talk

This summer, I spent nine weeks as a creative services and new business development intern at the vox collective. I had hoped to intern at an agency this summer to find out more about what people in the different departments of an ad agency do on a day-to-day level, since I knew I was interested in advertising, but I wasn’t exactly positive as to whether creative would be a better fit for me than accounts would be, or whether new business development might turn out to be more fun for me than media would. I also wanted to get a feel for the culture, hours, and atmosphere at an agency. In the end, I found out about all of this and more. I learned an enormous amount about advertising and life at an agency, and also about myself.

As a creative intern, I had the opportunity to write copy for the Meet the Optimists campaign, and the chance to sit in on meetings and brainstorming sessions for projects involving clients like Verizon and Macy’s. I really enjoyed being a part of the kind of creative strategizing that goes on in meetings like this, and writing copy gave me a chance to hone my writing and editing skills. On the days that I helped the new business team, I learned how to effectively research companies, product categories, and consumer habits, and also how to prepare creative briefs and new business development briefs.

I also got to help with the planning and launch of the Mutli-influentials brand, and with the preparations for the Raul Higuera exhibition event, which were both really fun ways to learn about the kind of work that goes into a brand launch or a special event. In addition, I got to write for the vox collective blog (www.voxcollective.com/talk) about everything from fashion trends to the recession. Since I love writing, this was a great opprotunity for me.

But what I think impressed me the most was the culture at vox. Everyone I met was friendly, helpful, and encouraging, but nobody shied away from giving me assignments that stretched my abilities and showed me I was capable of things I never thought I would have been. I learned that voxers love to work extremely hard, but play hard too. They’re great collaborators and are truly enthusiastic about their work, whether it’s media management or account direction, so I got to intern in an inspiring atmosphere. And from traffic meetings to client meetings, life at the vox is not only fast-paced and purposeful, but it’s fun as well. I’m thrilled with the way my summer internship turned out, and very grateful to everyone at vox who made it possible and shared their knowledge and experience with me.

The back-to-school ads are here. So are the slightly shorter days and the perceptibly cooler nights. Take your last trips to the beach, because like it or not, fall is just around the corner.

And with the arrival of fall comes the yearly onslaught of new fall trends. According to trend forecasters, over-the-knee and thigh-high boots are going to be popular in Autumn 2009, as are capes, capelets, and cloaks. Ripped tights and stockings and sheer or see-through articles of apparel are forecasted to be hugely trendy this fall as well. Asymmetrical, one-shouldered dresses, tops, and swimwear are another look that fashion forecasters predict will make a big splash during September, October, November, and December. The Ripped-and-torn denim trend that has started to gain traction this summer is forecasted to grow into a full-blown, mainstream, and ubiquitous look the way plaid patterns already have this year. The analysts at Pantone, Inc. have also recently released their top ten picks for colors that will be hot this fall. These tones, which have already started cropping up all over outerwear, and winter accessories on runways, include Honey Yellow, Warm Olive, and Brunt Sienna. Re-interpreted neutrals like Iron Grey and an off-white hue that Pantone calls Crème Brulee that will also be a big part of fall apparel offerings everywhere from low-end retailers to top-tier department stores and couture collections.

So what does this mean for marketers? These fall trend and color forecasts suggest that consumers are ready to try something new, while keeping around a few old favorites from earlier seasons. The higher boots and see-through clothing are definitely newer trends, and the tartan print and dark-rinse jeans that attained must-have status this season are not forecasted to continue their reign, so fashion forecasters clearly believe that consumers are craving a change. However, neutrals have been a classic standby for decades, and torn jeans have always been around in one incarnation or another, so shoppers won’t be looking to totally re-invent themselves. Knowing that consumers are looking for a refreshing change, but not a complete 180, on the fashion front could prove valuable for marketers and brand managers in categories as diverse as packaged goods and financial services, since this desire for a subtle change will likely evidence itself in consumer behavior in areas other than apparel and accessory purchases. Manufacturers of cake mixes, for example, might do well to bring out a line extension in a new flavor, but perhaps should not go so far to launch a new brand of baking products. In a similar vein, banks and financial services firms might want to consider offering variations on existing mortgage and loan packages, but not scrapping the entire current menu of services and putting together a new one from scratch. Consumers may be hoping for a little novelty, but with the economy still underperforming, but they won’t want to completely abandon their tried-and-true preferences.

For many of us, the current economic climate has curtailed more than just our shoe shopping or vacationing habits. It’s hitting us right in the gut (no pun intended) by changing our food and beverage consumption habits as well. As Elizabeth Strott, a finance journalist, explained concisely in a July 2009 MSN Money article, “The slumping economy has changed America’s attitudes toward eating out.” Zagat statistics show that a whopping 33% of restaurant-goers nationwide have reported becoming more attentive to menu prices at restaurants, and that 28% of regular restaurant patrons indicated that they have switched to dining at cheaper restaurants than they used to frequent before the recession began. About one-fifth of consumers polled are still dining out regularly, but have given up ordering alcoholic beverages, appetizers, or desserts when they do. All of this spells fewer customers and lower bottom lines for all kinds of dining establishments, from the high-end locations to the ones that feature drive-through windows and 99-cent Whoppers. “Restaurants need to be ready for customers who feel tired, overwhelmed and tapped out financially,” noted Maria Caranfa, the director of Mintel Menu Insights, a menu consultancy, recently.

So is there a silver lining, so to speak, to this restaurant-busting cloud? Well, for one, when consumers eat out less, they begin to cook at home more, and studies show that meals cooked at home usually contain more vegetables and whole grains and tend to be lower in calories, fat, and sodium. Consumers are also more likely to consume reasonable portion sizes when cooking—and eating—at home. Thus, fewer dollars spent dining out-of-home could make for healthier consumers. Even during a recession, healthier consumers are more likely to spend on the lucrative categories of sporting goods and athletic apparel. Secondly, as experiences middle-class American consumers have historically loved—like an annual five-day vacation or the purchase of a new car— have increasingly become out of reach, shoppers are looking to boost their own morale by enjoying smaller, more affordable indulgences to the fullest (by buying whipped cream to go with that instant hot chocolate, or purchasing hot fudge and rainbow sprinkles and to top their ice cream.)

Shoppers will also be looking for inexpensive ways to enhance their at-home dining experience, and will be more interested in trying out new food and beverage products and in seeking new flavors and textures to add to their homemade meals. This provides a great opportunity for supermarket retailers and packaged goods companies like ConAgra, Kraft Foods, and Nestle, since consumers are more likely now than ever to toss a newly introduced product into their carts at the grocery store. According to Diana Cholewa, a senior analyst at Mintel, this means that companies who decide to introduce food products with flavors like persimmon, starfruit, lavender, cactus, and masala are poised to enjoy higher sales this year. Consumers who feel “stuck in a rut” (due to, say, an extended period of joblessness) will often seek to alleviate their ennui by choosing products that feel novel and exciting, and purchases made at the supermarket, convenience store, and greengrocer are no exception. In large part, successful marketing is about getting inside a consumer’s head and working to truly understand his or her wants and needs; if marketers can bear this in mind in our current economic climate and translate this insight into improved product offerings and line extensions in processed food categories, the results could be fantastic.

Walk down Fifth Avenue (or through Battery Park, or around Williamsburg), and you’re likely to notice that a lot of the bodies rushing back and forth are clothed or accessorized in one of this year’s hottest trends: designs inspired by the diverse origins of global culture. Ikat prints, Madras fabrics, and African-inspired textiles and shapes add interest to every woman’s (and man’s) wardrobe, and it seems that clothing, shoe, handbag, jewelry, and even lingerie designers, manufacturers, and retailers at price points ranging from haute couture to bargain basement have caught wind of this in the past twenty months or so. Dresses and sandals reflecting this trend can be seen on the sales floors of Banana Republic stores nationwide, as well as at the chain’s lower-end fast fashion sibling, Old Navy. It seems appropriate that a look that can claim so many geographically and culturally diverse influences can also be had at diverse price points, and the influences of global culture have accordingly filtered into the fashion water supply of Everytown, USA just as effectively as they have into that of Hollywood or Manhattan.

This summer’s hot print, spotted on everything from Land’s End swim separates to Burberry cocktail dresses, seems to be the Ikat. Ikat (also spelled Ikkat) prints are traditionally created by dying warp or weft portions of thread, and then weaving that thread into a two-dimensional fabric on a loom. Ikat textiles have been woven in cultures the world over: Agrentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, India, Japan, Thailand, and Bali have all been home to generations of Ikat weavers. The print even derives its name from somewhere most of the print’s current wearers would likely consider exotic: Malaysia, where ikat means “to tie” or “to bind” in the Malay language. Once used to adorn Buddhist monks’ robes, Ikat now decorates both Topshop bras and pieces from the Fall 2007 Balenciaga and Armani collections.

Madras fabric, too, seems to be experiencing something of a fashion Renaissance. Once the exclusive province of the country-club set and an icon of classic prepster style, this light-colored plaid print is now appearing on everything from miniskirts, shorts, and sundresses to neckties and Converse All-Star sneakers. The lightweight, textured cotton fabric takes its appellation from the nineteenth-century English name for the city of Chennai, India. More recently, Madras has been given a new twist by designers like Vivienne Westwood and Rei Kawakubo, and Madras-patterned pieces can be found everywhere from mall-based retailer American Eagle to J. Crew, the decades-old purveyor of all things pearls and pinstripes.

African-inspired shapes, colors, and textiles are having their moment in the sun, too. A summer-preview issue of T Magazine, the New York Times’s weekend fashion supplement, ran a story highlighting the African design motifs that are cropping up on this season’s dresses, shoes, and jackets. In the past few months, Louis Vuitton, Missoni, and Oscar de La Renta have all produced designs that are a nod to traditional African art and textiles. The works of designers who themselves hail from the continent have become highly popular, too: Azzedina Alaia of Tunisia, Oswald Boateng of Ghana, Deola Sagoe of Nigeria, and Marc Bouwer of South Africa have all made their marks on the fashion landscape in recent years. Opening Ceremony, one of Manhattan’s hippest boutiques, featured the wares of African designers during the Spring 2009 season. Global culture’s influence has clearly taken the fashion world by storm, and isn’t letting go anytime soon.

So is your closet craving a dose of the exotic? No need to book a flight to Zimbabwe or Chennai; the subway to Bloomingdale’s will do just fine.

The key to making strategic use of these observations about globally-influenced fashion trends may be to consider what implications Madras-adorned Chuck Taylors and Ikat-printed lingerie might have for other product categories. Since consumers have effectively told us—by speaking with their wallets, that is!—that they are craving that which is exotic, unusually-geographically-sourced, and originates from a cultural tradition different from their own respective ones, there’s no reason to limit our efforts to provide them with products that fit these descriptors to the clothes-and-accessories category. Market analysts and retailers can work together to sate this thirst for globally-influenced product by, say, stocking supermarket shelves with more Thai peanut and Japanese carrot-ginger salad dressings and fewer bottles of Ranch and Vinaigrette varieties. If taking steps such as these could lead to happier (and less tight-fisted) consumers in the food product category, imagine what increasing exotic and globally-influenced offerings could do for the home décor and art markets. Making Scandinavian-style furniture and room accents available to consumers at all price points, as Ikea has done, or providing every shopper, no matter what his or her yearly income, with the opportunity to purchase Indian-style embellished placemats and pottery, at Pier 1 has, could be all it takes to convince homeowners and apartment-dwellers alike to part with a little more cash or to make an unplanned purchase during a weekend stroll around town.

In the same vein, maybe performing arts centers could fill more seats and sell more premium tickets by more frequently booking the likes of Ballet Hispanico or Dayton Contemporary Dance Company (a troupe whose repertory includes lots of African- and Latin-influenced works). Since the trend landscape in the music category is tightly liked to that of the fashion category, perhaps record labels should consider allocating even greater portions of their advertising budgets to the promotion of artists such as Shakira and Enrique Inglesias, since consumers’ craving for the globally-influenced means that the potential for a lucrative return on this type of investment is enormous. Even market analysts and brand managers in the perfume and cosmetics categories would do well to include more exotic-themed fragrances and personal care products on shelves everywhere from Sephora locations to Target stores. Since neuroscientists have known for decades that humans instinctively crave novelty, all of us in the marketing community can put this knowledge to savvy use by assuming a global perspective when designing and selecting the products that we will promote during upcoming seasons—the choice to provide consumers at every price point with products influenced by global culture represents a great opportunity to positively impact the bottom lines of myriad product categories, increase consumer satisfaction, and even boost brand loyalty.