What about that bottom shelf?

I was in a grocery store this week (not my preferred store) and noticed that they had relegated plain mayonnaise to the very bottom shelf. Now I assume that everyone buys this product, and from its new placement I have to assume that the various salad dressings placed directly above it are more profitable for the store. But for me it was irritating, in that I had to find someone to ask where they put the "stuff."

New Scientist in an article titled: Mind over matter? How your body does your thinking actually has a much better explanation for my irritation. Our body movements affect how we think, and looking down has been correlated with negative emotions.

If I read this article correctly, if you are still showing product on a low shelf, you should move it up fast! Those stores that use the bottom shelves for storage and leave all consumer goods at eye level, now have proof that they have intuitively done the right thing.

Yes indeed, it seems that finding my favorite mayonnaise on the bottom shelf put me in a bad mood. I never liked that store anyway!

How the Trends Manifest

Creators of products do read trend reports, but as a product development consultant, I know that few sit around and say to themselves - "What can we do that is trendy." We all absorb the reports, but what is more important is that we absorb the zeitgeist that manifests in the greater culture.

I called one of the trends in my report HYPER-AUTHENTIC and this trend obviously follows across product categories. Being authentic to a vision, a concept or the greater culture is truly critical to success these days. The movie "The Green Zone" manifests that trend well by hiring real solders to play the movie roles. Other than for documentaries and extras, hiring non-actors is an entirely new idea that truly fits the zeitgeist and the reviews reward the second highest grossing film in the recent time period with this important label: AUTHENTIC.

Sherwin-Williams top-ranked brand

The interior finish world is a wide-reaching but fragmented industry, so it was fascinating to see one of our own in the Interbrand top 50 leading brands. Sherwin Williams came in at # 28, which is quite a feat during the recent economic downturn, but paint is a quick and inexpensive pick-up for any interior space.

Ranking were based on:

• financial performance
• consumer brand preference surveys and
  
• brand strength

As a follower of interior finishes in the marketplace, I have been continuously impressed by Sherwin Williams targeted marketing to the design trade. Their "Color Snap®" app were one of the first iphone apps in the industry.They achieved this rating as a singular product with their biggest competitors being mass merchants Home Depot at #4 and Lowe's at #12. In today's market, all the major paint companies make amazing marketing efforts, but congratulations goes to Sherwin-Williams for showing up so high on the Interbrand list.

Watching trends develop

As a coda to my trend report, I took note of the increased sightings of deer and antler motifs and asked the question whether it was a coincidence or a trend. Within weeks of finishing the report Jean Charles de Castelbajac’s answered my question. He chose Bambi as the theme for his fall-winter 2010 fashion show in Paris. Trend indicators are everywhere, if you take the time to observe the culture that surrounds both the world at large and your own product. For more on Paris fashion week, check out the New York Times blog.

Remodeling activity rising

My recent anecdotal conversation about the increase in home remodeling has been confirmed by an article in the Wall Street Journal. The Journal reports that people are staying put and remodeling instead of trading up. They say that architects are seeing a 16% increase in interest in remodeling of kitchens and baths. How this "interest" will translate is anyone's guess, but a kitchen designer told me the other day that there was a substantial uptick in business over last year. However, people are spending roughly half of what they were during the boom times.

Today's homeowner is much more practical than the recent past - with little interest in indulgent luxuries, they are looking for recycling centers, larger pantries and renewable materials. Material properties are getting much closer scrutiny than in the past, consumers are looking for products that will last rather than what is the "trend of the moment."

Inspiration from Memory

Who wouldn't want to hire the Hanger Design Group for all their design needs after seeing their website? Designboom.com introduced me to this firm in a posting about the firm's latest prefab mobile homes. Hanger's website presents their firm's offering in an interesting, informative and interconnected way. (Do however, turn off the sound - they obviously have no "ear" on their staff.)

Hanger's exquisite "Joshua Tree" design for the mobile home is a reminder that design inspiration comes from memory, and that in order to sell - design in all areas of endeavor must make some connection to the familiar. The inspiration page of the website follows our "memory" of transportable homes from the tepee to the Airstream to Hanger's current design.

Each culture has its own memory, but is there anyone in that was schooled in the Western culture that did not draw a house that looked something like this when they were in the first grade? The Airstream may be iconic, the flat tin can mobile homes ubiquitous, but this simple outline holds memory in the Western canon.

Is the cult of celebrity finally over?

The headline in yesterday's Wall Street Journal reads: Ditching Designers to Sell the Clothes. They report that some fashion houses, like Diesel, are dispensing with the idea of a single designer creating product lines and handing more design with anonymous teams. Mr. Rosso, the head of Diesel, believes his brands need trend-spotters more than someone who can craft a hemline. After all, clothes must sell after the runway show is over.

Martha Steward took a hit with her behavior, but the economy helped her recover. Tiger Woods will not be as lucky - it seems the era of celebrity is winding down from the boom times. Kim Yu-Na, the ice skating princess, deserves every bit of her celebrity, but I was fascinated that the designer of her exquisite gold medal-winning costume was no where to be found. It seems she is one of the unsung designers of a Montreal maker of ice skating outfits. It was a full week after the gold medal skate that Josiane Lamond's name even appeared on the internet.

I keep sensing the need for a renewed focus on traditional sales techniques in the marketplace, rather than hoping that an association with celebrity will do the job for you.

Boomers continuing economic impact

According to a recent McKinsey&Company report aging boomers will continue their economic dominance of the economy for this entire decade.

Corporate Marketing that elicits smiles

Yes, as a photographer, I admit to being biased, despite that - I find that the Thonet 150th Anniversary photography contest is a brilliant stroke of marketing. Thonet created both a focus on their most famous product and engaged their customers at the same time. This is crowd-sourcing at its best.

As an icon, the design community is well aware of the "Thonet chair," yet everyone can use an occasional memory jog and this contest does the trick. Each of the winning photographs of this classic chair is nothing short of charming - as daily hectic life becomes more and more devoid of that quality, we enjoy the little snippets of charm that we find and happily remember.