Public Relations & Social Marketing Insight

2013 will be the perfect storm of necessity and opportunity: some economies will do OK(-ish), others will be shaky, but whatever market or industry you're in, those who understand & cater to changing consumer needs, desires and expectations will forever have plenty of opportunity to profit. A remapped global economy, new technologies (or 'old' technologies applied in new ways), new business models... hey, what's not to like?

Hence this overview of 10 crucial consumer trends (in random order) for you to run with in the next 12 months....

[PR and marketing take notes ~ Jeff]

...The report says people are getting some optimism back, although their buying habits -- particularly those of 20- to 30-year-olds -- are going to be radically different. The report lists 13 "microtrends." First on the list is trust, or "trust is the new black." Gerzema said there has been a 50% decline in trust since 2001, but a 35% rise in trust as a driver of brand equity. That suggests there's an opportunity for brands that open their arms wide and say, "Here I am with all my blemishes."

"Customers want a reason to believe and brands who give them that will be better off," said Connelly. Gerin said MasterCard is doing just fine in that category -- as she said the brand is 87% more trusted than any other brand of any kind.

McCracken said trust matters in a "black swan" world full of disruptive competitors. "The last 20 years have been a chronicle of brands behaving badly," he said. "The name of the game is absolute transparency." The good news for established brands is that assuming they have not been behaving badly, they have equity, while new competitors have nothing but VC money. To achieve trust equity functionally, the "front" of a company -- its brand, communications, what it claims to be -- must match the back, the invisible side, where it does what it actually does....

[Very interesting trend report for marketing and PR ~ Jeff]