With all of these advances in technology, being “in” is becoming a precarious position, because with a quick shift in the ideology tide and all of of a sudden you are ”out”. Paying attention to trends and the trendsetters is no doubt a value- added activity for understanding your customers providing that the trendsetter is a) your customer b) a person who is influenced by person A. The problem comes in when your audience is a group of Gap-wearing american boys and your brand, your vision, your company, your product is driven solely on what a focus group of 17 year old Korean gamers think.
It is a fine art to interject a bit of “trend” into your brand while maintain your true identity and your credibility with your customers. I don’t expect Coke to operate like Google, even though they are both corporate behemoths in the own right. I don’t expect to find a Versace dress at TJ Maxx. (Okay I would be excited about finding one, but if I saw a whole rack full I would start to wonder).
With the all of the information that companies have at theirfingertips, it still amazes me how so many companies still drop the ball. Understanding your customer is one of the key mandates for lasting sucess. Today, I ran across 2 unrelated stories that talks about being to trendy in two very distinct ways. The first link is about how Urban Outfitters and Anthrolpolgie stores alienates their trendy shoppers by being a little too trendy and the second link, which I found to be quite hilarious, talks about the over trendification of web 2.0. Can we say Clinger? If you read the article you will understand what I mean.
