holiday store windows: metaphors for 2011 cultural trends

Each year I analyze the holiday window decorations along Fifth Avenue NYC (namely, the extravagant windows of Saks Fifth Avenue and Bergdorf Goodman department stores) because they tend to illustrate the cultural zeitgeist. The windows are essentially mirrors on society, reflecting what’s going on in culture, and what’s in the hearts and minds of consumers as we end the year.

Maybe I’m reading too much into the window decorations, but I find their themes to be a sign of the times, and this year is no different. In fact, I think the windows have perfectly summed up some major trends in America right now. (See my window analysis last year.)  The windows – like windows into the soul of America – symbolize the collective hopes and drivers of the nation as we start a new year.

I don’t know if this is the intention of the teams of window designers, who spend the entire year constructing the windows with mind boggling details at astronomical costs. But, from the benign store press releases launching the seasons’ windows, it doesn’t seem to be a conscious medium for social commentary. The retailers say it’s purely a branding exercise in extravagance, escapism and entertainment. You decide…

There’s another fascinating aspect of the windows worth keeping tabs on; every year the ante is upped in the competition for window gazers with the use of emerging technologies and story-building to bring the stories to life. Retailers understand that in this technologically wired age, static 2D window decorations don’t cut it anymore. They need to be interactive, moving, 3D, connected and extend into social media.  Foot traffic needs to curry Internet traffic, and vice versa (which is true for all retailers today). Thus, the creative teams behind the windows are not merely window dressers, but rather multi-media story-builders. The windows are merely one portal into their stories.

saks fifth ave: the land of the bubble makers

For the second year Saks Fifth Avenue has glommed onto the visual themes of snowflakes and bubbles – symbols of joy and hope. This year, Saks commissioned the writing and illustration of a bespoke children’s book, titled “Who Makes the Snow.” The storyline, set in Saks Fifth Avenue’s flagship store, centers on two hidden, magical worlds that collide: the under-world that makes bubbles, and the upper-world that makes snow. The book is sold exclusively at Saks.

The windows reflect parts of the storyline, but focuses on The Bubble Makers. The Bubble Makers use Victorian styled mechanical contraptions to manufacture copious amounts of bubbles. The look is a throw-back to 1980s “steampunk” fashion. The bubble making machinery (pipes, gears, whirly gigs, etc.) look like a collaboration between Willy Wonka, Dr. Zeuss and Makerbot.

The light show: every 13 minutes a huge dramatic “sonne et lumier”  show is projected onto the façade of the store. The show features an animation of machines and gears producing snowflakes and bubbles, which dance, mingle and merge. The gears of a clock tick down the time much like a time bomb. Time – the ominous passing of time – is the main take-away. Separately, several promotional videos were produced (by Pentagram and Iris) and posted on the Internet to promote the storyline and create buzz; good examples of how a myth or brand story can be built across media channels. Thanks to technology, window gazers can also enjoy the 3D show at home;  They only need to scan QR codes on the windows which takes them to a YouTube video of the show.

Do you see the irony of celebrating Bubble Makers? We live in a Bubble Economy. Much of the woes of our society are attributed to this Bubble Economy. We’ve just come through a Recession caused by the bursting of the Real Estate Bubble. The Debt Bubble. The current Stock Market Bubble, where stock values are over-valued/inflated, is fuelled by Dot.com IPOs, such as the overpriced $12.8b Groupon IPO. The new Dot.com Bubble is driven by “the cloud” and “social commerce” hype. Are we due for another Dot.com bubble burst in 2012?

Bubbles are also metaphors for jobs. Bubbles are ephemeral, changeable and highly responsive to slight changes in the breezes… just like employment today. The Recession, combined with new technologies, has forced America to fundamentally change the way it puts people to work. Our culture is becoming more transient as people commute longer distances for work. Americans today work multiple jobs and/or part-time jobs, sharing jobs with both humans and machines.

Further, manufacturing bubbles – which are essentially air – is how many Americans feel about their careers these days. On blogs Americans express frustration that they don’t contribute to society in a meaningful and tangible way, and they don’t see the fruits of their labors. America was built on manufacturing, but today most of the country’s production is out-sourced overseas. Today, Americans make and sell ideas, stock options and information. Not tangible “things.”

ABC News and Diane Sawyer declared Christmas 2011 as the “Great Made in America Christmas” asking shoppers to buy American. This promotion was designed to kick-start local job creation and celebrate American industriousness. While polls earlier this year showed that Americans cared little about “made in America” labels, a surge in nationalism and soci-economic concern seems to have reversed this trend. There are now hundreds of blogs, websites and FaceBook pages devoted to “Made in USA.”

bergdorf goodman: carnival of animals

Last year Bergdorf’s holiday windows were a tribute to the travel and adventure. This year the store claims it’s windows is a celebration of exotic fantastical places where mythical kingdoms of animals dwell. Indeed, each window is a unique animal habitat, which draws in and transports the viewer. We all want to travel to these places where the animals commune with humans and play together in harmony. Isn’t that an idyllic vision of “peace on earth”?

However, the windows have individual themes worthy of discussion. There are four window themes which could be construed as marching orders for Americans in 2012: make, learn, explore and socialize. Those are my pithy summaries of the windows; the actual titles are “Artists and Models” (make), “Teacher’s Pets” (learn), “Testing the Waters” (explore), and “Breaking the Ice” (socialize).

MAKE – In the “Artists and Models” window, made entirely out of wood and leather, a menagerie of animals sit for the artist-cum-mannequin and help her to construct animals. In her animal infested atelier she produces tangible, useful items. In fact, utilitarian tools: horses. (Note: the Equine theme is prominent in fashion and décor trends right now.) This resonates with Americans who are finding ways to make stuff, driving the trend in “garage manufacturing.”  Websites like Ponoco.com match designers with cottage manufacturers, and other sites, like Etsy.com facilitate sales. Consumers are learning how to make stuff in the media (think: Make Magazine, How It’s Made, HGTV). Kit-machinery, like Makerbot, and rental machinery from Lowes and Home Depot, offer the tools. Today, self-worth and social currency is summed up as “you are what you make.”

LEARN –  The window titled “Teacher’s Pet”, depicts a library of zoological textboks, and thus is made entirely of paper. The paper bestiary is being enlightened by a Jean Brodie-esque mannequin. This classroom is a celebration of learning. Timely, as education is on everyone’s minds and lips these days. Education reform will be a major talking point in the 2012 elections. In New York City, the education system is in crisis: corrupt and bankrupt.  Education in America has been underfunded and under-tended for some time, with catastrophic social consequences. The Occupy Wall Street was a protest largely waged by new college graduates who have found themselves ill prepared for the American economy and blaming the “Education Bubble” (more bubbles!), which is the belief that college fees are inflated. The antidote to this is online education, which is one of the most important trends in America. Also, there is movement away from traditional education (i.e., college BA degrees and MBAs) towards skill-focussed education, which equip people with vocational skills so they can make and fix things. Whatever your political beliefs, the one thing we all agree on is that the future of America rests in an educated population. Learning is a priority. According to Yankelovich, 64% of Americans are prioritizing “stretching self to try new things.”

EXPLORE – A window made entirely of hand-cut Italian mosaic tile (and purported to be the most labor intensive and expensive single window in Bergdorf’s 112 year history), is aptly named “Testing the Waters.”  Here a “mer-mannequin” explores a rich underwater world. She appears to be holding the sea animals at bay as THEY explore her.  We are an “exploration nation” driven by our inherent heterogeneity and entrepreneurialism.  We satisfy our desire to explore cultures on the Internet, watching travel TV shows and sampling exotic tastes. According to Yankelovich, 62% of Americans say “satisfying a hunger for new experiences” is a priority. The number one reason Americans travel today is not leisure, but rather to “learn something new.”  And our mobile phones, equipped with Geo-Location, maps and Augmented Reality apps, enable us to explore and search like never before; cell phones are modern day gyroscopes.

SOCIALIZE –  The “Testing the Waters” window is a peek into an arctic cocktail party of guests of woolly and furry fauna family.  The hostess, who is the center of the conversation, appears to be tending to her guests. Isn’t this an obvious metaphor for our culture’s fixation with social networking? Everything in our lives today has some aspect of being online to be “social” and/or focused on “conversations.” According to Yankelovich, 84% of Americans go on line everyday!  Social is where “hi tech” converges with “hi touch.”  However, this real-time face-to-face party also mirrors another trend in society worth noting: rejecting FaceBook in favor of FaceTime. Increasingly Americans are opting out of virtual networks and digital dialogues, replacing them with human-to-human networks and meet-ups. Websites like Meetup.com are popping up to facilitate meetings and human interaction. Many of these meet-ups are focused on group crafts and production (think: knitting, cooking, pottery, quilting, scrapbooking, etc.). Socializing and social networking is moving away from networking and towards working.

2012 = MAKEXII

In conclusion, the window dressing themes this holiday season point to an important trend in America: renewed interest in manufacturing, industry and production. 2012 will be a year focussed on “making and producing,” not merely thinking, dreaming, conceiving.  Americans will seek out skills that will enable them to produce stuff and fix stuff. Skills will range from low-tech plumbing,  carpentry, cooking, etc. to hi-tech writing/programming software that drive technologies, such as home CNC and CAD tooling machines, embroidery and textile printing machines, etc. The focus will be on craftsmanship and processes. We will learn HOW to make things from a growing body of “how to” blogs, YouTube videos, books, magazines, TV shows and meeet-ups. Americans will satisfy their desire to make things with their own hands and ingenuity by moonlighting and starting up garage manufacturing ventures. Micro venture capital will erupt on funding websites like Kickstarter.com.  The market will be flooded with Apps that help Americans to be more productive and make. So, let’s make the most of 2012!

a deeper truth about millennials

To put it bluntly, Millennials are shallow. Or, at least that’s what conventional wisdom, as put forth in Nicholas Carr’s New York Times bestseller, “The Shallows” would have you believe. Many argue that technology and mass media are to blame for this trend, particularly pervasive among Millennialls. But is it true? Certainly, the rise of high-tech gadgets and constant connectivity have shaped us into an increasingly distracted culture with more options that ever, but does that mean it’s made the 30-and-under crowd less in touch with what matters?

Not necessarily!

Technology is also responsible for enabling Americans to immerse, search, discover, analyze, track and plan like never before. In fact, those supposedly shallow, tech-savvy Millennials, are actually demonstrating an extraordinary depth both on- and offline. They’re going deeper into issues, deeper into themselves, and searching for meaning through deeper life experiences.

facts: how millennials are displaying depth

According to Pew Research Center (2011), Millennials cherish the same values in brands and businesses as they do in people: truthfulness, genuineness, social awareness, respect and humility. (Not exactly what you’d call “superficial.”)

In addition, these consumers are:

•  Rejecting Fame: 86% say fame is not important to them and 29% want to remembered as a generous person who positively changed the world.
• Conscientious: 69% recycle paper, plastic of glass at home and 57% volunteered in the past 12-months.
• Knowledge Seeking: 74% are willing to sacrifice “a great deal” for their education and 66% define success as being “smart and well read.”
• Humble: 58% think it’s important to work if you don’t need the money.
• Curious: 70% seek immersive, interactive, hands on experiences and 78% want to learn something new when they travel.
• Thoughtful: 63% think filial piety is important and 75% strive to have a good relationship with their parents.
• Open-Minded: 52% feel people ought to be free to lead “any lifestyle” and 33% consider themselves citizens of “the world” instead of Americans.

Sources: MRI July 2011, Pew Research Center 2011; Yankelovich 2011

We’re also seeing cultural trends in the Millennial segment that illustrate depth, not shallowness, such as:

• A return to long-form blogs and journalism. (Even 140-character Twitter is being used to disseminate long articles and posts serialized via #longreads.)
• A surge in new university courses that go into more depth on subjects like “Deep Ecology,” “Deep History” and “Deep Politics.”
• Movies with complex, philosophical mind-bending plots, such as “Inception” and “The Matrix” As does long, highly complex and detailed fiction, such as “Twilight,” “Harry Potter” and the “The Girl Who…” series.
• The rise of “Deeper Dating,” a new and less superficial form of speed dating.
• Soul-searching pastimes like Yoga (There are over 11 million yoga practitioners in the US.)

opportunity: go deep, not shallow with marketing to millennials

What ought to be exciting to marketers is that there are +50 million Millennials between 18-30 years old with spending power. They are playing against type, paying attention to the nuances of a brand story and reading the long-form text in fine print. They are keenly interested in the minutia of a brand’s provenance, footprint, ethics and sustainability. They are seeking more visceral, immersive brand experiences and opting for deeper, more meaningful brand engagements.

They’re not shallow skimmers; they’re deep divers. And it’s up to marketers to deliver. So, they would be remiss if they skew too far in the direction of sound-bite-banner-ad-FaceBook-banter-short-term-ad-hoc-style-over-substance-superficial marketing approaches.  Today, there’s a real opportunity for authentic brands with heritage, complexity and a great story to go deep with Millennials for deeper returns.

Deeper_Trend_Report_Oct1_PDF Download

Click on the link above for a PDF of a Trend Report, titled "Deeper" that explains how to market deeper to Millennials. It showcases emerging technology and design from SXSW 2011 and the NYU ITP Sprint Show 2011.

charlie girl, come back!

While men are enjoying the “retro sexual revival,” there is an obvious dearth of female role models in advertising today.  In fact, the whole premise Chevy Camaro’s SuperBowl ad this year was men imagining their ideal kick-ass dream woman driving a Camaro.  Their fantasy woman is beautiful, strong, daring, adventurous, sporty… and an elementary school teacher? Whatever.

Progressive Insurance’s “Flo” and T-Mobile’s “Pink Girl” are hardly renaissance women that women aspire to. Sure, “smart celebrities” like Ellen Page and Jamie Lee Curtis are used to endorse products, but they’re real people celebrities, not characters. The closest thing to a worldly, sophisticated, multi-talented character is Priceline’s “Naomi Pryce,” but even she borders on an exaggerated spy character.  Memo to ad industry: spies are not the only archetypes of strong women.

What happened to the emancipated, beautiful, smart, worldly, skilled “Charlie Girl” (from Charlie perfume) striding into parties and climbing aboard yachts? The “Charlie Girl” (1979) was before her time and actually “The Most Interesting Woman in the World.”  She exuded confidence and seemed like a real person. I wonder how many young ladies besides me she inspired over the years?

TV characters work the same way ad characters do:  “Charlie’s Angels” inspired young girls for three generations to strive to be independent, formidable, worldly and multi-talented (languages, martial arts, weapons, McGyvvering skills, etc.).  Charlie’s Angels will return to the small screen this Autumn on ABC. Right now on TV there is no Angelina Jolie-esque characters to look up to, other than “Alias” (character: Sydney Bristow) re-runs.

I’m hoping the return of Charlie’s Angels this will make advertisers think harder about the type of female characters and personalities they select to represent brands that speak to empowered women today.

retro-sexual men: advertising trend

new male icons, role models and heroes

There’s a trend in advertising that’s reflecting the zeitgeist: retro sexual revivalism. Notice the return of bold male characters who personify ideal male attributes and attitudes.  These “retro sexuals” are intriguing, fascinating, magnetic, adventurous, skilled, charming, seductive, smooth, powerful, super-masculine men in total control, even in unrealistic fantastical situations.

They’re modern day “Hathaway” and “Marlboro” men, updated with hyperbole and humor often depicted in command of ambiguous surreal situations (e.g., exotic parties, climbing mountains, in disasters, fighting spies, performing in carnivals, taming wild animals). Notice the similarities of the following male characters in advertising today:

• “The Most Interesting Man in the World” for Dos Equis = DISCERNMENT
•  ”Mayhem Man” for All State= RANDOM MISCHIEF
• “The Entrance Man” for Heineken = CHARISMA
• “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” for Old Spice = PERFECTION
•  ”Tony Sinclair” for Tanquery = SOPHISTICATION
• “The Negotiator” for Priceline = PERSUASION
•  ”Bold Choice Man” for Jim Beam = BOLD CHOICES

why now? pursuit of substance

A lot has been written on the obsolescence of men in American society. So an obvious explanation for the ad trend of showing “retro-sexual” men imbued with traditional machismo is that it is an antidote to the emasculation taking place in American brought on by unemployment, skills transference and shifts in family income earners? However, research shows that men today – especially Millennial men – are quite comfortable with the gender blurring

• 78% of all men agree “I don’t let traditional gender roles define how I live my life”
• 64% of all men agree “I don’t feel constrained by social expectation of what is or is not appropriate for someone of my age or gender.”
• 57% if all men agree “Nowadays we are free to shape our identities and transform ourselves in whatever way we want.”

Source: The Futures Company/Yankelovich, June 2011

Instead, I think these new “retro sexual” advertising role models exemplify our cultural return to substance. Americans, tired of lauding people who have little or no talent, are returning to traditional “hero worship.”  That is, worshiping heroes of substance. The pendulum swung far in the direction of “everyone will have their15 minutes of fame,” and now is swinging back to focusing on multi-talented people with extraordinary skills. (This trend is probably also behind the popularity of superheroes, from Tron to Captain America).

In fact, these male characters could all be from the same family; It’s fun to imagine if the “The Most Interesting Man in the World” had sons scattered around the globe from trysts with different women? From one wife his progeny would include “The Entrance” guy and “Mayhem”, and from another wife (perhaps a Congolese Princess) he’d be father to “Tony Sinclair” and “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like”  (TMYMCSL). It’s easy to imagine “Mayhem” and “The Entrance” have a Cain and Able relationship.  As for the other set of brothers, one can imagine “Tony Sinclair” is the younger brother living in the shadow of his impressive brother, “TMYMCSL.”   The Most Interesting Man in the World could easily have brothers, “The Negotiator” and “Bold Choices.”  And, from his brief marriage to “The Charlie Girl” in the 70’s he fathered two daughters, “Naomi Pryce” and “The Etrade Girl.”

the super bowl’s crash culture

pinch me when it’s over

Marsha Brady: oh, my nose!!!!!!!

If Super Bowl ads reflect the zeitgeist, Americans (at the moment) enjoy watching people beat the crap out of other people, especially innocents, like babies, dogs, teenage girls, etc. The Super Bowl commercials this year were particularly violent with babies being thrown against plate glass windows, luring dogs to run into plate glass windows, Roseanne Barr being smashed in the face with a giant swinging log, a man being punched in the crotch, and a psycho-wife hitting her husband upside the head and then pelting a young runner in the face with a can of Pepsi. The topper was a montage ad that featured the iconic scene of Marsha Brady getting hit in the face with a football (which broke her nose).

Snickers ad: Roseanne Barr getting "logged"?

The visceral reaction to all these slap-stick (physical comedy, really?) violent ads was/is: startle, cringe, shudder, flinch. Everyone at the Super Bowl party I was at had the same reaction to the ads: “ouch!” We all jumped in our skins. That’s because neuroscience says we humans have a “mirror response” to images, where our brains “feel” what we watch. Our brains experience what our eyes watch, and thus “hurt” vicariously.  It wakes us up, like being pinched.

Homeaway.com ad: lifelike test baby thrown against plate glass window.

Is it merely a Madison Avenue attention-getting technique, intended to cut through the clutter? To be remembered (to aid recall) by arousing our emotions? Are we as a society that numb? Or, is it reflecting America’s pent-up frustrations with the economy, politics, life in general?  Or, are we supposed to sigh in relief and think “phew, thank goodness that wasn’t me” when we see someone else get pummeled (like the relief we feel watching from the outside the train wreck lives of Jersey Shore)?

The ad guys who grew up watching cartoons like this are now making Super Bowl ads.

I think these ads are the result of misguided ad guys who’ve come to believe that ads with “elements of surprise” are memorable. All the advertising research of late, including neuroscience books, are touting that we humans like surprises… and surprise endings. Surprises tickle in our lizard brains the part of the brain that’s aroused as we try to making sense of surprises, puzzles, novelty and incongruities.  As with anything in life, there are smart ways to do this and there are stupid, base was to do this, such as a surprise ending where the character gets spattered. Remember Road Runner?

Pepsi Max ad: teenage runner knocked out with Pepsi can.

WATCH THIS AD: EXAMPLE of NON-VIOLENT SURPRISE ENDING

In last nights Super Bowl ad lineup the Volkswagen Passat ad, “The Force,” was an example of a clever (non-violent, and ironically non-forceful) surprise ending.  According to TiVo it was the #4 most liked ad last night… following Snicker’s and Pepsi’s uber-violent ads (#1 and #3 respectively).  I wonder if anyone at Tivo bothered to correlate the ad ranking to Red States and Blue States?

Doritos ad: bulldog smashing into glass door and flattening the jerk who egged the bulldog to charge the door.

zooming prezi: igasm

Want to see something really cool?

A zooming 3D presentation… the subject is “iGASM” (blog below). iGASM covers the Top Ten Tech Trends from the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas a couple of weeks ago. Thank you to my friend, Jurgen,  who introduced me to the Prezi presentation software (www.prezi.com) knowing my keen interest in zooming.  It’s a mostly visual/graphic presentation with voice-over. A fantastic new presentation tool.  Check it out here:

https://prezi.com/secure/b8c83fe91e2ced993b2f121fd6c2dec73b2a5cdf/

360D thinking: immersive culture

We live in an era where we look at things in 3D (in 360-degrees)…. and even in 4D (which is 3D over time) Strides in technology have enabled this, such as 3D design and 3D mind mapping software, and trending tools like Google Zeitgeist.  We’re now a generation accustomed to trending, zooming and searching. As a result of these new perspectives and ways of looking at data, new correlations ought to be found… resulting in new insights, and more complex problem solving. As we swim in data – overwhelming amounts of data – we will see more technologies that allow us to navigate, parse, curate, cull, connect and layer data (think: Augmented Reality apps).  This gives new meaning to the expression “searching society.”

iGASM

combined report: CES 2011 and Adult Entertainment Expo

you can download the CES + AVN trend report here: iGASM CES AVN 2011 Trend Report

Anyone who knows me knows that I have a passion for emerging technologies. I often exclaim that “emerging technology is orgasmic” so I thought it would be provocative to explore this… well…literally. That said, while in Las Vegas,  I attended two concurrent trade shows: The International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) and The Adult Entertainment Expo (more commonly known as “AVN” or “The Porn” show). Bellwethers for their respective economies.

AVN was actually born from CES. “It came out of CES, about 12 years ago,” explained AVN rep Sean Devlin. “There used to be an adult video section of CES… then those exhibitors said, ‘hey, we can do our own show.’ So they decided to put on their own show and AVN was born.”

My objective was to explore the two industries and their  cultures and see if I could find fresh cultural insights from this juxtaposition. I also felt it would help make this CES emerging technology report a little more titillating.

To my surprise, I found that the tech and sex worlds are quite synergistic. As I watched geeky guys, called Otaku, mixing with Dominatrixes, I was reminded of the sultry intellectual sex appeal of Star Trek’s Spock. Today, the same incongruous naughty-nice/sex-tech undertones drive the popular TV show “The Big Bang Theory.”

Indeed, the key trends in the tech world are evident in the adult entertainment world, and vice versa. Without a doubt tech culture and sex culture merge in pop culture.

tech porn: nerdgasm alert

Erotic science fiction – books, art and films – often provide a peek into the future of the tech-sex fusion. For example, today the Ex-Sex-ive Machine (below)  in the film Barbarella (1968) and The Orgasmatron machine in the film Sleeper (1973) don’t look too far off.

And then there is “tech porn,” which like “food porn,” is defined by seductive images with the intent of invoking lust for a technology. Tech porn uses smooth pans across ultra-glossy exteriors, a sequence of parts moving in intricate and complex patterns, lingering close-ups of key components,  or extremely detailed descriptions and diagrams how a device is put together.  It’s common in TV commercials, print ads, animations, manga and sci-fi literature, where text goes into greater detail than necessary about the tech, such as describing at length the interlocking mechanisms of a watch, or highly detailed and elaborate technical diagrams.  The result is called a nerdgasm.

driving tech: porn industry early adopters

Whenever there’s a new content delivery technology – papyrus, woodcuts, printing press, Polaroid cameras, Internet, etc. – it’s instantly adopted to deliver adult-entertainment. Eroticists have historically embraced the emerging technologies of their times to get their points across.

For example, the first public screening of a movie was held in 1895, and the first “adult” film was released less than two years later. Streaming video, chat rooms, online credit-card verification were all born from the desire to access erotic content and have virtual sex. Think about it, porn was one of the first profitable industries on the Internet, today generating more than $1 billion annually online. The adult entertainment industry pioneered pay-per-view video and popularized VCRs. Even video technology, like Flash, is a tech innovation with roots in sharing and selling adult content.

Today, the electronics and tech industries pursue, even design for, the adult entertainment industry… because porn companies have deep pockets and are largely immune to economic fluctuations (despite Larry Flint wryly asking for a bail-out last year). Historically, XXX-execs seek tech innovations because they know their clients have a healthy appetite for bigger, better, clearer, faster, etc.

As it turns out, one need only follow the trends of the adult entertainment industry to stay current on the latest tech trends. All of the key tech trends at CES 2011 were also being put to good (or rather, naughty) use at AVN 2011.

top 10 tech trends

My names for the Top 10 Trends are:

• Immersion
• App-lify
• Touch
• Neo-Retro
• Spy
• Mash-up
• Express
• Share
• iHome
• Vitalogy

Click below to read the whole juicy trend report (download PDF).

igasm CES AVN final report

mapping pop-culture

Map created by Andrew Shear.

On October 27, 2010 Huffington Post published a map of the US identifying every state by one state-defining movie. In response, Andrew Shear developed his own map of TV shows that are associated with states (see image – click on it to enlarge it).

To be honest, I’m not yet sure what it says about American culture. I need to think about it some more.

future of wireless devices on planes

panel discussion, CES 2011

clouds in the clouds

This year at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2011 I moderated a panel discussion on the future of wireless devices on airplanes. My panel included a group of experts representing different perspectives on the topic: Patrick Brannelly, President of the Airline Passenger Experience Association (APEX) and Vice President, Corporate Communications Product, Publishing, Digital & Events at Emirates Airline; Todd Hill, Director, Global Consumer Services, Technical Operations at Panasonic Avionics Corp; Eric Lemond, Director, Product & Platform Management at Aircell (Gogo); David McLaughlan, Senior Business Development Manager, Microsoft [Zune].

As background, consumer electronics and aviation have a love-hate relationship; while consumer electronics trends have been born from in-flight technology (e.g., personal monitors, touch screens, video-on-demand, etc.) airlines struggle to keep up with leapfrogging consumer electronics trends. Airline technology needs to last 12-15 years, so airlines have to work around legacy infrastructure. Airlines are trying to accommodate consumer demand for connectivity as best they can within their financial, infrastructure and regulatory constraints.

It’s a paradox. On one hand, in-flight entertainment can showcase emerging technologies that are making their way into mainstream consumer electronics. For example, trendy new iPads are the in-flight entertainment platform on Jetstar Airline (Australia). On the other hand, the airline industry is recognizing that consumers are boarding with their own electronic devices, and thus their own entertainment (books, movies, music) raising the question “should airlines even offer entertainment?”

device-agnostic content is king

Panasonic Avionics and Microsoft both reinforced that their mission is ensure that airplanes can support all kind of consumer electronics. Panasonic Avionics is following the consumer electronics market and working with regulators so planes can safely allow an array of devices on board. Microsoft/Zune partnered with United Airlines to trial Zune HD devices on long-haul routes (rented for $10, preloaded with movies, tv, games, etc.). Microsoft/Zune learned that:

• Passengers will pay for content that they really want to see (especially exclusive content)
• Resolution is more important than screen size (3.3” screen isn’t too small is res. is good)
• Weight matters: lighter screens are preferred for handheld devices
• Bandwidth needs to be super broad to accommodate all the content
• Content needs to be tailored to be streamed onto multiple devices (not just Zunes) – PC, Macs, phones, etc.

wireless devices in planes today

From the experiences of Emirates Airlines, which has 83 wifi/cell-phone enabled planes, and Aircell/Gogo in-flight Internet, who’s US usage in 1 month equals the population of Houston: consumers love being connected in the air!  Emirates reports that 5 million passengers have used their cell phones in-flight and 2.8 million SMS have been sent. About 50 passengers each flight switch on their mobile phone, averaging 3 calls. (Note: there was one passenger who made 140 calls on a flight! Ugh!)  But thus far there have been no complaints…

However, the noise/annoyance factor is largely due to the plane’s seating layout and ambient noise/acoustics.  Rampant cell phone usage on a small, cramped domestic US flight might not be so tolerable. What if you’re trying to sleep and the teenage passenger next to you wants to Skype? Spill-over headphone noise is already an issue. Will there need to be Quiet Zone seating on planes, like on trains? After all, about 50% of all travelers are, what I call “eggs”  (introspective frame of mind) they just want to zone-out, be left alone and not be disturbed. Not everyone wants to be connected when flying. Some use flight as an escape. (See earlier post)

future wireless devices on planes: what if?

It’s exciting to imagine the future of wireless technologies in-flight beyond in flight entertainment, Internet (surfing, emailing, social networking) and making phone calls. Cell phone-enabled planes means the cabin is transformed into a vibrant, interactive space. Imagine the new in-flight user experiences created by wifi and gsm:

• Very targeted/tailored interactive HD in-show advertising (enabled by rich tracking logs)?
• A coupon for free food might be pushed to your cell phone (the airline engaging you during the flight)?
• You might be able to look out your plane window and see Augmented Reality (AR) tagged terrain?
• The Sky Mall catalog could offer demo videos of its’ products via QR codes?
• You might be able to use a facial recognition App to get profile info on a flight attendant?

These are exciting times for the aviation and consumer electronics industries as new relationships are being forged between the aviation, content providers, electronics and technology industries. A great example of this is Panasonic Avionics’ system called “neXperience.” It’s a 3D, touch based interactive experience that enables the airline passenger to virtually travel between information destinations, filled with advertising and e-commerce. (See image.)

issues:  the ethics & etiquette of a wireless plane

The wireless airplane raises some provocative issues. I can think of three issues, or opportunities:

1. content appropriateness. Imagine the passenger sitting next to you is watching a movie with violence or nudity, but not necessarily porn? Or is fooling around on Chat Roulette? Culturally, what’s appropriate content for personal devices, say, when flying from Jerusalem to Las Vegas? Will airlines need Rules of Conduct and content policing? Could media content become an airline’s differentiator? Imagine: “Virgin, the airline that allows adult entertainment.”
2. real-time cabin visuals. With WiFi enabled airplanes today we can “Tweet from our seat”… but with camera phones there is the new possibility of -time video streaming of in flight situations. I wonder how real-time cabin visuals and video might effect (positively and negatively) in-fight customer service… or even safety?
3. international airspace transactions. We all know our phones will soon be our payment devices, which may change how we buy that boxed stale sandwich?  But, with future airplanes flying at even higher altitudes above sovereign airspace, how might communications, transactions and roaming costs be effected? Could wireless personal devices used in international airspace be free from laws, duties or censorship?

Anyway, the increasing presence of wireless devices on airplanes will no doubt change the way passengers behave, and it will generate issues that need resolving, and create new business opportunities.  Wireless devices on airplanes (and everywhere) are not the future: rather, the present. Get used to it.

the egg+ snowflake zeitgeist

two global consumer trends shaping lifestyle, travel and technology

YouTube video of Egg + Snowflake speech.

In August, 2010 I delivered the keynote speech at the World Airline Entertainment Association (WAEA)/Airline Experience Association (APEX) trade show, the largest annual gathering of international airlines, electronics, technology and media companies. My address discussed two consumer trends shaping lifestyle, travel and technology. You can watch my 40-minute speech (in 3 parts) on YouTube here.

design = culture

As a trend-watcher I look for cultural cues in design because design mirrors culture. For example, I’ve noticed that there are two distinctive movements dominating design today; one is a soft, curved, rounded egg-like, exemplified by the iPod. The other is an angular, geometric, faceted look illustrated by the Nokia Prism phone.  These two design represent a visual language that is reflecting two distinctive types of human behavior.

Example of Egg & Snowflake paradox: relaxation drinks vs. energy drinks.

Whenever there is a trend there is also a counter trend, like these two divergent design styles. The pendulum swings both directions concurrently: fit vs. fat, modern vs. retro, local vs. global, fast food vs. slow food, and so on. To that end, globally across all cultures I’m seeing two types of consumer “personas” emerge, mirroring these two design approaches; consumers are taking on two distinct paradoxical sets of behaviors broadly classified as “egg-like” and “snowflake-like.”

“Eggs” and “Snowflakes” are metaphors (like the “Fox” and Hedgehog” metaphors), which can be used as a short-hand when you talk about consumer behavior. The intuitive characteristics of eggs and snowflakes will help you remember their traits, of which there are five key points of difference (the “5Cs” of consumer behavior): Competitiveness, Change, Connectivity, Consciousness and Control.

eggs vs. snowflakes

Example of Egg & Snowflake paradox: brands with subtracted-value vs. added-value options.

Eggs and Snowflakes have some commonalities. They are white, organic, symbolizing purity and perfection, delicate, transformative, sensitive to their environments with clear nuclei. They share some common ground which is why consumers oscillate between being Eggs and Snowflakes. Consumers are capricious, with unpredictable attitudes and behaviors. They have multiple personas throughout the day. So their behavior, the brand they seek, the types of experiences they desire and their use of technology shifts depending on which mode – dare I say mood – they are in at the time: Egg or Snowflake?

meet:  eggs

• In terms of competitiveness, Egg are in a non-competitive mode. Retreating. They’re seeking comfort, nurture and protection. The opposite of competitive alertness, they are on “pause”.  For Eggs, being in an airplane can be a sanctuary.
• When it comes to connectivity, Eggs are not connected to the outside world. They’re disconnected. They’re focused on living in the moment or focused on their inner voice and what’s going on in their heads. Eggs are the passengers wearing “noise cancellation” headphones. They’re content listening to music on their iPod or snuggling up with an iPad, browsing the web. They may be engrossed in their Kindle or writing on their laptop. Eggs keep to themselves, focused on “me”, not “we.” They are not have conversations with fellow passengers.
• An Egg’s approach to change and time is summed up as “incubating”: slow growth, slow adaptation, slow everything…from slow food to slow travel. Eggs aren’t stagnant or asleep, they’re just transforming at a slow pace. For this reason, Eggs might be learning a language or watching an educational video about their destination.
• The Egg state of consciousness is Zen, paired down, chaste, pure and simple. Eggs are savoring their experiences. Eggs seek sensory sanctuary: where sensory stimulation is about quality, not quantity. Eggs are often found simply gazing out of the window… for hours. Eggs like the feel and smell of paper in-flight magazines and brochures.
• With respect to control, Eggs are highly controlled. They are stationary, still, stable, grounded and nested. They are deliberate, considered and responsible. They seek the familiar and routines. They like to know where they are. Eggs are into checking the In-flight Map and flight info.

meet:  snowflakes

• In terms of competitiveness, Snowflakes are outward facing, public, open, expressive. They’re energized and active. They’re talking to passengers and complaining to flight attendants. They’re competing with other passengers playing Trivia Pursuit and Poker games.
• When it comes to connectivity, Snowflakes have multiple nodes for networking. They’re about “we” and community. They’re collaborating and sharing in groups… like flakes in a snowstorm. They are likely to share music and videos with their neighbor on an iLUV device. They’re the passengers who are texting on the tarmac, calling or texting seat-to-seat or updating their Facebook, blogs and Twitter accounts via WiFi.
• A Snowflake’s approach to change and time is summed up as explosive growth. They welcome change, are even catalysts for change, and transition quickly between tasks. They’re listening to music while playing GameBoy. They expect movies, TV, music, games and their food/drink ordering on-demand.
• The Snowflake state of consciousness is highly alert and tuned-in. As Snowflakes are complex, with many fractal parts, they seek multi-sensory, heightened-sensory, thrilling experiences. Snowflakes are wearing “sound amplification” headphones or sporting iGoggles. They can’t wait for 3D movies. They’re mindset is “distract me until I get there” and “do anything to make me forget I where I am.”
• With respect to control, Snowflakes are open to drifting, surrendering control to serendipity. They’re into novelty, dynamism and adventure. Exploration is the Snowflake state-of-mind. They’re the passengers that raise their hand to be bumped to the next flight for a coupon and are open to move their seats. Snowflakes will be fine with the new face-to-face Airbus seating.

squealing between eggs and snowflakes

Brands cater to both Eggs & Snowflakes with UNnovative and INnovative products.

Consumers oscillate (squeal) between these two frames of mind. Marketing needs to appreciate the value of mood-states and worry less about specific consumer segments. As consumers become more complex, brands and businesses ought to worry less about target audiences and concentrate more on finding a mood, feeling or emotion that may be relevant to different states rather than different people. This also suggests that marketers can mine emotional states in order to create brands and communication ideas.

Where there’s a trend there’s a technology. Trends and technology are synergistic. Emerging technologies follow, mirror, fuel and enable behavior.  So, technology has spawned a culture of Eggs and Snowflakes, and Eggs and Snowflakes use technology in different ways. A critical difference between Eggs and Snowflakes is their attitude to technology and entertainment. One way to think about them and remember them is that Eggs are more “analog” while Snowflakes are “digital.”

So, how can your business or brand cater to Eggs and Snowflakes?

YouTube: Egg + Snowflake presentation – part 1

YouTube: Egg + Snowflake presentation – part 2

YouTube: Egg + Snowflake presentation – part 3