Trendsurfing: Hot economic trends (The Times)
By David Rowan
Do you seriously want to be rich? Sorry, but you're wasting your time if you thought that this skinflint column could help. The best we can do is introduce you to a few sizzling buzzwords that seem to be right on the money whenever some of our sharpest economist friends meet to exchange ideas. Spout a few of these trendy notions when you're next trying to impress a date, and we guarantee that you'll be left feeling like a million dollars. Or, as a proper economist would have it, feeling like £574,712.64.
The hourglass economy: This, our man with the abacus reliably informs Trendsurfing, is one of today's defining consumer trends. The middle-class shopper, feeling more affluent than ever before, is trading up to luxury brands wherever possible ... yet still counting the pennies when it comes to everyday consumables. So we'll treat ourselves to the Vuitton bag we feel we deserve, but settle for Tesco Value toilet rolls in the bathroom. That leaves plenty of reliable-but-dull brands squeezed hopelessly in the middle, from The Gap to the Rover 75 - hence the slim-waisted "hourglass" analogy. NB: Dissenting economists insist that the phrase actually refers to growing income inequalities between the haves and have-nots, confirming what they say about there being three opinions for every two economists.
Overchoice: Supermarket shelves packed with every variety of washing powder can only be good for business, right? Not according to Alvin Toffler's theory of "overchoice", being re-popularised by thinkers such as Harvard Business School professor John Gourville. Faced with too many options, he argues, consumers actually spend less, preferring non-commitment over the fear of making the wrong decision. Hold that skinny decaf mochachino, then, while we wait for someone else to make up our mind.
Antipreneurism: Fashionable consumerism for those who reject corporations as The Man. Following on from Naomi Klein's observations about the "no logo" generation, antipreneurs favour their own DIY challenges to the big brands, as exemplified in the "culture-jamming" of activist groups such as Adbusters. Its "Blackspot" sweatshop-free sneakers sought to challenge Nike, and now supporters are discussing everything from brandless radio stations to vodka. How long before Richard Branson sniffs an opportunity?
Human capital contracts: How do you fund a decent university education without working all hours in McDonald's? One increasingly discussed solution may be to let private investors pay all a student's bills, in return for an agreed percentage of his or her income over the next 15 years. Investments in "human capital" - ie potential high-earners - have been promoted by rightwing economists over the past few years, with companies such as MyRichUncle and CareerConcept putting hard cash on the university table. Could this solve Ruth Kelly's funding shortfall? Only if she wants Merrill Lynch to decide who should graduate.
Microchunks: Remember when 30-second adverts paid for us to slump in front of the sofa for our nightly entertainment? Now that we're all texting and surfing instead, media companies are scrambling to reinvent their brands as "mobisodes" for cellphones or downloads for the video iPod. The latest business model being suggested is to reduce content, whether TV soaps or pop tunes, to its most pared-down, simplified form and let consumers do exactly what they want with it, in the hope that at least it gets out there and can be somehow turned into cash. In other words, to repackage it as "microchunks", a buzzword that we expect to be hearing more of.
Though if you want Trendsurfing microchunked down to seventeen words, you're not getting any help from me.
(The Times Magazine, February 25 2006)
Do you seriously want to be rich? Sorry, but you're wasting your time if you thought that this skinflint column could help. The best we can do is introduce you to a few sizzling buzzwords that seem to be right on the money whenever some of our sharpest economist friends meet to exchange ideas. Spout a few of these trendy notions when you're next trying to impress a date, and we guarantee that you'll be left feeling like a million dollars. Or, as a proper economist would have it, feeling like £574,712.64.
The hourglass economy: This, our man with the abacus reliably informs Trendsurfing, is one of today's defining consumer trends. The middle-class shopper, feeling more affluent than ever before, is trading up to luxury brands wherever possible ... yet still counting the pennies when it comes to everyday consumables. So we'll treat ourselves to the Vuitton bag we feel we deserve, but settle for Tesco Value toilet rolls in the bathroom. That leaves plenty of reliable-but-dull brands squeezed hopelessly in the middle, from The Gap to the Rover 75 - hence the slim-waisted "hourglass" analogy. NB: Dissenting economists insist that the phrase actually refers to growing income inequalities between the haves and have-nots, confirming what they say about there being three opinions for every two economists.
Overchoice: Supermarket shelves packed with every variety of washing powder can only be good for business, right? Not according to Alvin Toffler's theory of "overchoice", being re-popularised by thinkers such as Harvard Business School professor John Gourville. Faced with too many options, he argues, consumers actually spend less, preferring non-commitment over the fear of making the wrong decision. Hold that skinny decaf mochachino, then, while we wait for someone else to make up our mind.
Antipreneurism: Fashionable consumerism for those who reject corporations as The Man. Following on from Naomi Klein's observations about the "no logo" generation, antipreneurs favour their own DIY challenges to the big brands, as exemplified in the "culture-jamming" of activist groups such as Adbusters. Its "Blackspot" sweatshop-free sneakers sought to challenge Nike, and now supporters are discussing everything from brandless radio stations to vodka. How long before Richard Branson sniffs an opportunity?
Human capital contracts: How do you fund a decent university education without working all hours in McDonald's? One increasingly discussed solution may be to let private investors pay all a student's bills, in return for an agreed percentage of his or her income over the next 15 years. Investments in "human capital" - ie potential high-earners - have been promoted by rightwing economists over the past few years, with companies such as MyRichUncle and CareerConcept putting hard cash on the university table. Could this solve Ruth Kelly's funding shortfall? Only if she wants Merrill Lynch to decide who should graduate.
Microchunks: Remember when 30-second adverts paid for us to slump in front of the sofa for our nightly entertainment? Now that we're all texting and surfing instead, media companies are scrambling to reinvent their brands as "mobisodes" for cellphones or downloads for the video iPod. The latest business model being suggested is to reduce content, whether TV soaps or pop tunes, to its most pared-down, simplified form and let consumers do exactly what they want with it, in the hope that at least it gets out there and can be somehow turned into cash. In other words, to repackage it as "microchunks", a buzzword that we expect to be hearing more of.
Though if you want Trendsurfing microchunked down to seventeen words, you're not getting any help from me.
(The Times Magazine, February 25 2006)
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