2011: Trendspotting for the Next Decade

Citation

Stalling Huntington, C. (2009), "2011: Trendspotting for the Next Decade", Journal of Consumer Marketing, Vol. 26 No. 3, pp. 225-226. https://doi.org/10.1108/07363760910954172

2011: Trendspotting for the Next Decade has to be the most refreshing book that I have ever read on consumers and business practices, a reading on environmental trends that will affect businesses. Not giving company owners and leaders the idea that he has all the answers about how to maintain consumers and their loyalty, Laermer presents a common sense approach based on issues and challenges faced in the United States, and he uses those to forecast trends that will affect consumption. Laermer uses plain‐speak to say what many of us have wanted to say but dared not. The tone he uses in his work is direct, honest, and yet, un‐offensive in providing hope in a strange roundabout way. Needless to say, his approach is full of creativity and humor, as well as hard facts and realities about consumers as consumers manage their lives through product and service selections in the shifting realities of the USA.

No topic is off limits for Laermer. He insists on focusing on reality rather than formulating new theories of consumers. For example, sexuality, age, childrearing, ethics, religion and politics are all treated in a very avant‐garde approach, to demonstrate that consumers do not fit in narrow predefined market segments. It is extremely post post‐modern in that we are admonished in a non‐admonishing way to treat consumers, and each other, as, believe it or not, friends. The reasons for this according to Laermer are that there has been a blurring of certain distinctions, such as the separation of selves into work versus home personalities, and the separation of work from home from play. At the same time, there is a concomitant call for acknowledgement of the blended consuming individual. That is, we should understand individuals as consumers who demand quality of products, services, and experiences, as well as honesty and ethical behavior in the firms they buy from to support the totality of their personalities and beliefs.

The book has very short chapters written in a way to avoid boredom for those of us that may suffer from having to have information instantaneously, or put it another way, for those of us who are used to information arriving at a click of a mouse or a push of a device we hold in our hands. If this review seems a bit non‐academic to you, well then it has succeeded in giving you the tone of the book. In fact reading it invites a sense of study. That is, I found a desire to return to it for quotes and to use it for reference. Yet the book is accessible for wide audiences, in short bursts, and always allows the reader to return to the spot left without feeling like s/he ever put the work down.

2011 has no references, but it does have an index. There are many citations of web sites sprinkled through the text. Laermer uses different fonts to make certain points, and he uses set‐off texts with squiggly parentheses and other novelties to highlight his sidebars and make snide, biting, truly challenging comments. It is a book that I would recommend to friends and would recommend to you as you either teach, consult, or run your firm. It is full of gems of wisdom, though some may find some of the language of the four‐letter variety not so inviting. Used in the manner Laermer uses it, I found it to be, how do we say, appropriately punctuating!

The book covers technological, regulatory, social, economic, and competitive trends that will take us into the future in an increasingly service, life enhancing demanding consumer culture. For example Laermer says “The creators of products and services that allow us to live better will win out over creators of those that make us live longer” (p. 85). Consumers are not interested in living longer if their quality of life suffers. One of those life enhancers is to be without children. Whereas in the past people may have been stigmatized negatively for not having – let alone not wanting – children, he says, “In years to come, being kid‐free will become less of a stigma – and instead elicit jealousy pangs!” (p. 269). When talking about the ways in which technology impacts consumers and their identities, he also concludes that “We recognize that our target audience goes through withdrawal after a short period of time offline – in a way that they perhaps never felt about watching their television or attending a sports game in a highly sponsored arena. This recognition should serve as a conduit for establishing and maintaining a relationship with our target market” (p. 136). The point here is that consumers have changed as they have become more technology‐identity defined.

These are the nine parts of his book:

1. 1.

   Trendspotting for the Novice.

2. 2.

   The Caboodle: Advanced Trendspotting.

3. 3.

   The Business of Selling as Opposed to Shilling.

4. 4.

   Techno‐Centric.

5. 5.

   Entertain your Diversions.

6. 6.

   Make Media your Friend (Then Make Bank).

7. 7.

   The Language of Life.

8. 8.

   Society with a Small “s”.

9. 9.

   Epilogue and Other Chapters I Couldn't Fit Anywhere Else So I Stuck them Here.

While it is impossible, and not appropriate, to rewrite all that Laermer has written, it is important for you to take away from this book review that 2011: Trendspotting for the Next Decade is really about people, the changes that the USA will need to make as people change, as relationships change, and as we continue to build brand and customer loyalty as consumers look for themselves in products and brands. Those individuals who run companies producing products, services and brands focusing on the consumer that come from ethical non‐airbrushed behaviors, that allow the consumer to embrace their changing beliefs, social norms, realities and identities – either real or virtual – without stigmas and negative judgments, will be winners.

Truly it was my pleasure to review this work.