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Trend Tracking is a course dedicated to developing analytical
skills and sensitivities necessary to identify and understand
major social trends. The course will explore the foundations
of trends as they develop and take hold in society. Students
will gain oversight knowledge and evaluative tools to recognize
the importance of emerging trends in an increasingly global
culture and marketing in the modern world. The course will
explore the important techniques and methodologies social
scientists, artists, manufacturers, marketers and advertisers
employ to stay with -- if not ahead of -- cultural developments
so critical to successful new creations, product developments
and brand building.
Week 1: What is a trend?
- Determining and differentiating trends from fads, fashions
- Evaluating physical and linguistic styles and behaviors
- What are the origins of trend tracking? Why is it an important
enterprise?
- What are the advantages of trend currency? In the arts?
For the social sciences? For business?
Week 2: What to watch and why
- How to monitor and track trends: Tools, techniques and
methodologies
- Sources, industries and developments
Week 3: Pop Culture
- Undertones and trend setters
- The "art" of the uncomfortable
- Inner cities, coasts and international
Week 4: Melting Pot to Millennium: 1800 - World War II
- A history of trends and their sources: Trends as turning
points in history
- When do trends begin and end?
- Models of evolution and revolution: Immigration, technology,
war and media
Week 5: Melting Pot to Millennium: The Last 50 years
- The American Dream
- The onset of generational change
- From Baby Boomers to X, Y and Echo Boomers
- Technology and the Internet
Week 6: The Media: Print
- Gutenberg press to posters
- A literate society: News and reviews
- The power of print: Books, newspapers, magazines catalogs
and billboards
Week 7: The Media: Broadcast
- Radio: The electronic hearth
- Family drama, family bond
Week 8: The Media: The Box Called Television
- Programming, and advertising
- From family viewing to daypart management
- The electronic babysitter
- The proliferation of TV's, VCR's, channels and choices
- Cable and satellite: "57 Channels and nothing on"
Week 9: Media Technology
- Entertainment to go: Walkmen, Discmen
- Personal time, personal space: Digital watches, digital
assistants
- Techno garb, powered up and portable: Fishing vests and
cargo pants
- Wired and on call; Beepers, cell phones, Email
Week 10: Film
- Film as news medium and serial stage
- From propaganda to dream creator
- Made for the big screen, TV, direct to video
Week 11: Music
- America rocks: The changing voice of music
- From radio to TV: Alan Freed to MTV
- Music in advertising: Background, jingles and retro
Week 12: Fashion
- Trickle down and bubble up: From European runway to inner
city street. From inner city to high fashion
- Fashion and retail names as brand lifestyle
- Achieving and maintaining cool
Week 13: Sports and Sporting Lifestyle
- Sports icons and images
- Hero worship and abandonment
- The sports that matter
- Activating the sporting lifestyle
- Linguistic and visual cues
Week 14: Kitsch and Collectibles
- Motivations and methods
- What we collect and why
- Collecting and clubs
- Antiques, auctions, second hand stores, tag sales and
the Internet
Week 15: Crossovers and Personal Style
- Defining social sets
- Defining self across an array of trend choices: Clothing,
music, language and more
- The freedom to be different, just like everybody else
- Media crossovers
- Music: From country to Top 40
- TV and film: Niche programming for niche mass audiences
- Promotions and cross promotions
- Sharing brand space
- Building brand preference
Week 16: Internet and Trend futures
- Personal power and points of entry
- The .com brand gold rush
- One-to-some marketing
- Global confluence and the American powerhouse
Brands and cases to be studied and discussed may include:
Disney, Swatch, Microsoft, Gap, America Online, The NBA, Warner
Brothers, Nickelodeon, Sesame Street, Amazon, eBay, Sports
Illustrated, FUBU, Davy Crockett, The Tonight Show.
Textbooks under consideration include:
- Trends 2000: How to Prepare for and Profit from the
Changes of the 21st Century by Gerald Celente
- Clicking 17 Trends That Drive Your Business and Your Life.
By Faith Popcorn and Lys Marigold
- Street Trends: How Today's Alternative Youth Cultures
Are Creating Tomorrow's Mainstream Markets. By Janine Lopiano-Misdome
and Joanne De Luca
- The Future Ain't What It Used to Be: The 40 Cultural Tends
Transforming Your Job, Your Life, Your World. By Mary Meehan
- From Elvis to E-Mail: Trends, Events, and Trivia from
the Postwar Era to the End of the Century. By Paul Dickson
Paul Kurnit
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