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Authentic Commercial Conversations

Clarks Sunbeat Sandal (tan)

By Diane Crispell

Were you ever talking to someone when all of a sudden you thought – maybe even said out loud – “Gee, I sound like a commercial”? It happens to me reasonably frequently, most recently when I was extolling the virtues of my favorite sandals.

I’m probably more aware than the average consumer of these conversations because I’m involved with market research. But even when people don’t think about it, they’re having lots of commercial-like conversations every day.

When I have my “sound like a commercial” moments, it’s usually followed by the thought, “If only a brand marketer could hear me now…,” partly because it’s always nice to overhear people saying good things about you but mostly because it can be terrifically useful. The odds of that happening in real life are pretty minimal, however.

The Internet provides a way to “overhear” brand conversations, by reading online reviews of products and services and getting involved with social media networks, among other tactics. These are useful sources, but they don’t capture the random and unplanned one-on-one personal conversations that are critical to word of mouth.

How critical are they? According to the recently released Roper Reports^® Worldwide 2010 survey of more than 32,000 people age 15-plus in 25 countries, 43% of global consumers say that the last recommendation they made “just came up naturally in the course of conversation,” as opposed to being a proactive recommendation or the result of a specific request for advice.

Many commercials aim to replicate these happenstance real-life conversations. The venture is fraught with peril, and some succeed better than others. Good acting and well-written scripts are critical, not because consumers will believe these are authentic conversations, but because the more natural the execution, the more likely it is that consumers will think, “Gee, that sounds like something I would say.”

P.S. In case you’re wondering, I love my Clarks sandals, not because of any advertising I’ve ever seen, but because the first pair I bought turned out to be the most comfortable shoes I’ve ever put on my hard-to-please feet. The lesson being that good products naturally generate word of mouth. Where marketers take things from there is up to them.

It Takes Two – What Food Influentials Tell Us about Opportunities Today

By Jon Berry

It’s never been harder to make money in the stock market. Millions of Americans need career help. The world is being tested environmentally, emotionally, and spiritually. It’s time to talk about food.

At least, that appears to be the conclusion of consumers as reflected on the self-help bestsellers’ lists. Six of the top 10 best-selling books on The New York Times’ “Advice, How-To, and Miscellaneous” paperback list are about food. As are three of the top 10 hardcover books in the category.

No other interest comes close. Not money. Not careers. Not relationships.

That’s good news for food marketers.

This is a time for getting people’s attention. And, given the context, no wonder. Food is a source of comfort. It satisfies. And, at least theoretically, it’s something you have a measure of control over. You can’t say those things of the current economy.

However, marketers looking for a single, simple theme in food books will be disappointed.

The organic, holistic approach that has been showing up more in food aisles of the supermarket is represented on the list – Michael Pollen’s Food Rules.

But there are also books on calorie-busting indulgences – What’s New, Cupcake? and Steven Raichlen’s Planet Barbecue.

As well as tough-love books on losing weight – the bluntly-titled The Belly Fat Cure (ouch), This Is Why You’re Fat (double-ouch), and Extra Lean (ok, we get it). And the split-the-difference Cook This, Not That, which offers lower-calorie takes on high-cal restaurant favorites.

There’s also the obligatory celebrity cookbook. This week it’s Skinny Italian by one of reality-TV’s “Real Housewives of New Jersey.” Last week it was Home Cooking with Trisha Yearwood, the country singer.

Meanwhile, the current bestselling hardcover advice book, Women, Food and God, is about women’s relationship with food.

Given these conflicting directions (Comfort food! No, diet! No, locavore!), one might conclude that the marketplace could benefit from an hour or two on the couch with a good therapist to work out its relationship with food.

But within the bestsellers list’s mixed menu is a larger idea that we see in our market research on attitudes toward food – and see in particular in our research with Food Influentials^sm, the 1 in 7 Americans who are most actively engaged in spreading word of mouth about food.

Call it the “It Takes Two” principle (with respect to the old Marvin Gaye/Tammi Terrell Motown tune). Consumers are responsive to more than one idea about food. Three in four Food Influentials, for example, describe themselves as very interested in foods from different countries. But two in three say they’re always looking for new snacks, like to be among the first to try new food and beverages, and “make a real effort to eat healthy” as well.

And Food Influentials are much more likely to describe themselves in these terms than the average person (by 14 to 30 points) — suggesting these cross-currents won’t be going away anytime soon.

If healthy eating is to grow, then, it should be “healthy-plus” — a healthy nutritional take combined with another food interest.

For some time, we’ve talked with clients about the importance of healthy foods tasting good and being convenient to on-the-go lifestyles. But our research suggests now that’s just the starting point. Healthy foods need to be interesting – offering people new tastes from other cultures, in new forms, with new formulas.

“It takes two” may not explain everything — for instance, the Trisha Yearwood recipe “Garth’s Breakfast Bowl,” named for her husband, country singer Garth Brooks, and combining eggs, frozen tater tots, sausage, bacon, packaged cheese, and garlic tortellini (“not for the faint of heart or high of cholesterol,” Publishers Weekly tactfully notes).

But I think “two” does offer a growth path for healthy foods. What’s next? How about healthy eating ideas from China, Thailand, Africa, or Latin America? Acai, from Latin America, this year’s hot antioxidant (“promegranate is sooo 2008″), may point the way. Or maybe healthier, international evolutions of snacks from energy bars to TV-viewing treats?

It just takes two.

(For more on Influentials, including details on the new Global Influentials research in the new 2010 Roper Reports Worldwide survey, which delves into influencers in a variety of catgories, click here).

Built to Last – Marketing lessons from the turn of an odometer

By Jon Berry

What do you get for a car that’s gone the extra mile for you? How about a trip to the car wash and replacing its missing hub cap?

Last week our 1998 Toyota Camry turned 175,000 miles. Fittingly the milestone came on a trip to the grocery store. While this mild-mannered sedan no doubt has daydreamed of lighting out for the frontier for a Blue Highways adventure, its reality has been more George Bailey than William Least Heat Moon.

(If Pixar ever creates a car version of It’s a Wonderful Life, George Bailey, the hero who never left home, will probably be a Camry.)

There have been a lot of trips to the store in this car. And commutes to work. Drives to school. And to the movies. The odometer may evoke adventure – 175,000 miles is equal to 60 drives across the country. But the furthest West this car has been is trips to my parents’ farm in Indiana.

This has been a family car. It’s been through two kids growing up and going off into the world; two dogs (note the chew marks on the rear-seat seatbelts); family vacations to the beach (sand in the trunk); Christmas trees (pine needles); and trips to college (amazing how much can be crammed into defined spaces).

And it’s done so with minimal repairs – a record that, with all the costs of raising kids, I will be forever grateful for. Which is one reason that, even as the Camry’s sidled into being our second car, driven only a few times a week, I’d have a hard time giving it up.

I bring all this up because I think I’m not alone. It’s not just cars – though my informal research, asking for a show of hands at speaking engagements for those whose cars have gone past the 100k mark suggests quite a few folks are in that category. All things “vintage” are being prized more these days, from clothes, to music, home décor, and recipes.

Staying power is having a star moment. Six in 10 Americans tell GfK Roper Reports® they strongly agree that they buy things that are “built to last.” That’s more than the proportion who tell us they’re “comparing prices and looking for the best price” on everything they buy. And agreement has risen since the start of the recession. Timelessness has become a theme among consumers across the world as well – and marketers have been responding.

I don’t think it’s simply nostalgia. There’s renewed appreciation of day-in, day-out, value-for-the-dollar quality – a value those who grew up in the Depression carried with them, and that, until recently, seemed lost on younger generations. As recession-singed consumers reenter the market, businesses should remind them that buying products built for the long haul will save them money they can spend on other things – even if it costs them a bit more now.

Camrys may not be cool in the way that the round-shouldered Chevys and sharp-finned Caddies of the 1950s and 60s were. But there is something innovative in them that I’d forgotten about until that magical rolling-over of the odometer knocked loose the memory of my then teen-aged son’s rationale for buying the car: “It’s the low-end Lexus.”

That quality of delivering luxury-car quiet, ride, and reliability at a middle-class price was part of a larger wave of innovation in marketing in its day that brought gourmet-quality food (Trader Joe’s, Starbucks), furniture (Ikea), investments (Fidelity, Vanguard), even running shoes (Nike’s “Bowerman” line) to broader audiences. In their way, they were as innovative as the first Fords, the first Chevys, or the first Apples. They’re worth studying for the lessons they offer us now.

We still have a ways to go to catch up with the Depression generation. I am reminded of this every time I travel out to Indiana to visit my Dad, go into my Dad’s barn, and see his two tractors – a shiny red 1940s International Harvester and his “newer” model, a shiny blue early-1960s Ford. Add one more reason to hang onto the 175,000-mile Camry – to see how its story turns out.

Selling Innovation to Aging Boomers – Is it a good idea or not?

By Diane Crispell

Have you ever had the experience that you were thinking about some great new product that would make your life better, and then it suddenly appeared on store shelves? It’s happened to me a number of times. My reaction has typically been one of delight that someone figured it out, tempered by the (totally unrealistic) regret that I wasn’t the one to do it and ‘make millions’.

As a Baby Boomer, I’ve always enjoyed the benefits of being part of the mass market that all businesses wanted to reach. So it’s not really surprising that my wants and needs have been anticipated through different life stages, from teen skin-care products to family-size frozen-food entrées. But we Boomers are getting older, and older has never been a very popular market, so I wonder whether I will see as many new products directed at my generation in the future. Maybe not.

The fact is that Boomers are not as entranced by novelty as they used to be or as much as younger people are. For example, 33% of Boomers strongly agree they “actively seek new ways to do things in everyday life,” compared with 44% of Gen Yers, according to a recent GfK Roper Reports^® US survey. Similar patterns hold for everything from technology to food.

Does this mean that marketers should focus their energies on selling innovative and status-related products to younger generations and hope that they “trickle up” to Boomers? Maybe, but not necessarily.

Boomers are still a huge market, they are still receptive to innovation that’s relevant to their lives, and it is still worthwhile for marketers to meet their needs. Innovation that addresses the issues Boomers face as they enter new life stages such as empty nesting, grandparenting, and retirement (whatever that looks like for this generation) will be particularly opportune.

There are some areas that virtually beg for innovation on Boomers’ behalf – this is a very health-oriented generation, for example, and if there is one thing that is inevitable about Boomer’s aging, it’s the physical changes their bodies are experiencing.

Speaking of physical changes, the latest ‘product’ to delight me with its timeliness is my local phone book. The newest edition was much fatter than usual, so at first I assumed it included listings for additional neighboring towns. But no, the reason is that the type size is larger than it used to be, and my Boomer eyes are really appreciating that about now.

Growing Into Aging – What jazz musicians can teach us about the graying of the world

By Jon Berry

When I grow up, I want to be Cedar Walton, Jimmy Cobb, or Buster Williams. Not literally, of course. For one, I’m already a grown-up. Second, I don’t have their talent. And, if I did, it still would take six or seven decades to catch up with Walton, 76, Cobb, 81, and Williams, 67, three legends of American jazz.

I recently caught the first set of their five-night run in New York with saxophonist Javon Jackson (a mere stripling at age 44). Over 90 minutes, the group unspooled a vision of aging that was more real – and more appealing – than any that I see in contemporary media or marketing.

What could have been a nostalgic tour through time – Cobb and Walton played drums and piano, respectively, on two of the most influential jazz records of all time, Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue and John Coltrane’s Giant Steps – instead became a larger lesson.

Playing with force, wit, tenderness, and craft, ranging from hard bop to soft standards, all the while with the intuitive, group sixth-sense of great jazz musicians, they showed that it’s possible to grow into aging, and keep growing, no matter your age.

With the world aging, we need more such visions of authentic aging. According to the United Nations, the median age of the world’s population will rise from 27 years old in 2000 to 38 in 2050; in more developed countries, it will go from 37 to 46. By midcentury, 4 in 10 of the UK’s population will be over 60. In Spain, it will be close to half. The U.S. population over age 65 is expected to double to 87 million people (more than the combined population of the top 10 U.S. metro areas).

And yet, the language and imagery around aging is stuck in clichés of the past. We are to “age gracefully” ($5 to anyone who can convince me of what that really means) or “fight aging.” “Take a walk at the mall.” “Find a hobby.” “Get the early-bird specials.” “Update your estate plan.” Depressing.

There’s a richness out there that, with few exceptions (notably AARP and its publications), is not being captured. It’s not just that people are doing incredible things later in life – though there is that. Yohihisa Hosaka last year broke the 60-plus world marathon record, running the 26.2 mile course of the Beppu-Oit Mainichi Marathon in 2 hours 36 minutes. I don’t know what’s more eye-opening, his new record or the old one, which was only 2 minutes slower. Or Tao, my friend Alan’s yoga teacher, who is still teaching yoga in her mid-90s; she’s also a champion ballroom dancer.

More impressive than the feats, though, is their day-in, day-out immersion in life. Hosaka’s 18-mile training runs. Tao’s daily yoga practice. Cedar Walton sitting down to the piano, which “does everything but say, ‘please come and play me,’” he confided last year to the New York Times. Imagine all they’ve seen, stored, retained.

We’re not, as a society, good at unlocking that treasure. We can’t even agree on definitions – a recent Roper Reports U.S. study shows there’s almost a 20-year gap between where 18-29 year olds (61) and people 60 and older (80) say old age begins. Demographics will change that. The oldsters will become elders – venerated for their experience and insights, and affirmed for their humanness, including quirks and imperfections. Some smart marketer or media person will figure that out and point the way. Until then, check out Cedar Walton, Jimmy Cobb, Buster Williams – or any of the other great jazz musicians who are still growing into their craft, and showing us all how to grow into aging.

The Pitfalls of Simplicity

By Diane Crispell

Have you ever noticed that when people use the word “simple,” they often mean the opposite? The phrase “simple assembly” on product instructions is practically a synonym for “complicated beyond belief.” A while back, I came across a purportedly simple recipe for tomato soup that was based largely on using a can of tomato sauce, to which one needed to add a bunch of other ingredients.

I felt that the whole concept was flawed. It’s not that I object to using prepared ingredients in a homemade dish – it was the use of the word “simple” that threw me. If I wanted simple, I’d open a can of tomato soup and be done with it. If I wanted homemade, I’d start with fresh tomatoes, and simplicity wouldn’t enter the picture.

I understand that the intent was to make the reader feel as if they were doing something loving and healthy for their family without scaring them off. It’s a nice idea. There is something very appealing about the notion of simplicity, especially when people aren’t too happy with the way things are. No wonder it keeps cropping up. “In place of materialism, many Americans are embracing simpler pleasures and homier values. They’ve been thinking hard about what really matters in their lives, and they’ve decided to make some changes…. The pursuit of a simpler life with deeper meaning is a major shift in America’s private agenda.” Sounds like a mantra for today, doesn’t it? It’s from a 1991 TIME article.

But frankly, to me, there is no “simple” about cooking from scratch or building a bookcase or sewing clothes, and it makes me feel inadequate when I don’t feel up to tackling these “simple” tasks.

I finally figured out what the disconnect is. “Simple” has two key meanings – “easy” and “plain.” These are not the same thing by a long shot. Any designer can tell you that “simple,” as in unadorned or clean, is not easy to achieve. Any number of books and web sites dedicated to the so-called “simple life” make it clear that living in a down-to-earth and unpretentious way is a lot of work.

It turns out that simplicity is not top of mind for consumers anyhow. It falls smack dab in the middle of Americans’ personal values spectrum, ranking 28out of 54 “guiding principles” in their lives, according to the 2009 GfK Roper Reports® Worldwide survey. (This is true globally, too.)

This suggests that “simple” does not need to be slathered all over everything but used judiciously and clearly. If you mean easy, say easy. But if you mean doing things the old-fashioned way, having less stuff, saving time, or being more organized, just say so. If you say simple, you run the risk of irritating people whose definition doesn’t match yours.

It’s also important to know your audience. A book titled Clinical Microbiology Made Ridiculously Simple might sound like an oxymoron to most of us, but reader reviews on amazon.com suggest that for medical students, it lives up to its name.

I like the way Back to Basics Toys puts it: “Committed to being your best and most-trusted source for classic and quality playthings with excellent craftsmanship and value.” Nothing about simplicity. We bought a balance board from them a few years ago, which my son uses while juggling – no simple task. Of course, there was our neighbor who, when he saw it, thought we were silly for paying for something that would be “simple” to make. For him maybe, but for us, it was a whole lot easier to buy.

The New Globalists

Leapfrogging the recession by going abroad

By Jon Berry

One friend’s child, a 2008 college graduate from California, is in his second year teaching English in Madrid, Spain’s, public-school system. Another friend’s child, a new grad from upstate New York, is coaching lacrosse at a private school in northern England. Two others chucked their entry-level jobs to travel, respectively, to Kenya and China. Another latched onto a puppetry workshop in Italy. Another went to Greece to build up her photography portfolio.

I’m not sure at what point one can declare a trend. But going abroad is becoming to this recession what graduate school was to past downturns – a strategy for leapfrogging the economic cycle with an experience that will make you more valuable for the long term. It’s not just young people. A parent at the school where my wife works is transferring to the Singapore office of an investment bank. But the young are a driving force. A major motivation for the parent was to give his kids the experience of living in Asia; it will good for their economic futures, he says.

Welcome to the next era of globalization. Global growth, as measured in economic data, may have slowed. But the idea of globalization is streaming forward. And it’s become more personal and generational. It’s as if a 21st-Century Horace Greeley has said, “Go West, young people. And East. And North. And South.”

Forget “Gen Y.” The true handle on this generation is globalization. Call them the New Globalists. Or New Frontierists. Or the Marco Polos. Or the Gaias (for their combination of globalism and environmentalism).

Three Cups of Tea

Reared on books, movies, and international campaigns expressing a passion for the world and the possibility that progress can come from connection – Three Cups of Tea, The Lexus and the Olive Tree, Doctors without Borders, Partners in Health – at a time when falling trade barriers and a growing Internet are bringing the world closer together, New Globalists live in a fundamentally different world than their parents. They likely will teach their elders the tools of globalization the way previous generations taught their parents how to use the remote control.

I think the threat that people my age see in globalization – that way we robotically append “competition” to the word “global” – says more about our fears than reality. We react the way our parents reacted to the social and technological changes of their time.

Did you see Google’s Super Bowl ad that tells the charming story of a cross-Atlantic romance through a series of Google searches? (I’ve linked to it below.) It’s a great ad, and it’s great because it’s true. Many people have a version of the Google-changed-my-life story. Mine is about my daughter. As she was approaching graduation from college, her advisors told her she should find a writers colony. They suggested several in the U.S. But my daughter, thinking an expat-in-France experience would be more to her liking than Provincetown in winter, Google-searched writers colonies in France. She emailed applications, and voila, a few months later was at an artists colony in France, the only American among sculptors, painters, videographers, and writers from Africa, Europe, Latin America, and Asia (and at a very low price).

When we hear stories of a college student going to Scandinavia, striking up a relationship with a young business-school student whose concentration is business in China (a program started because so many Scandinavian companies have operations in China), then continuing that long-distance relationship (another true story), we tend to marvel, like with the Google ad. “Wow, isn’t that amazing.”
Be ready for more such stories. The New Globalists travel great distances, strike up relationships, and come back with new ideas and amazing stories with the ease that my Indiana farmer grandparents took Sunday drives to Cincinnati. I believe it cuts across class lines more than people suspect: a job on the factory floor in Indiana can lead to a promotion to a job in China (another person I know).

We’ve begun to see the shift in our research; for example, a recent GfK Roper Reports U.S. survey found that the #1 thing Gen Y (aka the New Globalists) would like to do at this stage of their life is “visit other parts of the world”; 84% agree. But this story is just beginning. Businesses should think about fashions, foods, objects, books, programs, and ideas you can introduce from other parts of the world – and about how you can facilitate this new generation’s adventuring.

Experiencing Globalisation

The contrast between rapidly developing Gurgaon and the hubbub of Old Delhi

A reminder of just how real globalisation is, from a recent trip to rapidly developing Delhi.

By Anna Clark

On a recent trip to Delhi to run a trends workshop, we took the opportunity absorb the city, do a spot of people watching, and as trend spotters on tour, check out the local advertising

One of my first impressions was the very obvious presence of all the major global brands. HSBC advertising met us in the airport, and as we travelled around the city we saw plenty of ads from tech companies such as LG and HP, and FMCG brands such as Pantene. Of course in a nation that still very much trusts advertising over word of mouth, the presence of so much advertising was to be expected.

In the supermarket alongside more traditional foods, all the same household names could be found, Cadbury, Red Bull and L’Oreal to name just a few, although with some interesting flavour variants (e.g. Mango coated Cornflakes).

In some of the shiny new malls popping up in the Gurgaon business district, we found Baskin Robbins ice cream vendors, Reebok stores, and Italian restaurants. We had a beer in an ultra modern microbrewery bar, and dinner in a Chinese restaurant, and could easily have thought we were in any city around the world, then stepped out into the dust, the bustle of rickshaw drivers, people milling around and chatting on the roadside, and mass construction going on all around the city as it prepares in earnest for the Commonwealth Games later this year.

There are, however, things that serve as a reminder that only a small proportion of Indian consumers visit these places and that many are still very much on their way up: security gates and bag searches on the way in to, and out of, all the modern malls; and billboard adverts for a recruitment company with the slogan “All I want is everything”.

There are also hints that gender roles are more traditional – one billboard read “The economy is recovering, time to buy your wife that big fridge”!

All this quite basic advertising left me wondering at what point the more subtle advertising messages that dominate the West will start appearing in India, and the potential for events based and experiential marketing to capitalise on such a vast and rapidly developing population?

Empowering Your Inner First Responder

As Americans seek self-reliance, more is also required of them

By John Bishop

Perhaps this might sound a little like an insurance commercial, but so be it. When the unexpected happens, you never know who will be on hand to help. The odds are it will not be a trained professional, but maybe that is okay. The more willing we are to accept this notion, the more prepared we will be to react.

Inclement weather, medical emergencies, transportation accidents, natural disasters and even terrorist attacks all require the services and expertise of first responders to help those in need. Yet, in most cases those first responders are often everyday citizens. Certainly, the frequency of the public being thrust into these situations seems to be increasing.

No doubt, when such situations arise, the professionals who would respond first are not typically on the scene at the moment of impact to provide their services immediately. As the effects of budget cuts across the US in state and local government take hold, the scope of these services has been reduced in many cases.

The following is an excerpt from a New York Times article on January 8th:

“In Kansas, state workers are no longer plowing for a perfectly clear path on weekends or after business hours, except on Interstate highways. “Our budgets have been cut, and people will notice it on the highways this year,” said Steve Swartz, a spokesman for the state’s Transportation Department. “In years past, we’d continue to pay our operators until we got down to bare pavement everywhere, at all times.””

Such problems are compounded by the shrinkage of emergency personnel in some police, EMT, and fire departments as they are forced to make difficult choices as to where cutbacks should take place in the face of local budget crises. In states facing harsh winter weather, clearing snow from public roads may be relegated to those private citizens with their personal vehicles. An altruistic deed to be sure, as citizens take matters into their own hands for the greater good of their communities. Yet, with fewer regulations and less experience, room for accidents and errors only increases.

That said, often the good Samaritans in the crowd have skills and experience that can help them pitch in, and even save lives. An elementary school classmate of mine, Dr. Tolani, teamed up with a police officer on a subway last year to essentially bring a fellow passenger back to life.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/08/fashion/08GENB.html

Since 9/11, citizens have always wondered how they can pitch in, yet there has been no real call to action. Many have taken the onus upon themselves to put their skills and empathy to work both here and abroad. Consider the lack of government help that was available to the people in Haiti during the aftermath of the recent earthquake. In many cases, the first external responders were foreign news reporters. Who can forget the images of Sanjay Gupta and Anderson Cooper pitching in to help those injured.

Domestically, we see that a growing numbers of Americans, 48% (12 points higher than 2007), feel they “don’t have control over government or business making changes to your community”. For all that, the myriad of challenges Americans have faced in the past two years has increased resilience and self-reliance.

In April, AP-GfK poll respondent, Dwight Hageman, a retiree from Newberg Oregon stated “I think people are beginning to realize that there’s not always going to be someone to catch them when things fall down.”

It seems that this role of pitching-in to help one’s self and one’s fellow citizens has partially come out of a sense of responsibility, but also a growing sense of necessity. As I entered the security checkpoint at Midwestern airport just 3 days after the failed Christmas day bombing of the Delta flight over Detroit, the TSA agent reminded me and my fellow passengers: “If you see someone trying to light anything, beat them up – if you’ve got it in you. Protect yourself.”

Consider that terrorist attacks on at least 5 different commercial flights have been thwarted by airline passengers. Says Amanda Ripley in a recent Time article:

“And yet our collective response to this legacy of ass-kicking is puzzling. Each time, we build a slapdash pedestal for the heroes. And since regular people will always be first on the scene of terrorist attacks, we should perhaps prioritize the public’s antiterrorism capability.”

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1950576,00.html#ixzz0cL0lSwk0

Could it be that the government is not asking enough of its citizens? Certainly the economic collapse has been a wake-up call for all individuals in this country as we have seen with the recent shift towards personal responsibility and self-reliance. Yet, those concepts seem to be in direct conflict with the system that has been established in this country over the past several decades.

We have come a long way since the ride of Paul Revere and the rallying of colonial militia Minutemen, but the fundamental ‘pull yourself up by your bootstraps’ mentality is still alive and well, now more than ever. We now know well that there are threats, natural and manmade which are bound to lead to things going wrong – often unexpectedly. While preparation and self-reliance are just good sound individual practices, state and local governments may be sitting on great untapped potential if organized in an effective manner.

Going against the grain?

Traditional rice harvesting

On the contrary, Japan’s latest green innovations are right on trend.

By David Crosbie

Suzuki san, an elderly Japanese gentleman of my acquaintance, used to recount the following anecdote. In years of poor harvest, the Japanese government has occasionally, and rather reluctantly, imported some rice from abroad. The country normally prides itself on being self-sufficient in this staple food, and domestic production is staunchly protected. During one such year my friend received a packet of rice from Thailand which, he was proud to say, he threw out uneaten. While some (particularly Thais!) might find this mildly offensive, he felt he was doing his patriotic duty by eschewing non-Japanese rice.

I was reminded of this incident when reading a report in the Japan Times on the Eco Products Fair held recently at Tokyo’s Big Sight venue. More than one of the 721 exhibitors had come up with novel ways to put to use rice from Japan’s vast stockpile that had become too old for human consumption. If such technology had been available at the time, rather than simply throwing out his unwanted rice Suzuki san could have had it turned into a biodegradable plastic for use in carrier bags, fans or folders.

Other new products on show included ‘bio-silica’ firewood made from rice husks, tatami mats made from used green tea leaves and machines that recycle used diapers (including the adult diapers that are increasingly common in Japan’s ageing society) into odourless fuel pellets.

One interesting aspect of all this is the way in which the 180,000 visitors to the three day event demonstrate the high environmental engagement of Japanese consumers. Our GfK Roper Reports Worldwide consumer trends study shows that 27% of Japanese consumers cite global climate change as one of their top three concerns; the joint-second highest result worldwide.

The second interesting aspect is that many of the innovations mentioned above do not involve the purchase of expensive equipment on the part of the consumer. Instead, the focus is on recycling and minimising waste. At the beginning of last year, when the global recession was at its height, GfK Roper Consulting predicted that the predominant green trend for the year would be ‘green + simple’, where consumers would be more inclined to choose environmentally safe options that did not require extra outlay or even saved them money. It seems that many of the innovations from the Eco Products Fair are very much in the spirit of this idea.

GfK Roper Pulse

GfK Roper Consulting

Authentic Commercial Conversations

It Takes Two – What Food Influentials Tell Us about Opportunities Today

Built to Last – Marketing lessons from the turn of an odometer

Selling Innovation to Aging Boomers – Is it a good idea or not?

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The Pitfalls of Simplicity

The New Globalists

Experiencing Globalisation

Empowering Your Inner First Responder

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