One of the greatest impediments faced by trend spotters is that laypeople tend to assume they are one and the same.
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Category Archives: Trend Spotting Industry Analysis
Trend Spotting Industry Analysis: Desired Education
As is made clear in the preceding sections, trend spotting is by no means a formalized profession and manifests itself in many different forms and industries. It can therefore be fair to say that nearly any sort of education can contribute to one’s success as a trend spotter.
Trend Spotting Industry Analysis: Methods Used
Trend spotting consultancies use a variety of methods and produce many different products and services. That said, there are some methods and offerings that repeat across trend spotter type and industry of focus. These are discussed below.
Trend Spotting Industry Analysis: Industry Globalization
The trend spotting industry is clearly international in nature. For the most part, it would be impractical to address trends from a purely regional or national viewpoint as the world has become so interconnected. Even when investigating regional trends, trend analysts must consider international influences more than ever as what is worn on the streets of Beijing will eventually find itself to suburban middle America, designs generated by South American graphic artists will make their way to billboards in Germany, and new technologies developed in small-town New England garages may someday change the way people communicate across the entire planet.
Trend Spotting Industry Analysis: Industry Rivalry
Some of the key factors increasing industry rivalry amongst trend spotters are low concentration, and switching costs. This rivalry is somewhat reduced by the industry’s high differentiation and growth rate, as well as diplomatic competition.
Trend Spotting Industry Analysis: Forces of Competition
Now that we have a general layout of the industry, it would be helpful to consider its different forces of competition- specifically suppliers, buyers, substitutes, and complementors, and potential entrants.
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Trend Spotting Industry Analysis: The Major Industries
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.
Trend Spotting Industry Analysis: The Major Players
Let us consider the major trend spotting company formats in greater detail:
Trend Spotting Industry Analysis: Today’s Trend Spotting Industry- MAPPED!
To make the trend spotting industry somewhat easier to comprehend, it may be helpful to consider the industry through a series of maps. These representations are largely informal and based on relative rather than absolute comparisons, but are sufficient to provide a basic sketch of the status quos. For the purpose of considering the industry from multiple viewpoints, trend spotting companies have been organized into strategic groups by industry focus, company type, and the national location of company headquarters.
Trend Spotting Industry Analysis: Trend Spotting History
The trend forecasting industry is relatively new; its first significant emergence can only be traced as far back as the early twentieth century
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