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 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.
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.
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.
Let us consider the major trend spotting company formats in greater detail:
For the past six months, I did a fair amount of research on the trend spotting industry, and put together a relatively informal analysis. In the next couple of days, I’ll publish the analysis, bit by bit, and make the entire piece available in its entirety on this site. Today, I’ll start by sharing the intro. We’ll go forward from there!
