Trendwatching reports this week on “10 Crucial Consumer Trends” it is tracking for 2010 – everything from Urbany to (F)Luxury to Maturalism (we recommend reading the snapshot overview to understand just what these terms actual mean!). Most interesting to us as a marketing agency operating in this digital age, are the trends Real-Time Reviews, Tracking & Alerting and Profile Myning.

Real-Time Reviews:
We’ve not just tracking the evolution of the Real-Time web this year, we’re driving this trend forward, specifically utilising Facebook to create ongoing conversations between brands and fans around relevant conversations. Looking to 2010, we foresee the need for greater flexibility in marketing planning to ensure we can tap into unexpected spikes of consumer interest with a view to further igniting consumer conversation and driving brand engagement.

Tracking & Alerting:
As Trendwatching alludes, “ ‘Tracking & Acting is the new searching’, as it saves consumers time, makes it impossible to forget or miss out, and thus ultimately gives them yet another level of control”. In other words: relevancy is key. Facebook fans have already given brands permission to market to them. Publishing of the right information at the right time will ensure content is perceived as a value-add rather a hard marketing sell. Next year, we believe brand will play a bigger role in keeping their fans up to date on subjects of relevance.

Profile Myning:
Profile Myning, aka social data mining, provides huge opportunity for brand owners to better understand their target consumer. Social graphing gives a real insight into consumer’s actual interests and brand associations in a way that traditional market research has never been able to capture. We foresee interesting re-evaluations of target consumer groups, driven by social data. One thing is for sure, the ability to be more relevant in a timely way offers the greatest opportunity for brands to better engage their fans and build brand advocacy online.