Yes, there appears to be a bit of a battle going on about toning shoes, the sneakers that claim to – among other things – help you shape up your abs, thighs, and glutes just by altering the way you walk. As it turns out, that’s a pretty profitable promise, as the market for toning shoes is expected to surpass $1 billion this year, led by Sketchers and Reebok.

Wait a second. Where’s Nike?

Sitting on the sidelines, actually. Nike claims to be unconvinced about the benefits of toning shoes, and has gone so far as to mock them in a recent campaign. In the example pictured to the right, the sign off (‘This shoe works if you do”) wraps up a broader message about getting a hot body through good ol’ fashioned exercise, rather than “magical” shoes. Oh, SNAP.

We’ve previously lauded Nike for their work on Nike+, noting that this sub-brand demonstrates an impressively nuanced understanding of the running community. As a result, their executions have been exceptionally targeted, ranging from iPod integrations to geo-tagged running routes to simultaneously coordinated running events. In other words, Nike has proven, repeatedly, that they understand the priorities and motivations of this Micro Community.

So, if Sketchers can get credit for having the right brand personality to launch a quick-fix toning shoe (a case made by the always-wise Ed Cotton), Nike deserves even more admiration for knowing when to step aside from a “brand-wrong” trend. We not saying the toning shoes do or don’t work, since shoe science isn’t our specialty. The point is that even if the shoes are effective, their sole selling feature undermines the essence of the entire Nike+ brand: namely, that a healthy lifestyle is a marathon, not a sprint (and yes, every single one of those puns intended). Over a long period of time, Nike’s been able to connect with the running community by continuously demonstrating that the brand is paying attention to (and delivering upon) their needs, so we’re relieved to see that Nike knew better than to undermine that promise by jumping on a possible fad.

If you haven’t already, please don’t forget to vote for our SXSW 2011 panel, accessible here. You’ll need to create an account to vote, but we promise that it takes less than a minute. Voting closes Friday, August 27th, and we appreciate every bit of help we can get!

Yes, a recent study assessed over 3,000 brands to see how they measure up on down-to-earth-ism. Not surprisingly, many brands at the top of this list are dependable, traditional, long-running staples for American consumers: Kraft Foods, Morton Salt, Ace Hardware, John Deere, etc. And, the study seems to describe them in this manner, defining down-to-earth-ism with descriptors such as being real, true, grounded, authentic, and even “innovative” in some cases.

However, we think there’s more to down-to-earth-ism than these passive brand characteristics. Down-to-earth-ism is also about actions. When we originally introduced down-to-earth-ism, we pointed out that this trend replaced big, sweeping claims (which may feel unattainable in the current economic climate) with “an aggregate of small promises that are consistently achieved.” It’s easy to see how the aforementioned brands live up to this statement, as they create numerous tangible improvements to consumers everyday lives. The top ranking brand from the study – WalMart – essentially delivers this message in their “Save Money. Live Better” messaging, suggesting that the repeated action of saving a few pennies here and there will regularly pay off for consumers in their daily lives.

In an interesting parallel, Newsweek recently published an article that called out a corresponding trend in architecture. The author finds that the iconic, challenging, and flamboyant buildings of the past decade are increasingly giving way to subtle, efficient, and functional priorities (such as the North Caroline Museum of Art pictured above). While extravagant buildings have certainly been tempered in the short-run by the real-estate bust, there also seems to be an architectural corollary to the idea of the new austerity. Architects are finding the pull of eco-friendly buildings, smarter urban planning, and collaborative design to be, in some ways, just as fulfilling as creating the next Beijing Bird’s Nest (which, tellingly, is now occupied by tacky retail stalls, or – even worse – hampered with vacancies). The fact that this ascetic aesthetic so closely resembles consumer behavior seems to support the idea down-to-earth-ism is more than just a temporary response to tough times. Instead, brands that keep themselves grounded may find themselves best positioned for long-term success.

As a follow-up to designer Dieter Rams’ 10 principles of good design, inksie has tapped a group of ten writers and illustrators to come up with essays and designs that bring these principles to life.

The entries are appropriately concise and well executed – we think you’ll enjoy the results. Check out the collection here.

Whew. It seems we were right.

Take Australia’s Hidden Pizza restaurant (pictured above). The pie provider opened up two weeks ago at an undisclosed location, offering free pizzas to anyone who could track down the storefront. Searchers were sent to a website that provided no form of contact information other than advising them to “just look it up like you would any other business.” Would that riddle have sent you to the Yellow Pages’ website? If so, you would have found a listing for Hidden Pizza with the phone number for placing your order.

Yes, Yellow Pages was behind the entire campaign. And yes, this hidden surprise created an awful lot of delight, especially for a product that’s more commonly considered an afterthought than a tool for a mystery scavenger hunt.

On the other hand, some surprises are motivated by the fact that it’s too easy to find exactly what you want. A German t-shirt website called Hipstery has made a name for itself by not showing any of their shirts on the site. Instead, buyers answer a series of questions about themselves and Hipstery sends them a shirt that they think will be most appealing. Surprise! The shirts often come from the out-of-print stashes of small suppliers, and yes, you can return any shirt you absolutely hate. (Way to ruin the fun, whiner.) The appeal (or “delight,” if you will) of the site comes from the fact that the endless reach of web shopping has largely eliminated the element of surprise from shopping. If you want an obscure item, search long enough on the web and you’ll probably find it. Don’t get us wrong: we prefer it that way. But Hipstery fills another type of emotional need that has been lost, and brings some fun back to a shopping experience that’s often defined solely by efficacy.

The benefits of hidden surprises aren’t strictly limited to shopping, either. A recent article from the fine folks at the Hartman Group lamented that most loyalty programs don’t actually generate a whole lot of “loyalty.” Members are generally rewarded with routine (i.e. 5% cash back) or incremental (i.e. airline miles) economic incentives, so most consumers will simply follow whichever brand offers the largest incentives. Instead, the Hartman Group argues that building legitimate loyalty comes from “innovative methods of surprise and delight,” ranging from an unexpected upgrade for a hotel guest to an unanticipated deal to encourage a frequent customer to try something new. (And of course, we’re delighted and surprised at their choice of terminology!)

And, in the end, this long-term loyalty is the point of all of these surprises. These transactions are memorable, connecting with the consumer in a way that simply doesn’t in other brand interactions. Maybe this isn’t life-changing happiness, but it certainly can be day-changing, and that’s often good enough to change the way consumers think about your brand.

As we alluded to in yesterday’s post, today we’re going to talk a bit about touch. Specifically, where touch is at, where it’s going, and why it’s finally relevant in-store at the point-of-purchase.

Oh, and why it may be inherently obsolete.

In one panel, hosted by some digital agency named Sharp Flounder or Cutting Shark or something I can’t remember, the participants considered the way that today’s touch interfaces are creating more engaging in-store experiences. By now, we know the obvious benefits to the consumer; in a world where Immersive Sensory Experiences are the norm, the consumer has come to expect this level of engagement. However, the panelists made the great point that these experiences improve the experience for the salesforce as well.

When the immersive experience makes the selling process more enjoyable for the consumer, the interaction between the consumer and salesperson becomes collaborative (to find the right solution) instead of combative. The presenters gave the example of a car dealer working with the Microsoft Surface, guide the customer through the normally complex buying decision via a show-not-tell virtual experience. (Here’s an example created for Audi.) Furthermore, consumers now demand both customization (requiring enormous choice) and simplified shopping (requiring cultivated choice), which a standard brick-and-mortar retailer (and especially a car dealer) cannot realistically address this with their on-hand inventory. Instead, the customer can get all the tech specs from the internet (which they’re increasingly doing anyway), while the salesperson can focus on addressing the customer’s concerns and unanswered questions.

But, that’s not all. It also helps the bottom line. Take consumer electronics, for example. The category happens to be plagued with a lot of buyer’s remorse, as people realize they just spent hundreds of dollars on a product that’s bound to be obsolete/dropped/soooo-not-cool in a matter of months. Returns ensue, and everyone loses. But, the presenters discovered that they were able to significantly reduce buyer’s remorse (and thus, returns) by enabling consumers to personalize the products before they even entered the store. Using a touchscreen kiosk elsewhere in the mall, consumers could walk themselves through the entire shopping and customization process before they even set foot in the store; see the video below for more.

Then again, touch is “today.” Tomorrow, is touch-less.We’re starting to see this already with augmented reality, which is sort-of-almost touchless at this point (since most applications require you to hold something in front of the camera – although that’s about to change, too). We’ll dedicate a whole post later, but the LEGO video at the top of this post should be enough to get you thinking about how the point-of-purchase experience can be seriously augmented (pun intended) with these services. How engaging is the process of picking up a box of LEGOS, looking at the picture on the front, and maybe shaking it around a bit? Not much. But, seeing the completed project in 3D (and with live action) brings to life the true potential of what’s in the box. (Should we mention that it’s Delighting the Consumer with a Hidden Surprise? Yeah, we should.)

But, no, tomorrow won’t require you to hold up a marker to a camera. Tomorrow will be gesture-based. Gesture-based experiences are right around the corner (expect Project Natal to hit sometime in the next twelve months and change everything), and will inevitably be more intuitive and user-friendly because they mimic typical human movements. Without going too deep into the future, we can see how this will work with a current technology: RFID tags. RFID-enabled products are now capable of being reactive, as demonstrated by the Sniff dog (shown in the video below). When different tagged objects are placed near the dog, he (I assume it’s a he?) responds in a variety of different doggy-dog ways. And this, folks, is a simple illustration of where interactive, immersive, engaging experiences are going. There’s no intermediary (a computer screen, a kiosk, etc.) coming between the user and the immersive experience, engaging the consumer in unprecedented ways.

Man, the future’s gonna be cool, isn’t it? More to come tomorrow.

While we brace for the onslaught of location-based news at SXSWi, an unrelated press release from Telenav (maker of GPS devices) has already shaken things up.

The press release, available here, breaks down the most searched-for destinations on Telenav’s various devices. The list covers everything from top retail locations (WalMart tops the list) to most searched-for foods (pictured to the right), and more.

Obviously, this is a clever application of location-based data. The fact that all of these searches were conducted by drivers (hopefully while off the road!) adds another layer of specificity to the data. In other words, if your brand or category made this list, it’d be worth your while to consider some driver-specific messaging and campaigns.

Specifics aside, it’s great to see that brands are recognizing that location-based services are not just mere enablers of narcissistic tendencies. Beyond making consumers fight for Mayorships and whatnot, these services also generate enormously useful data about where consumers are heading and what they need when they’re on their way. Not surprisingly, Starbucks’ claims that their new integration with foursquare is partly for fun, but mostly a source of insight into their customers’ demands and habits. Sounds like someone’s trying to be a Hometown’s Hero!

Nonetheless, we’re seeing a lot of bartering examples popping up in unexpected places. While we’re not suggesting that marketers give up cash payments for beaver pelts, we do think there’s a lesson here for how to better incentivize consumers.

Consider the Dust Jacket Project from musician Joel P. West. His album is not for sale in the traditional sense: anyone looking to receive a copy must send West a creation of their own. He explains:

To receive the free download, send in something of your own creation that describes a part of you. It could be a candid thought or a journal entry, a drawing you’ve been working on for months or a photograph you accidentally took thirty seconds ago. It could be a song or video, an image of something you are building, or it could even be a single word.

Similarly, New York City’s Trade School provides a variety of creativity-enhancing classes for the low, low price of… well, whatever service the teachers want to trade for. (In one example, a teacher provided grant writing services in exchange for assistance with making costumes.) Who says you need to go into debt to get an education?

The point here is this: in the right circumstances, you might get a lot more engagement out of your consumers by asking for something that’s not in their wallets. (And, as we learned in yesterday’s post, sometimes that relationship is more compelling than a freebie anyway.) Generally speaking, this exchange resembles user generated content, but here we’re talking about tapping consumers’ creativity for more than just commercials on the cheap. We’ve thrown around the idea of creative competitions before, and – for the right marketer – curating these types of collections can be a unique brand building experience. Maybe your brand isn’t quite so artsy, but your consumers still want to enjoy themselves. Bringing gaming into their everyday lives makes these (non-financial) contributions seem like entertainment instead of exertion.

Ultimately, if you think your brand could benefit from getting beyond a transactional relationship with your consumers, the key is – on the right occasion – rethinking that transaction.

eMarketer (via Cone) recently considered this question across a number of different categories (including many of our clients’ industries), and the results are unanimously un-unanimous. The data suggests that consumers want information and entertainment, and incentives, and a forum for feedback, and even marketing in these “new media” spaces. (Demanding, aren’t they?)

While there are some subtle variations by category, perhaps the most startling conclusion from this study is that “incentives” are not the overwhelmingly-dominant response. Sure, incentives were the most popular response for categories like food/beverage and CPG, but really don’t rank that much higher than requests for new ways to interact with a brand. And, for telecom and automotive brands, consumers would rather get help and good customer service than receive discounts.

Well then! Lots of good news here for marketers. The first point is old news: there are plenty of other (and far better!) ways to engage with your consumers besides taking a machete to your prices. (In fact, we’ll come back to that in our next post.) But, the other big takeaway is that there are a variety of effective strategies for connecting to your consumers in the online space, and your brand needs to find the proper mixture of all of them in order to succeed.

Of course, had you read Trend #7 – Consumer Controlled Conversations – in our 10 Trends for 2010, you’d have known that already. To reiterate, these folks are doing just fine at “expressing themselves” online, and don’t need your brand’s help. Here’s what they do want: they want you to improve their experience with your products and services. They want to give you meaningful feedback on how to improve that experience. They sometimes want you to entertain them, and they don’t mind if you market to them, and of course they’ll never turn down a discount or freebie.

In other words, they want everything they’d get from a real relationship with your brand. Trying to limit this conversation to a single tactic just won’t do. In the end, a comprehensive, integrated marketing strategy is just as important online as it is in the offline world.

That answer your question?

Brands, are you really confident about the quality of your products and services? Are you certain that you could send your customers into your competitors’ arms, and they’d still come running back to you?

You’d better be. Welcome to the world of Ubiquitous Connoisseurship.

See, there’s a reason we made this trend #1 in our 10 Trends for 2010. With a resurgence in private label crashing into a year of restrained spending (and getting smacked around by the New Austerity), many brands were pummeled by consumers “trading down” in the past year. With the Good Enough Revolution in full force, many marketers are rightfully concerned about how they can win their consumers back.

Well, you could always throw down a challenge to your competitors. One especially startling strategy is the “Dis-Loyalty Card” pictured above, and created by London’s Prufrock Coffee. The shop encouraged their customers to try the joe at eight of their competitors, and rewarded anyone who completed the taste test with a free cup of Prufrock. That’s one bold blend, ain’t it?

Admittedly, that’s a bit out there for many clients. But, the lesson here is still relevant: the only way to avoid the price game is to play the quality game. And we’re talking about authentic quality here, not the one based on arbitrary quality indicators that are devised in lesser marketing departments. For instance, here’s a quick read from the Hartman Group that shows how brands with a heritage of high quality have held their own against the private label onslaught.

Assume that your consumers are smart, that they have access to information, and that they will resist trading down if you can prove to them that your product is worth the money. That last piece is all about educating them about your category and why your brand is the best one around.

And if you don’t have the confidence to pull that off, perhaps your brand deserves its fate.

If you haven’t already heard, our 10 Trends for 2010 are making their way around the interwebs at a blistering pace. (You can catch our press release here.)

You can get your own copy of our 10 Trends by clicking here.

Be sure to share it with your clients, coworkers, friends, and pets. What? Maybe Mr. Snuggles would benefit from learning a thing or two about “Radical Demography.”

Before moving on, we should mention a thing or two about these trends. We settled on these ten trends after carefully analyzing marketplace and cultural shifts all year. As a result, these are trends, not fads. They reflect long-term shifts in values and attitudes, and won’t be disappearing any time soon. That’s why we’ll be tracking each of these trends at the Awesome Blog; they have already been added to the category lists above (under “Sociocultural Trends are Awesome”). Keep checking back to see how these trends adapt over the course of this year.

Now, for those of you who’ve arrived at The Awesome Blog for the first time, welcome! Relax, kick off your shoes, and stay awhile. There’s plenty of awesomeness for everyone. Take a gander at the categories in the menu above, or go buck wild with the random awesomeness button up there on the right. Or, just drop us a greeting in the comment section below. We’re glad to have you. And there’s a lot of awesomeness coming your way.