Recent research suggests that successful big brands don't actually waste precious resources by trying to predict the future. Instead, they seek to identify and understand 'waves' of trends and long-term changes in the macro-economic environment before developing services, products and communications that will form part of that anticipated future.

The most successful companies will identify and seek to understand a trend before they move to capitalise on it. The MasterCard 'Priceless' marketing campaign is a perfect example of this as it was predicated on the understanding that customers were increasingly seeking intangible successes rather than material possessions.

How Easy Is It for Big Brands to Predict the Future?

In a nutshell, it is nigh on impossible, thanks to the rapid changes occurring today that are facilitated primarily by exponential technological growth. However, consultants who specialise in future planning and trend identification suggest that there are practical ways to gain useful insight.

Review Your Marketing Strategy & Incorporate Trend Identification

A great example of a big brand & successful trend identifying. In the USA, Oreo took advantage of the notorious Super Bowl blackout by tweeting funny and related messages that drove customers to their products. The tweets were rapidly retweeted and the company's quick response was hugely successful. How did they do this? They located agency creatives, social-media trackers and marketing executives together so that they could work in real time to deliver, sign off and execute their activities as events unfolded.

Staying Ahead of Trends & Applying New Business Models

One way that you can stay ahead of trends is by identifying what businesses in different industries are doing. Often there are aspects of their model which can be applied to your own industry and marketplace. Look at trendwatching.com for a head start on this.

 

Invent New Services and Products for the Future

Trend identifying will only take you so far and seeking opportunities for commercial growth is vital. Some creative consultancies can help effectively with this by coming up with future developments of market offers themselves, or creating marketing campaigns to revitalise existing product lines.

It can be difficult to find a good agency in this field which will truly deliver on its promises, but the best ones will tend to look outside of their industry and work in both a quick way and a slow way to identify a broad range of short- and long-term business development  and identify which ones their clients may be able to capitalise on. Seek out an agency with a truly commercial edge too one that knows how to understand the point of future trends and can identify clear actions and toolkits to facilitate them. Finally, look for an agency which embraces realistic working practices.