Trendspotting for the Next Decade

A business book for the day after tomorrow – a day that is fast approaching

Trends make life – and business – exciting. Seeing what’s about to hit is both an art and a science. When you’ve got one example, it’s “a noticeable situation.” When you’ve got two examples, it’s a fact. And when you’ve got three examples, it’s a trend. Trends enjoyed by a few today will be experienced by many tomorrow and virtually all of us next week. A savvy trendspotter separates the wheat from the chaff, distinguishing today’s passing fancy or fading passion from tomorrow’s sizzling item du jour.
Understanding trends is a prerequisite for business success – or even survival. Or as media and marketing guru Richard Laermer puts it: “Define trends now and stay alert or have the person who replaces you do it for ‘ya!”
In 2011: Trendspotting for the Next Decade (McGraw-Hill; April 2008; Hardcover: $25.95) Laermer, who has captivated advertisers, marketers, entrepreneurs, and PR devotees with his uncanny ability to spot the Next Big, explores the major trends that will affect businesspeople in the year 2011 and beyond. He shows readers how to think like futurists and create and influence what is coming. The book is loaded with topics including business, media, entertainment, society, customer culture, sex, spare time, and more. (Oh, and Laermer spares nothing or no one to make a humorous point).
Laermer devotes his "Dive Into Trends..." chapter to outlining tactics businesspeople must embrace in order to spot trends, including: market research – analyze competitors; monitor the media – what are anchors, journalists, and bloggers really saying?; influencer check-ups – talk to the people who fit the demographic you are trying to reach; and share the sights – write a trend-oriented newsletter for your customers and ask them if you’re onto something.
According the Laermer, Gumby will become the mascot of 2011. Because Gumby was a Claymation creation, he was eminently flexible and had a special knack for getting into, out of, and through fantastic and often danger-filled escapades. Laermer insists that in the year 2011 and beyond, businesspeople must possess “gumbitude” – ultimate flexibility, can-do attitude, confidence, ambition, and be solution-focused.
2011 includes 77 short chapters based on research, forecasting, hunches, and insider data. The book is fun and fulfilling down to the layout which includes bullets, lists, thought-bubbles, icons, outrageous moments, and footnotes right next to the sentences themselves. As changes in trends are always afoot, there is a wholly up-to-the-minute destination, Laermer.com, where readers will be able to find daily updates on news, trends, thoughts, and impolitic asides to giggle with – and add their takes. There will also be quizzes and prizes.