Now the concept is evolving, and brands are catching on. The same grocery shopping wall is currently being tested on a smaller scale in several bus stops throughout Seoul, and household needs giant Procter & Gamble executed a wall in four major subway stations in Prague featuring razors, laundry detergent and the like at the end of 2011. Just weeks ago, consumers in New York were treated to a shoppable apothecary wall by Conde Nast’s Glamour magazine, and Chicago’s own O’Hare airport is currently sporting a wall by Sears with popular toys for boys and girls (seen in the photo above). Business traveling parents take note—if you forgot to grab little Susie or Bobby a souvenir from your trip, this wall could be your saving grace on the way to baggage claim. Just a few clicks and the latest Elmo-doll sensation could be yours!

While many of the executions noted are using the more widely recognized QR codes for scanning purposes, SpyderLink’s Snap Tags are also starting to make appearances in the world of (literal) window shopping.

With brands on the lookout for new ways to target consumers, technology takes center stage with virtual walls providing a seamless, simplified shopping experience.

Gender Bender, an examination of shifting gender based demographics and dynamics, featured in our Ten Trends for 2012 report, builds on a theme we’ve been following and writing about over the past few years. Namely, that with women’s educational ascendancy and growing economic power we’re now witnessing one of the most dramatic cultural upheavals in this country’s history.

In her new book, The Richer Sex: How the New Majority of Female Breadwinners is Transforming Sex, Love, and Family, best selling writer and Washington Post reporter Liza Mundy presents a fascinating perspective on what she calls the Big Shift. Drawing on many of the same sources we’ve cited in our own observations about these changes, Mundy outlines a broad variety of current indicators which speak to what’s in store for our culture as women wield greater influence in the workplace and the marketplace. For instance, fifty-seven percent of undergraduates are now female, and women earn the majority of doctorates and master’s degrees, leading some experts to predict that in the next two decades, medicine and law will be dominated by women. Already, according to a 2009 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Survey, in 4 out of 10 working couples, wives out-earned their husbands — essentially doubling this figure in just two decades. Mundy does note that women have not quite shattered the glass ceiling given that they still face a wage gap; women working full time earn a median wage that is eighty-one percent of what men make. Still, when we look at single women in their twenties in major metro areas, women are already out-earning their male twenty-something peers. Look out!

As we’ve noted before, many marketers continue to either ignore or misinterpret what these changes mean for today’s household dynamics. One of the Mundy’s most important observations centers on how increasing income parity is redefining relationships and changing younger Americans’ notions of masculinity and parenting. With so much evidence pointing to a more egalitarian approach to raising children, a sophisticated marketer like Kimberly-Clark recently sparked what Advertising Age called a poop storm of controversy when outraged fathers launched an online attack on a Huggies campaign which portrayed fathers as clueless and inept. At Internet speed, one outraged Pennsylvania father started a petition entitled “We’re Dads, Huggies. Not Dummies.” Armed with his own powerful demographic stat, Routly pointed out that according to the most recent U.S. census, one in three fathers acts as his family’s primary child caregiver. Lesson learned, Kimberly-Clark quickly apologized and retooled the campaign.

A broad spectrum of cultural norms will be reshaped as gender roles shift and evolve. And smart marketing will reflect these changes without distorting or misinterpreting what they mean for both men and women. Yet the road to enlightenment can be a winding one, so while we expect to see more intelligent depictions of involved fathers like those in P&G’s new Vicks campaign, we may also have to witness a few more poop storms.

But could it have the same effect on what people think about the world that frames the characters and complexity – the world of marketing? As consumers become bored with traditional advertising techniques, brands evolve by producing more entertaining, interactive, and insightful campaigns, so consumers can’t help but enjoy the creativity and innovation in content. However, they’re still wary of advertising claims, believing that brands are more interested in bolstering sales than providing consumers with products to benefit their lives.

Much like Mad Men’s uncanny ability to change culture through its poignant human insights, the show could be beneficial to the public’s perception of marketing as well. In “The Wheel,” the final episode of the first season, Don Draper pitches an idea for a slide projector to prospective clients at Kodak, who made it clear that they’re interested in running with an ad theme of technological advancement in their new product. However, by putting his personal photographs onto the projector, tainted by the heartbreak of his inner turmoil and crumbling family life, Draper effectively shows the clients at Kodak, and the viewer, that marketing is not about shiny new things. It’s about human insights, the personal relationship people have with certain products, and the opportunities brands have to capture the memories and emotions that surround human relationships.

It could just be that, with Mad Men’s gaining popularity and the growing interest in advertising (The Pitch, a new reality show centered on agencies pitching marketing ideas to brands, was hatched to strategically bask in Mad Men’s glow), the show has the power to change consumer culture’s suspicion of marketers. With a carefully-curated storyline, consumers now have an insight into Don Draper’s perspective that campaigns are made by humans for humans, with complexity and emotion both delivering and receiving each message.

Recently hitting 10 million unique monthly views faster than any standalone site in US history, Pinterest is becoming too big to ignore, especially for brands and marketers. Curious about what this site is and how to utilize it? Check out our new Potty Posting, which takes a look at how brands can use this site to “pinspire” consumer action.

The Ego to Her Id

Do you often find yourself planning a hypothetical wedding, decorating a hypothetical house, or building a hypothetical shoe closet out of items you probably can’t afford?

If so, you might have a Pinterest problem.

At least you’re not alone. Apologies in advance to anyone who’s already familiar with it, but Pinterest is a social media site for users to gather, organize and share things they find on the Internet in a visually-stimulating, digital scrapbook. With over 11 million unique monthly visitors in January and referral traffic equaling that of Google and Twitter, it’s gaining a lot of attention.

“NOOOOOOO!” you exclaim in a fit of rage. “I can’t keep track of all these stupid social networks anymore! What makes this one different?!” Geez, calm down.  Have some pins to help you relax.

A user’s Pinterest boards, or categories in which she “pins” items, are filled with inspirational quotes, entertainment ideas, parenting tips, recipes, decorating palettes, and everything else she can relate to. Even if the user doesn’t have the time, money, or energy to achieve or own all of the cool things she pins, she can still customize her scrapbook so that it becomes a visual representation of her ideal self, or what she would do if she could. Essentially, Pinterest is the organizing, rational helper to her passionate, impulsive instincts – the ego to her id.

In this way, Pinterest is the perfect platform for brands to connect with users. Whether they realize it or not, brands and marketers have been tapping in to the id and ego for decades, convincing consumers to satisfy their impulses by rationalizing those choices for them. That’s why brands have really started taking notice of this new platform. Some active brands on Pinterest, like Chobani yogurt and Gap clothing, post photos of recipe ideas and clothing combos (respectively) to allow users to save the brand as a “maybe someday” wish, without the immediate commitment to buy.

And when these brands trigger her lustful impulse to pin their attractive or delicious products, she shares it with the entire Pinterest community (there are no privacy settings on boards yet), and it guarantees that she’ll recognize it and be more likely to purchase it when she sees it in real life. Plus, on Pinterest, brand content doesn’t come in the form of a sponsored story or a traditional ad – it’s mostly re-pins from other users, which is, essentially, a recommendation of that brand by other community members. This recommendation is invaluable, because every marketer knows that people trust friends and virtual strangers more than advertising.

There’s only one problem: brands have to make it seem like they’re not selling anything. This is easy when it’s other users re-pinning a brand’s content, but with the ability for brands to create their own profiles and boards, the directness of the brand’s self-promotion could make users wary. A user’s boards are really personal – they’re an open exhibition of her philosophies, goals, dreams, and lifestyle. This puts brands at a disadvantage: a Pinterest user is not going to respond very well to impersonal ads and marketing messages taking advantage of the personal information she shares on her boards and cluttering up her ideal-self-collage.

This makes it necessary for brands to use Pinterest’s platform, and the nature of a user’s impulsive id, to do the marketing for them. On Pinterest, images take center stage, so brands should focus on eye-catching photos of their products to encourage re-pinning. Descriptions should be kept short and sweet, with just enough information to warrant a click. An important but often overlooked rule of thumb is to make sure pins are added to the right boards; if a brand offers a great product for a user browsing a “Midnight Snack” board, it’ll be a perfect match.

In addition, since Pinterest doesn’t have an established revenue plan, brands can leverage this user-driven community for creative advertising. For example, Corona could host a “Pin Your Beach” contest based on its “Find Your Beach” campaign, in which users pin images of their perfect getaway and win prizes. Her re-pinning the image, and the next user re-pinning it from her, will ensure a degree of separation that still brings a brand’s image to a user’s board, but without the directness of something that could be considered an advertisement.

The opportunities Pinterest offers brands is enormous, and by getting savvy to the platform and inspiring action in re-pinning, a brand can target a user’s impulsive instincts and ensure its place on her ideal-self-collage.

How it Works

Pick your movie details. You start by choosing a film you want to promote and the city you want to watch it in. Then enter some basics about your social network—how many followers you have on Facebook, Twitter and Google+ and how many you’ll email about the event. This helps them determine the size of theater and potential to fill the seats. (Guessing they have some fancy algorithms and combobulators to figure that part out.) At this stage you also have to agree to their promoter terms, basics on what you can and cannot do.

Promote your event. Then it’s up to you to get the word out about your event, via social networks, email, etc., and get people to sign up. Their website will soon have an area for users to browse local events to hook up with others. And depending on the film (and licensing agreement), they’ll provide digital images, clips and/or sound recordings for you to advertising the event.

Attend movie. Once you hit the required amount of RSVPs—it tips similar to Groupon-type services—you can enjoy the movie in a theater with your friends and community.

What They Offer

Tugg works with film studios and independent filmmakers to offer a rich content library. They continually add new titles including the biggest blockbusters, film festival favorites, award-winning shorts, repertory classics, and everything in between.

It’s a great opportunity for movies that have limited release or go straight to video. Right now their site is promoting two films: The Tree of Life which had limited release; and The Loved Ones, described as “Sixteen Candles meets The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” which sounds like either.

It doesn’t look like there are any limitations for brands using the service. So I’m looking forward to Pacifico’s event and screening of The Endless Summer (hint, hint).

The argument for permanent change is that frugality is the new reality, as people turn their backs on conspicuous consumption. Many pundits link this ‘new attitude’ to popular support for the Occupy Movement, which is seeking to replace consumerism with a more utopian society. Very idealistic but as far as there being a long-term shift in consumer sentiment, forget it.

Yes there’s a mountain of data to show I’m wrong. Only yesterday I read a shopper study from a well respected research group, which described the consumer’s new and apparently permanent mindset: designer purses, high-end cosmetics, high-end jewelry, maid service, facials, new jeans and new shoes, to name but a few ‘expendables’ are all out. Other media reports even tell us the recession has a silver lining, either because it’s a ‘teaching moment’ on family finance or because it has freed people from the treadmill of spending.

Now I don’t dispute the recession has had a terrible impact; nor do I challenge that much discretionary spending is way down, just as coupon use and spending in the Dollar Channel is way up. My argument is this behavior is caused simply by a lack of cash and not by any cultural shift.

But wait I hear you cry, what about the explosion in bargain hunting? What about the success of Chicago’s own Groupon? Or Rue La La? Surely that’s a behavior that will stay? Yes, but then haven’t Americans always loved a bargain? The 1980s and 90s saw the rise of Walmart, feeding consumers’ desire for “everyday low prices.” People have always lined up outside stores with big sales: last Thanksgiving it was Walmart and Best Buy. 30 years ago it was Sears and Marshall Fields. While today’s shoppers are better informed, I don’t believe they’re any more bargain hungry than earlier generations.

In any case, my point here isn’t that people won’t carry on looking for deals; it’s that even after the worse recession since the 1930s, their emotional drive to shop for things that make them feel good remains a strong as ever. Sure actual spending has dipped because the money dried up but that visceral desire to consume remains. And if I’m right, brands that tap into that pent up demand will do far better than those who behave in line with the ‘conventional wisdom’.

For support of my thesis, look at Gfk Roper’s latest Annual Perspective. Gfk Roper asks some smart questions that give a better glimpse into people’s minds than most polling.

First, over the last 3 years the percentage agreeing with the statement “I am really turned off by people’s obsession with material possessions today” has declined, from 67% to 61% for the whole population, and from 67% to 55% for those earning over $100k.

Then take a look at this Gfk Roper chart, showing the percentage of people who agree with the statement “I like to buy prestigious brand names.”

What hits me about this chart is that it clearly shows that what I’m talking about isn’t restricted to the very rich, but is shared by many middle-income households.

On a more anecdotal level, think about the current success of glitzy brands like Audi, BMW, Mercedes and even Detroit’s own Cadillac. And to judge from the crowds at this year’s Chicago Auto Show, the appeal of these high-end brands is pretty universal: their stands were far busier than Ford or Chevy. Sure most people were probably fantasizing but that’s my point: the desire for brands with style and cachet still outweighs the appeal of more worthy options like the Toyota Prius and Chevy Volt.

Finally, talking of cars leads me to the Mercedes-Benz sponsored New York Fashion Week, on as I write. The coolest aspect of fashion today isn’t the on-going success of couture classics like Chanel and Armani (nor even Marc Jacobs’ simply marvelous hats shown above), but the spread of designer labels into the real world. Olivier Theyskens at Theory, Marni at H&M and Mizrahi at Target are all brilliant examples of hip designers and savvy retailers tapping into consumers’ desire to wear a ‘designer piece’, albeit at a relatively affordable price.

My point is not that consumers aren’t hurting, they are. My point is that despite the last few years, people still yearn for possessions that truly make them feel good, be that a killer pair of Louboutins, a new Audi or a bottle of 20 year old Elijah Craig Single Barrel bourbon at over $150 a pop. And as times improve, people will go back to their old ways (check out this recent CNN article on consumer spending.)

I’d add that even if it takes years for the economy to fully recover (sadly that’s the consensus of most economists), people are going to find ways to spend on what they really love, even if it means shopping at Dollar stores for everything else. What they will not do is stop being consumers, in the full-up capitalist sense of the world.

The take-away for marketing people is that you need to think very carefully how to tap into today’s Zeitgeist or spirit of the times. Do you stick with the conventional wisdom and try to connect with the ‘frugal’ consumer mindset? Or with the consumer who really can’t wait to indulge in some spending again? My money is on the later but what do you think? And if you disagree with my argument let’s have a debate. Post your thoughts. Start a conversation. It’s what blogs are for.

Meet Pinterest, a social media site for users to gather, organize and share things they find on the internet in a visually-stimulating, digital scrapbook. There are all sorts of things on Pinterest, but the savvy user knows that most of it can be found in categories like decorations, crafts, food, and wedding planning. That’s not too surprising, considering that as of last month, 80% of Pinterest users were women, most between 25 and 34.

People use Pinterest to “pin” things around the web that they identify with, but since so much of it is too expensive for the everyday user to buy, a user’s Pinterest board represents what she would buy, what she would craft, and what she would cook, if she had the time and the means. Essentially, a user’s Pinterest board is a visual representation of her ideal self.

So, how can your brand leverage this site for your romantic Valentine’s Day campaign? Check out your target’s board! She’s already been pinning tablescapes, yummy recipes, baking ideas, and dresses, so you have plenty of information to get to know her personally. Is she pinning in a certain trend, like recipes that include chocolate or cheese? Has she been “liking” pins about fruity cocktails or hot toddies? Has she been re-pinning posts about beauty treatments?

With this information in mind, recognize your brand’s most romantic asset and how couples can use it together. Can your ingredients be used in a homemade dish that even culinary novices can master? Pin it! Does your brand offer an aroma-therapy candle or night-time bubble bath? Pin it! Does your brand’s liquor make the sweetest, more share-able cocktails? Pin it! Yoplait pins delicious dessert recipes featuring its yogurt, and HGTV even has its own Valentine’s Day board full of crafts and other visually loveable items to get your romantic wheels turning.

Remember: for best results, tag your pins correctly, and keep them short, sweet, and eye-catching. By using this great new site to get familiar with your target, your brand can make her Valentine’s Day that much sweeter.

In our take on Mindfulness as an important shift in consumers’ attitudes this year, we were careful to note that we’re not predicting scads of new Buddhists across the country despite mindfulness’ origins in Buddhist teachings. So although the article does acknowledge this association in the reporter’s description of a mindful meal in an actual Buddhist monastery, he also includes evidence of a wider embrace of mindful eating on the part of experts who study Americans’ often tortured relationship with food. The article includes quotes from Prof. Brian Wansink, from the Food and Brand Lab at Cornell University and the author of “Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think,” as well as from Dr. Lilian Cheung, a Harvard nutritionist who has devoted herself to studying the benefits of more mindful eating, and is “passionately encouraging corporations and health care providers to try it.” Dr. Cheung has already sparked a monthly mindful lunch at that arbiter of all things cool in the corporate world, Google’s corporate HQ.

As noted in the NYT piece, eating with mindfulness is not so much about what we eat, but how we eat. The frantic, hyper-speed pace of modern life is influencing every facet of our lives, from how we think, shop, work, and eat. We’re eating on the go, at our desk, and we’re often racing through our meals without noting not only how much we just scarfed down, but how much we actually enjoyed the experience of that particular food, snack or meal. As noted in our trends report, brands who can remind their consumers to slow down a bit, enjoy the moment, and truly savor the experience with their product stand to benefit from this growing awareness that mindfulness will forge a more emotional and fulfilling connection with that consumer. Food for thought indeed!

Our latest Potty Posting is here! With a keen eye for changing food cultures and the trends that follow them, we’ll take a look at why 2012 is shaping up to be a delicious year.

The New Nostalgia.
Yes, it’s a food trends report, but it won’t be the run-of-the-mill, snobby kind (sorry to everyone who’s into that). In fact, it won’t even give you a lot of foods that’ll be trending at all (maybe just a couple: keep your eye out for bibimbap and yuzu).

It’s more of a food culture trends report. See, it’s pretty much impossible to separate the two, so it would be a little silly to talk about food trends in 2012 without the accompanying trends in culture. Culture isn’t static. It changes with the times, demographics and generations. These are the same reasons that food culture isn’t static. We’re too young, too diverse, and too adventurous to let our food be constrained to one flavor, one ethnicity, or one state of mind. Let’s celebrate it.

The Old Nostalgia
The sensory experience we get from food is a powerful one. We turn to food when we feel stressed or anxious, it’s always present when we celebrate or mourn, and it’s nearly impossible to deny a strong craving (don’t pretend like walking by a movie theatre doesn’t instantly transform you into a ravenous, insatiable, buttered popcorn-fueled monster).

But in 2011, we turned to food for its nostalgia. We hadn’t seen much progress in terms of the economy, our jobs were still in danger, and our outstanding student loan debt exceeded $1 trillion for the first time (“The economy is so bad…” “How bad is it, Jay?”). Our fear drove us to foods that remind us of a better time in our lives and in our communities. As a coping mechanism, we turned to (even upscale versions of) burgers, mac and cheese, and grilled cheese sandwiches – satiating, not-too-expensive reminders of childhood in pre-recession America.

Food items themselves were not the only trends that revealed our nostalgic patriotism, or our attempt to bring back the good ol’ days by eating like them. We started gravitating toward ideas of “farm to table” and now-hackneyed “artisan” to show our frustration with Big Food Inc. and the ridiculous consequences of lobbying – like when pizza sauce was officially made a vegetable thanks to the lobbyists of the American Frozen Food Institute and the Coalition for Sustainable Meal Programs (which, surprise surprise, is funded in part by ConAgra). Before these phrases lost all meaning (Domino’s Artisan Pizzas? Molto bene!), their purpose was to support the small-scale American farmer and bring communities back together with locally-grown, sustainable food.

Something Old, Something New
Thankfully, some of that won’t be going away in 2012! We’re still going to see a focus on fresh, local food and small-scale, sustainable farming (it can’t all be bad, right guys? …Right?!). Right! We’re still enjoying that homemade comfort food, but we’re not doing it with so much fear anymore. The economy is picking up again, the outlook for the U.S. restaurant industry is way high, and, overall, it’s a great time for American food.

But while we’ll still want comfort food in 2012, what we consider “comfort food” has been changing pretty dramatically. We’ve all heard that America is a melting pot (of delicious fondue, of course), and Millennials are the most keenly aware of this than any other age group. Not only is Gen Y the most ethnically diverse age group, it’s also the most experimental when it comes to food. Since most Millennials have grown up in an environment where global cuisines are the norm, the definition of “comfort food” for them is a lot different than for previous generations, which vastly broadens the scope of food culture in 2012.

Because Gen Y’s palates are getting more adventurous, we have a good chance of seeing a trend of picking and choosing global ingredients from different cuisines to build optimal dishes. It won’t be a surprise to see kimchee on the same plate as bacalao (“You’ve probably never heard of it,” says the Source’s inner hipster), or fusion sandwiches made with ingredients that might actually clash – but expanding our taste horizons is exactly the point. We saw this with the explosion of Korean tacos, which got their fame a) because of the “cool factor” of the food trucks that carried them and b) because to us, especially Gen Y, tacos are a safe, household staple we’ve come to know and love, and experimenting with putting different things in that crunchy shell is really intriguing. In addition, don’t be surprised to see global substitutes for familiar ingredients, like bao instead of biscuits and different meats/parts of the animal in sandwiches, like oxtail, goat, and innards (don’t cringe, it’s not like I told you to blend ‘em up as a substitute for smoothies).

The Kitchen Sink
So, how can marketers tap into this culinary globalism? Think Gen Y. They’re not super wealthy, they’re bold, and they aren’t afraid to try new things. This leaves marketers with a ton of room to play around, especially when it comes to food. Don’t assume that one ethnicity will be closed to another’s cuisine, or that mixing and matching is out of the question. Keep an eye out for innovative new food pairings, or new experiences you can offer consumers with a meal — can you put a twist on a dish they thought they knew by using an ingredient they never would have considered? Can you pique their interest in an ingredient by using it in place of a similar, familiar one? Food may bring nostalgia for the past, but with some playful ideas and global thinking, you can inspire action and keep consumers excited about the culinary future.

Fashion houses have been especially quick to jump on board the Instagram bandwagon, such as the Art of the Trench project from Burberry. The brand encouraged fans to don their trench coats and submit photos via Instagram, which were featured at artofthetrench.com alongside professional “trench coat portraits” by The Sartorialist’s Scott Schuman. Those promiscuous folks at Sartorialist also teamed up with Tiffany & Co. to encourage fashionable couples in New York and Paris to document their True Love In Pictures via Instagram, as shown in the image to the right. But to really pull the whole thing together, the pair offered a special Instagram photo filter that users could apply to their lovely images.

Instagram’s aforementioned Seamlessness also makes it an ideal platform for promotions and sweepstakes, as entering can involve little more than a photo and a quick tag. Levi’s is using the service to find new faces for their 2012 brand campaign by asking folks to tag images of themselves with #iamlevis. The early results seem to be attracting quite the spectrum of participants, ranging from American Apparel-y hipsters to shirtless muscle-bound jocks. Oh, and this guy. We hope he wins.

GE is similarly tapping Instagrammers to find a “social media photographer,” a position that would require the winner to take behind-the-scenes photos at GE’s jet engine facility for sharing on sites like Instagram and Tumblr. Entrants are tasked with bringing one of GE’s four foci to life (Moving, Curing, Powering and Building) and tagging their images with #GEInspiredMe. (You can see some of the selections below). Regardless of who wins the contest, we find it particularly interesting that a brand as complicated and amorphous as GE could use this promotion to clearly and simply communicate their core areas of expertise. Moreover, like the Levi’s campaign mentioned earlier, the brand is leveraging the Collective Curation of their fans to compile a large collection of compelling images of their products and processes. These assets can subsequently be used in all kinds of smart ways in the future, even if the respective marketers don’t know exactly what that’ll be just yet. But along the way, these Instagramming brands have already developed (pun intended) a deeper engagement with their most expressive consumers.