Todays marketer is less about pushing product and more about pulling on the customer to demand products and services and to help market the product, brand and services for us. Creating great customer experiences that will be shared; provide valuable content that is again shared with customer networks; this is the era of pull rather then push. Brand need to create a great story to be shared throughout the customer network; this is the coming together of content and experiences, a great sharable story! And who traditionally has written such stories …. Journalists!. Consider how the journalist should be a part of your marketing team. And within the changing world of public relations, we now have earned media (getting the traditional newspaper to write about you); owned media (owning channels from newsletters to YouTube channels); and paid media (see www.outbrain.com for more).
7. Glanceable Content …. There is an explosion of information coming at us and we have more and more a limited amount of time to give over to content. As marketers we need to optimize everything for a world of rapid consumption. No wonder newspapers are dying, no one has the time or inclination to spend an hour with the Wall Street Journal or the New York Times (except for me perhaps). Make your content snakeable … like this summary of trends! You could read the book or just read this two page review and summary!!! Think about the video I showed on Competitive Strategy in Three Minutes … pretty good stuff. So focus on the headline to gain attention and then write like you are writing for USA Today!
8. Match the Mood …. We all have moods. We are high at some points and low at others. Can marketers match the mood to the consumer? Does everything digital have to be devoid of emotions?
9. Less then perfect GET REAL…. As humans we seek out experiences and we see and review the experiences of others. Come on …. Think about the time you spend on FACEBOOK and the experiences and lives of people you enter. And there is some desire to see and feel for people, to note the imperfections in life. Not everyone is a perfect runway model … imperfections are in and real is in! Ugly is in from Ugly Christmas Sweaters to UGGS!!
10. Engineered Addiction … for marketers we need only look at Zara’s, engineered marketing for the shopping addiction. Low prices, products that wear out fast, great design and a fast inventory turn … new stuff coming into the store twice a week. This is engineering for the shopping addiction! Create addictive experiences that capture the consumers time, money and loyalty. Think about the psychology of habits and how you can engineer in such habits. Or borrow addictions to help your marketing, such as the addiction of FACEBOOK. Reward engagement and loyalty…
There is more to the book. But in a world of glanceable content, I will keep this to 2 pages!!!!!!
Buy this book!!! http://www.amazon.com/Non-Obvious-Different-Curate-Predict-Future-ebook/dp/B00TB1TE0Q/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1432331586&sr=1-1&keywords=non+obvious

Jeff Heilbrunn, May 22, 2015