While it is useful to consider the trend spotting industry from the perspective of the various types of companies and professionals of which it is comprised, it may be more useful to consider the trend spotting industry in terms of the various other industries to which it caters. This is important because a fashion trends company will be almost entirely useless to the Environmental Protection Agency, whereas a technology forecasting company will be unable to assist a local handbag designer hoping to select strategically smart patterns, colors, and fabrics. The most appropriate trend spotting methods vary from industry to industry; for some, more formalized research methods are appropriate, while for others, it is better to let experts rely on informal scanning and intuition.
I therefore invite you to consider the trend spotting industry in its most prominent ecosystems: the fashion industry, technology, advertising, and design.
Fashion
As mentioned previously, the earliest trend spotting companies (such as The Doneger Group) were fashion trend spotting companies. These trend consultancies were the original pioneers, and have developed very sophisticated methods and networks. Because they have enjoyed the benefit of experience, fashion trend spotting companies tend to be larger and more established than counterparts serving other industries, and have more complex and tall management structures.
Because the fashion industry experiences very rapid evolution, fashion trend spotters must be swift. Rarely is there time for formalized research, hence fashion forecasters frequently rely more on more subjective methods, including environmental scanning, interviews (especially with strategically important insiders, trend-setters, designers, celebrities, editors, and photographers), and trade show or runway show attendance.
Due to the time sensitive nature of their intelligence, fashion trend consultancies publish reports on a very frequent basis. Some issue seasonal, quarterly reports covering spring, summer, fall, and winter trends and couture collections, while other companies simply maintain a dynamic, online database that is constantly updated with the latest information. Many fashion forecasting companies, such as Mudpie, offer a combination of the two- selling subscriptions to ongoing customers and trend reports to one-time or periodic users.
Because fashion is such a visual field, trend reports and other deliverables provided by fashion trend spotting companies tend to be full of illustrations, photographs, video, and samples. Fashion trend consultancies therefore employ a high proportion of design and photography-savvy employees and tend to produce some of the most attractive material of all consultancies, which is perhaps one reason why they enjoy such prominence in the public sphere. Common deliverables include runway reports, trend reports, trend boards, and online trend subscriptions.
Technology
Because technology is advancing at such a rapid pace, a demand for those understanding which new technologies have the greatest importance is growing. Because of this, some trend spotting companies dedicated to the more technological end of trend spotting have entered onto the market.
Most of the technology focused forecasting agencies in existence are less than ten years old, and are therefore less formalized in structure and practice than fashion forecasting consultancies. That said, technology forecasters are more likely to employ more formalized research methods. TechCast provides an excellent example- it sticks to a modified version of the Delphi technique applied to a fixed group of 100 specialists when creating its predictive models, in which different technology maturity dates are given statistic probabilities.
The time frame in which technology trend spotters are engaged varies from company to company; trend spotter to trend spotter. Some consultancies are focused more on short term technological trends, helping companies to adapt to new technological advancements that are of significant importance (such as location-based tracking technology which has experienced an increased emphasis as of late). These companies are more likely to use intuition-based methods mixed with some more formal quantitative methods to help them determine which technologies are of immediate significance and which are not.
Other technology trend consultancies, however, are concerned with long term shifts in society, politics, economics, the environment, and the economy that result from changing technologies. These companies are more likely to engage in a greater number of formal research methods and engage in longitudinal studies. These far-sighted trend consultancies are also joined by futurists, which are essentially single-person manifestations of this model.
Regardless of the overall time frame with which technology trend spotters are concerned, deliverables are decidedly more academic than those found in the fashion industry, peppered as they are with more quantitative information and technical details. Common deliverables include trend reports, trend tours, trainings, product ideation, design, and execution.
Marketing / Advertising
Advertising trend consultants were the original ‘coolhunters’ and first saw their heyday in the mid-to-late nineties. Trend spotters catering to the advertising industry help companies and advertising agencies alike develop campaigns and strategies that effectively engage with consumers as they become increasingly disengaged with the barrage of advertisements they encounter on a daily basis.
The boundary between trend consultancies in the advertising industry- and advertising agencies in general- is blurred, and some might argue that the two are one and the same. At any rate, the composition and organization of trend consultancies in this industry is very similar to that of a boutique marketing or advertising agency.
Advertising trend spotters have an emphasis on short-term fads and developments as well as design and consumer behavior. With a mixture of intuition used to read the current cultural zeitgeist, use of scout networks to scour the world for new social movements and points of interest, and common marketing research methods (such as ethnographic observation, focus groups, and interviews), advertising trend consultants use a mix of informal and formal research practices with a decidedly human and cultural emphasis.
Trend consultancies in this field, such as The Cool Hunter, tend to deliver products and services similar to those produced by advertising agencies. Often advertising trend forecasters will be commissioned to design an entire campaign or brand, or will be enlisted to create a website, engaging social media presence, or series of viral videos. When utilized as advertising agencies, these trend consultancies are expected to provide daring and cutting-edge campaigns and strategies; mainstream tactics are avoided.
Advertising trend consultancies may also produce trend reports, post regular online content to reinforce and engage with a scout network (for these agencies, scout networks are vital), and publish the occasional book. Trend tours, ideation sessions, and keynotes are other popular services amongst these types.
Design
Design trend consultancies may be seen as a hybrid between consultancy styles of the three previous industries. They must have the taste and design sense inherent in fashion forecasting companies, the technological know-how of tech trend companies, and the social savvy of coolhunting firms.
Trend spotters in the design firm help companies create products, services, and interfaces that are relevant, useful, and engaging to the modern consumer. To develop the right concepts, these consultancies must have top-notch scanning mechanisms in place, keeping constant taps on developments in the art and design worlds, as well as in advertising, fashion, technology, entertainment, and business. These agencies tend to employ creative people with a wide range of skills capable of both trend research and product design.
Common deliverables coming forth from design trend consultancies include ideation, training sessions, inspiring books, blogs, and presentations, product and user-interface design, and trend reports.
Industry Cross-Over
Trend spotting consultancies do not necessarily devote themselves to one industry; in fact, many of the more recently-created trend analysis companies jump from one industry to the next when accepting new assignments.
It is therefore important to note that the trend spotting is very dynamic, and that lines blur quite often.
