10 Trends for 2011

That’s right, folks: the Source’s 2011 trends have arrived! And they’re lookin’ MIGHTY fine if we do say so ourselves. The full report is now available – click here for Upshot’s 10 Trends for 2011!

Please be excessively generous about sharing these trends! An easy way to do this is to pass along the following link, which will take you right back to this page: j.mp/11trends. (Actually, the easiest way is to click right here and let us tweet on your behalf.) Also, you can print out our handy, smart-looking reference guide to the 2011 trends by clicking here.

But, if you’re the frisky type who likes a little teaser, here are the topline takeaways from the full report:

• Sized Right (SourceRank 82): Consumers are making a big deal about smaller solutions, and it’s influencing ideas about everything from convenience to curation to consumption.
• Game On! (SourceRank 85): Brands are discovering the significant motivational power of gaming mechanisms, and consumers are happily playing along.
• Driven by Data (SourceRank 81): The future of show-not-tell marketing is using clever, compellingly-curated data to enable new experiences, solutions, and opportunities.
• Find Your Place (SourceRank 63): Real-time location data provides a world of new opportunities for brands to delight consumers with enticing occasion-based marketing.
• Demographic Divergence (SourceRank 86): Growing gaps between demographic groups will require inclusive strategic ideas, implemented with laser-targeted precision.
• Future Fear (SourceRank 85): As Americans begin to temper their eternal optimism about the future, marketers must be there to offer reassurance.
• Cause with Effect (SourceRank 69): With a possible “cause bubble” threatening the legitimacy of cause marketing, it’s time for brands to make a more significant impact.
• War on Whiners (SourceRank 71): Now that consumers have found their voices, self-assured brands will learn when to react, when to ignore, and when to respond with their own two cents.
• Life in the OOC (SourceRank 80): Online-Offline Convergence – a.k.a. The OOC – is no longer on the horizon; we’re living in it.
• Primitive Simplicity (SourceRank 56): What was once a vague preference for simplicity has now (d)evolved, with consumers increasingly believing that our sophisticated society creates more problems than solutions.
• Brand Patronage (SourceRank 55): As creative industries collapse, more artists will turn to marketers for innovative, mutually beneficial promotional partnerships.

Ohhh, so this is awkward. We didn’t realize you could count all the way to eleven. Well, consider the extra trend an early present for the holiday season. And that’s not the only thing we’ve been generous about. You may have noticed our other new gift to the world: our SourceRank trend scoring system! Click here to get all the skinny on SourceRank.

Finally, you’ll notice that these trends come with a slimming-down of the blog design. That’s no accident; the new format emphasizes our Potty Postings, Smartshot Webinar series, and the blog’s role in tracking the ten(ish) trends throughout 2011. You’ll notice that the menu at the top of the page now features our current trends, with all of our other categories getting pushed off into the archives. What can we say, we’re moving forward!