Our trend review: alternatives of new consumer

8- ALTERNATIVES

This year Alternatives is enriched with the trend Think Aside.                    

In a complicated world, flexibility is a prerequisite for economic, relational and social survival.

Reviewing one’s consumption choices is changing one’s ways of thinking, one’s ways of buying and consuming, products and brands.                               
 Changing to more adapted solutions which are more economical and above all more attractive.                                                                                                   
 Changing in order to be more as a person and to have more for the same price.

Being a consumer but not an owner… not even a co-owner!                                                                                            
 Co-leasing of a jet by a group is the same as car-sharing set up by one’s employer, airlines or car rental companies. After bikes on demand in big cities, now we have cars on demand. The shoes, accessories and clothes of the top fashion houses can be hired by the day or on monthly subscription. Tomorrow, kitchens, bathrooms and high-tech home-automation systems will be available for rental.

                                                                                                                                                                                                              Services of opposing forces                                                     
  The consumer is in a defensive position.      

He loves,

*Services which allow him to get around an obligation, such as selling unwanted Christmas presents on eBay or PriceMinister.

*Services which allow manufacturers’ claims to be verified, such as a product’s health claims on the Good Guide.  

*Services which give added value such as cashback sites, low-cost travel price comparison sites, free online MBA courses from the London School of Business and Finance.

*Access services to edit your own book, music, tourist guide, to get fish directly from the fisherman and fruit and vegetables directly from the producer. 

Alternative consumption, whether environmental, campaigning, local, community-based, personalized, bringing experience of different cultures.

The brand can be interested in proposing its own alternatives for keeping “mutant” customers and capturing others by introducing variety and imagination into its ranges.                                                                                 
 For example: Nuxe skin care, an organic line next to its traditional range.

We stand by our description of 2010.                                                                   

The new consumer likes to surf the breaking down of skill barriers in professions, markets, categories.
Some examples from our trend review :
Skincare to eat or drink, anti-age cream launched by a specialist in third-degree burns,
a no-detergent washing machine, no-ink printer,
solar-powered cooking,
international Ski pass in a Swatch wristwatch,
mini pocket electric anti-pain device, acupuncture for oral administration,
consultation via Internet, sports training via console,
direct sales of milk by the producer in vending machines,
“pop’up stores” that last for just one season, 100 % eco-friendly restaurant, closed in winter due to lack of solar energy, etc…

The new consumer expands its option.
Reconsider the need, the meaning, the usage…I’m going to change projects, categories, timing…instead of buying a product at the supermarket, I buy from a community in which I can participate, co-create, become involved…or else I do it myself!

Personal benefits on the sustainable development are the level of choice alternative.
Although I am not very sensitive about sustainable development, it generates technological breakthroughs, personal benefits (saves on waste, protects health…) which are of interest to me.

So many examples from our trend review show that, after having abused consumers to the saturation point, perceived innovation has radically changed in dimension and that your competitor will come from some place you didn’t expect!
How to get a foothold on alternative innovation?                                                  
 The answer is in The Annual Report