Connecting the Dots

Musings on the World of Trend by Michelle Lamb

Michelle Lamb - Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Earlier today at the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco, Morgan Stanley Managing Director, Mary Meeker, gave her annual presentation on the state of the global economy and its impact on internet-centric technology and the companies that supply it.

Overall, Ms. Meeker points out that Morgan Stanley has identified several positive signs that the economy is recovering. There are many risks that impact our home furnishings industry, but her overall presentation (available here for viewing and/or download) is enlightening on several fronts and positive, none the least of which are the many slides mentioning how key the mobile market is with respect to internet and social media use.

What's illustrative for us is how often Apple is mentioned and I'll draw a couple of inferences for you.

GOOD NEWS: Consumer confidence (and spending) is rising

BAD NEWS...BUT LESS BAD: This is a key risk and is at the core

of the home furnishings industry downturn, but the uptick has begun

GOOD NEWS & EVIDENCE FOR INNOVATING: Apple iPhone & iPod Touch nearing 60M units sold!

You may wonder why I'm drawing an analogy between our home furnishings industry and Apple. It's because of the performance of Apple and their innovating in two areas which should point the way toward you innovating with color, pattern, design, technology and other means at your disposal:

1) Investing two+ years in the creation of touch-driven devices which clearly made high volume use of a mobile internet-connected device something the masses could, and therefore would, use (and various mobile internet use studies have shown an overwhelmingly amount of data usage skewed toward one smartphone: the Apple iPhone)

2) Apple's record breaking 3rd quarter results proved that the market will pay a premium for products with a value-added approach, high design, a focus on user experience with the product, and so forth.

At The Trend Curve™ we strive to keep you on the leading edge with actionable trend information which you can leverage to innovate and add real and perceived value to your product offerings. Consumers are clearly hungry for value and willing to buy fresh, new, and valued products, especially since consumer purchasing has been "on hold" for far too long.

Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0) | Permalink

Kids and Color

Michelle Lamb - Wednesday, October 07, 2009

You rarely find a child that prefers neutrals over color. Kids love color, and the more of it, the better.

Recently, The Trend Curve collaborated with one of the country’s top apparel color-and-trend experts to create a forecast for Fall/Winter 2010 that covers both home and apparel for the younger set. Here are a few highlights from Keeping Up With Kids™ Fall 2010:

• Red and Coral stand out for both boys and girls. Use them alone or as key accents to the season’s darker counterparts.

• Yellow is taking up with neutrals, as Gray and Black become Yellow’s top companions.

• Metallic influences continue to play a role.

• Piecing, patchwork and tiers will be right for girls.

• Cartoon graphics have appeal for both genders.

• Basic stripes and plaids won’t look so basic anymore. Think Preppy—and new combinations.

To order Keeping Up With Kids™ Fall 2010, go to www.trendcurve.com, go to the Trend Store and select Keeping Up With Kids from the pull-down menu. You can also call toll-free: 800.531.6614. Or just email Janice Carlson.