BEFORE WE BEGIN It trends to watch docx

BEFORE WE BEGIN
It is hard to believe another year has come and gone. So many
interesting trends have emerged this year, and many more are
likely poised to do so next year.
At Luckie & Company, we spend a lot of time observing and
studying trends that impact consumers’ lives. The following is a
list of 10 trends we feel have potential to continue growing,
maybe even enter the mainstream and start to play an emerging
role in daily life in 2010. If nothing else, they’re pretty cool and
worth keeping an eye on.
For hipsters, trendsetters and early adopters, some of these are
going to be old news, but for the majority of us in the masses,
some pretty interesting things will start to pop up into our
everyday routines.
#1 AUGMENTED REALITY
Augmented reality (AR) is a term and application that has been around since the 1990s. To date, it has
mainly been used by engineers and researchers to supplement their work and in very simple manners in
the visual world for consumers. However, that has started to change with the mainstreaming of webcams
and smartphone cameras that allow individuals to unlock AR content and provide a three-dimensional
experience for the user, bringing the real and digital worlds together.
Earlier this year, Doritos introduced a
line of Late Night chips. To promote
the chips a limited-edition AR symbol
was printed on the back of the Late
Night chip bag. Users visited a
special Doritos Late Night Web site,
lined up the symbol with their
webcam and unlocked a never-
before-released song and video from
popular pop-punk band Blink-182.

Another cool AR
application is
from Zugara,
where online
shoppers can try
clothes on before
they buy them.
For the 2009 holiday season,
The Home Depot has released a
special AR gift card. When lined
up with a webcam, the card
shows a continuous stream of
possible gifts and saves the gifts
in a special section of the Web
site for further viewing and
information.
There really seems to be no limit to the potential
of AR. In addition to those from Doritos, The
Home Depot and Zugara, lots of interesting and
unique AR ideas are starting to pop up. Papa
John’s and Starbucks are using AR to help
iPhone users find store locations. The December
issue of Esquire featured an AR cover that
unlocked an interactive video with Robert
Downey Jr. and a commercial from Lexus. GE
has featured AR when promoting their smart grid
technology. Walmart has used AR to sell tween
furniture.
#2 P2P MOBILE PAYMENT
Person-to-person payment (P2P) has been happening since the first cavemen exchanged beads for

services rendered. In more modern times, friends or acquaintances have exchanged checks or cash when
a payment between two individuals was needed. PayPal helped mainstream P2P payment in the online
world. Now mobile digital technology is taking this concept to the next level with a variety of applications
popping up that allow friends, family and neighbors to easily exchange money via their always present
mobile devices. For example: three friends go to dinner and one picks up the tab with his credit card. The
other two can simply text or SMS their share of the bill to the party who paid the bill. Will this technology
render cash and checks obsolete? Probably not, but it will make them a lot less necessary.
Coming at this trend from another
angle is mobile device maker
Nokia, which recently launched
Nokia Money, a mobile financial
product that will allow users to
transfer money to their friends
and pay bills. Nokia has stated
their that their goal is to become
the world's largest mobile bank.
MasterCard has launched MoneySend, allowing
cardholders to exchange P2P funds via SMS,
mobile browser or mobile app.
POPMoney (pay other
people money) is a new
bank-centric P2P
service that will allow
banks to stay in the
loop with the growing
P2P trend (versus
allowing credit card
companies and third-
party payment
companies to process

these transactions).
POPMoney allows bank
customers to link a
checking account to
their mobile device and
pay friends seamlessly.
In September, Wells Fargo Bank launched a mobile
customer-to-customer P2P payment system that
allows Wells Fargo customers to transfer up to
$1,000 per day between fellow customers.
Picture: www.labs.wellsfargo.com
Citibank is the longest-tenured
provider in this space, having
launched the U.S.’s first real-time
P2P service in October 2008,
allowing account holders to send
money to “virtually any U.S.
mobile phone number.”
#3 2D BAR CODES (AKA QR CODES)
2D bar codes (also known as QR codes) have been widely used in consumer marketing applications in
Europe and Asia for the last four to five years, but they are just now starting to make serious inroads in
North America. To read one of these codes, consumers use their smartphone camera in conjunction with
a bar code reader program to unlock data stored in the code. It might lead to a special Web site or
provide extra information about the product, a coupon, ringtone, wallpaper, song or any other bonus
feature that can be thought of. These codes can appear in any number of places, including magazines,
signs, movie posters, outdoor boards, taxis/buses or anywhere a user is liable to see and scan one.
The July 29
issue of Sports
Illustrated had
the special 2D

bar code at
right, which
unlocked 14
extra swimsuit
pictures.
In September, JCPenney
flipped the idea around
and sent mobile 2D bar
code coupons to
shoppers, who then
flashed the code on their
mobile device at checkout
for a discount. This was a
pilot program at 16
Houston-area stores.
During the fall of 2009,
Coors Light Canada
introduced a 2D bar
code feature to its
Mystery Mansion
promotion. The bar
codes, containing
exclusive Mystery
Mansion content, were
placed on the outside
of Coors Light cases.
Book publishers have been quick to pick up on this trend. The first
book to carry a 2D bar code, BrandDigital: Simple Ways Top Brands
Succeed in the Digital World, allowed mobile users to buy the book
directly from Amazon.com after scanning the bar code with their

mobile devices. More recently, publisher HarperCollins has been
experimenting with these codes. The L.A. Candy book jacket features
a 2D bar code that takes readers to a special video and Q&A session
with the author. The Amanda Project has a special code on the last
page of the book that gives readers clues to the mystery from the
perspective of one of the main characters.
#4 SOCIAL MEDIA STOREFRONTS
Most retail brands have a social media presence on one or more of the major social media sites. They
typically use these social destinations to push news, offer customer service or otherwise engage their
customers/fans in conversation. To date, social media e-commerce from these brands has been
extremely limited, but may grow very quickly as marketers realize the potential of not only reaching, but
also selling to, consumers where they are spending more and more of their time. Facebook and Twitter
are likely to be the initial proving grounds for these types of efforts. Recent usage data shows that
Facebook’s 300 million users spend a combined 8 billion minutes per day on the site, which has potential
to make it one of the biggest shopping destinations ever.
In June, Dell was the first
major brand to announce
direct sales from its Twitter
account, reporting $3
million in sales from click-
thrus to its Dell Outlet that
started on Twitter. While
that’s sofa change for Dell,
it shows how Twitter has
potential to be a viable
sales portal.
While Twitter is still wrestling
with how to make money
themselves, that hasn’t
stopped numerous

businesses from exploring
ways to make money via
Twitter. Having recognized
this trend and need, Twitter
posted a business tutorial to
help brands discover ways
to move past conversational
engagement with their
customers on the platform.
Mega-retailer Sears
and Web T-shirt maker
Threadless have tested
limited e-commerce
functionality on their
respective Facebook
pages, allowing fans to
shop on Facebook, but
check out on their
branded Web sites.
In August, Facebook
announced the planned
launching of 20 virtual
storefronts where users
will be able to shop
without ever leaving the
respective Facebook
page. 1-800-FLOWERS
was the first of these
virtual social media
storefronts to open, with

others expected to roll
out in the coming months.
Southwest, JetBlue and United have all experimented
with using their Twitter accounts to announce short-
term “Twitter-only” fare sales that are completed on
their respective Web sites.
Picture: www.business.twitter.com/twitter101
#5 21
ST
CENTURY VENDING MACHINES
Wonder Pizza Vending
Machine offers three 9-
inch pizza options that
are kept cold until
ordered, then cooked in
a high-intensity oven
and delivered in under
two minutes. Each
machine can hold 102
$5 pizzas.
U.K. company Afterheels is
installing shoe vending
machines in nightclubs.
Targeted at young female
patrons, the machines vend
“comfortable flats” for when
heeled shoes start to hurt.
And there’s already a
competitor, Rollasole, which
offers a similar product/

buying experience.
Vending machines are nothing new, having been around since the 1880s selling basic staples such as
soda, sandwiches and snacks. But lately, some brands have grasped onto the time-pressed, 24/7 nature
of the 21
st
century consumer and begun to create machines with an increasingly amazing array of
options. While DVD rentals and iPod/iPhone machines have become fairly common, they’re really just the
tip of the iceberg for this trend. Below are just a few examples of how the ordinary vending machine
might bring even more options to life in 2010.
Hotels are getting in
on the trend too. The
Standard Hotel in Los
Angeles recently
installed a swimwear
vending machine
selling Quicksilver
board shorts and
bikinis. For the more
recession-proof
consumer, the
Mondrian South
Beach provides a
vending machine
offering 60 items
priced between $10
and $1.2M. From
toothpaste and T-
shirts to gold
necklaces, condos
and a Bentley.

The Magnificent
Closed Jeans
Machine is selling
“instant denim” for
$40 a pair. The
machine sells two
styles in multiple
sizes and they’re
guaranteed to fit.
Some industrious
German farmers
have found a way
to sell fresh eggs,
butter, sausage, milk
and produce directly
to consumers
through Regiomat
vending machines.
#6 CROWDSOURCING
Crowdsourcing is not a new phenomenon. It has been used by artists and writers for years. It was famously
used by Russian artists Vitaly Komar and Alexander Melamid to create “the most and least desired”
paintings for a number of countries in the early 1990s. Today, the mainstreaming of social media and
comfortability of sharing information and ideas within networks and with the world have quickly allowed
crowdsourcing to become a popular source of inspiration and collaboration in many areas as the first
decade of the 21
st
century comes to a close. Many marketers are testing the crowdsourcing waters with
contests to create commercials, new flavors, new products or product extensions, but some brands have
already moved beyond this crowdsourcing entry point and truly tapped the power of collective thinking.
Recently, hip London restaurant

L’Anima used crowdsourcing to
select part of their wine list,
utilizing online video and Twitter
to let patrons and fans help their
wine experts finalize the list.
Food52.com is using
crowdsourced recipes
to create a cookbook.
Each week the site
names a theme and
holds a contest in
which readers vote on
submitted recipes. After
52 weeks of reader-
selected winners, they
will publish The Food52
Cookbook. Not only is
this a fun contest, but it
also creates a huge
database of great
recipes for readers to
come back to.
The Royal Opera
House in London
recently used Twitter
to crowdsource the
libretto for a new
“people’s opera.” On
August 3, the opera
house provided a brief

opening line and let the
Twitterverse take over,
successfully performing
the completed opera in
early September. A brief
video outtake can be
seen here. Over 900
people contributed.
Several bands have
created crowdsourced
music videos. The
latest is Sour, a
Japanese band who
asked their fan base to
create a video for their
single “Hibi no Neiro.”
Fans from around the
world were given
specific instructions on
what to do using only
their respective web-
cams to record their
actions. London-based
Bloc Party released a
fan crowdsourced live
video shot entirely on
mobile device cameras.
Picture: www.orbitalrpm.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/crowdsourcing.jpg
#7 MOBILE CONTACTLESS PAYMENT
Contactless payment (via a linked credit card) has been around in one form or another for around 15

years – think of those keychain fobs that Shell and Mobile introduced, allowing customers to keep their
wallets in their pockets when paying at the pump. The technology is made possible by a Radio
Frequency Identification (RFID) device implanted in a credit card or payment device. Now, the next
evolution of contactless payment is rapidly approaching in the form of mobile contactless payment,
which will use Near Field Communication (NFC) technology to complete payment transactions. That’s
right, your mobile device can now pay for your many purchases and may be one step away from
completely replacing your wallet (at least your wallet’s role as a cash and credit card storage device). The
only real holdup is getting cell-phone equipment makers to build units enabled with NFC technology.
Earlier this year, Nokia,
Visa and Malaysia’s
largest bank partnered
to introduce the
world’s first full-scale
NFC mobile payment
system. Once set up,
Nokia handset users
can use their device to
pay at over 1,800
merchants in Malaysia.
MasterCard has also been aggressively running
trials of their mobile PayPass contactless
payment system, with trials running with partner
banks in 28 countries. In the U.S., MasterCard
has been working in New York City with Best Buy,
Duane Reade, Walgreens, CVS, United Artists
Theatres, Regal Cinemas, 7-Eleven, Arby’s and
McDonald’s to perfect the technology.
Currently, Nokia is the leading mobile equipment manufacturer for building NFC-ready
phones, while other manufacturers lag behind. As consumers wait for these mobile
devices to become more readily available, several alternatives have popped up that

allow mobile users to convert their existing phones into contactless payment devices.
MasterCard has partnered with Blaze Mobile and MetaBank to introduce a sticker that
can be applied to any mobile device, activating MasterCard’s existing “Tap & Go”
PayPass system, usable at 141,000 merchants. And Mobile Payment Skins has
developed a customized mobile skin (the Phoolah), which comes equipped with an NFC
chip and is simply used to “wrap” the user’s mobile device.
#8 APP WORLD
Apple pioneered the idea of mobile applications (apps) with the launch of their iPhone App Store in June
2008. In just 16 months, the App Store has grown to offer over 100,000 apps in 20 categories and has
experienced more than 2 billion downloads. But the iPhone only represents a little over 10% of the entire
mobile phone market and sits right at 30% of the smartphone market. Currently, smartphone users
represent 39% of all mobile users, while recent research shows that nearly 12% of mobile users plan to
buy a smartphone in the next 90 days. With the explosive growth of smartphone usage and other wireless
carriers finally catching up with their own application offerings, the app life will soon be the way of life for
the masses. Currently there are five emerging competitors to the iPhone App Store domination, which are
detailed below.
Launched in June 2009,
the Palm App Catalog
currently offers 97 apps in
16 categories.
In October 2009, Microsoft
launched Marketplace for
Mobile, featuring an initial
offering of 249 apps for the
Windows Mobile platform.
The Google Android app
market, known as The Market,
is likely poised for the most
rapid growth with the massive
launch of Android-based

operating system smart-
phones (20 phones this year
and 30 in 2010). Some predict
this platform could overtake
the iPhone platform in the next
couple of years. The Market,
launched in March 2009,
currently offers over 10,000
apps in 15 categories.
BlackBerry App World was launched
in April 2009 and currently offers 3,183
apps in 17 categories.
Nokia Ovi Store was
launched in May 2009 and
currently offers 2,161 apps
focused on five core areas:
games, maps, media,
messaging and music.
Unless otherwise noted, all app store counts are as of the second week of November 2009.
Picture www.apple.com/uk/itunes/billion-app-countdown/
#9 NICHE USER-GENERATED HUMOR
Five years ago everything changed with the launch of YouTube. Suddenly anyone and everyone could
publish video of the world around them. Thanks in no small part to the success of MTV’s Jackass,
YouTube very quickly became the place to find user-generated videos that could keep viewers laughing,
smiling and cringing for hours. Soon thereafter came sites like CollegeHumor, Funny or Die, Break and a
host of others where everyone with anything funny to say or show could be seen. The commonality of
these sites was the broad nature of humor displayed. In the last six months or so, there has been a
growing popularity in single-focused humor sites, almost niche in nature. Some of these more focused
sites have very quickly received large, dedicated followings and even a level of celebrity or fortune for
their creators. Could these new micro humor channels be a sign of how online consumers want their

humor dished out moving forward?
Probably one of the better known (and more
questionable) of these sites is People of Walmart,
which features less than flattering user-submitted
photos of everyday folks in their local Walmart
stores. The site tends to focus on poor fashion
choices, bad haircuts and strange vehicles in the
parking lot. Within a month or so of launching as a
joke amongst friends, the site went viral and has
received plenty of mainstream press.
In August, a 29-year-old guy named Justin posted his first tweet on
a new Twitter stream he had created, shitmydadsays. It was meant
as a joke between Justin and a few friends to capture the
continuous stream of humorous observations and sayings his 73-
year-old father offered up during the course of any given day. The
site quickly went viral and now has over 800,000 followers. It also
garnered Justin a book deal and possible TV series.
Txts Frm Lst Nght is what it sounds like:
user-submitted texts (generally from
twentysomethings) that were sent or
received the night before, in many cases
in a somewhat inebriated state. Most of
the texts have a scandalous feel or fall into
the “too much information” category.
Launched in the spring, the site receives
an average of 4 million hits a day and
secured a book deal mere months after
launching.
#10 GOODNESS
There is no question that it has been a rough 18 to 24 months for brands and consumers alike, which has

stretched the limits of niceness and even charitable giving for many. While the U.S. has always seen a
strong level of volunteerism and philanthropy from consumers and brands, a new evolution is taking
shape that can help remind consumers about the everyday goodness they can participate in. This new
evolution of goodness seems based in the idea of brands empowering their customers to be both the
giver and receiver of goodness versus the brand doing the giving. At the core of it is the simple act of
making someone smile through a nice gesture or simple deed.
In 2010, Disney will offer
free admission to up to
one million guests who
have completed a day of
volunteer work in their
local communities
through the “Give A Day,
Get a Disney Day”
program.
A Canadian credit union
recently gave its members
$200,000 in $10 bills and
asked them to create a “feel
good ripple” by using the $10
to make someone’s day (i.e.,
buying flowers for the grocery
store clerk, paying for the
coffee/meal of the car behind
them at a drive-thru, giving it
to a homeless shelter, etc.).
Launched in September,
Australian baby onesie
manufacturer Baby Teresa
has a very simple premise

for customers: buy one of
our onesies and we will
donate one to a baby in
need. Their goal is to help
clothe a baby in every
country in the world.
In 2006, Toms Shoes started their One For One
program, giving a pair of shoes to a child in need
for every pair purchased. This fall they went a step
further, allowing customers to help deliver the
donated shoes. The first donation stop was
Argentina, with future shoe drops scheduled for
Ethiopia, South Africa and the U.S.
Picture: Paul Hiffmeyer/AP Photo
WHY THESE TRENDS MATTER
While these trends will surely make life a little more interesting or fun for consumers, they are important for
marketers to understand and adapt into their marketing plans when appropriate. And while some of these
may not seem like they have direct marketing connections, they are still important to understand as this is
how consumers will be interacting with brands and each other on a regular basis in the coming years.
1. Augmented reality: really picks up where virtual reality leaves off, but without the bulky glasses,
headphones or other haptic feedback devices. This trend seems like it will fall into the categories of
entertainment and information, the latter being used as a mashup of existing information resources to
produce things like three-dimensional maps, store locators, travel guides, etc. On the entertainment
side, opportunity in the gaming, music and video space feels unlimited.
2. P2P Mobile Payment: P2P mobile payment is the next logical evolution of whipping one’s wallet out to
give a friend a 10-spot. It cuts down on the need to carry cash or plastic or write one of those
increasingly archaic paper checks. It also makes it easier to quickly settle a friendly wager when your
favorite team loses.
3. 2D Barcodes: are all about information and choice, giving consumers more opportunity to interact with
a product, brand or service. This goes hand-in-hand with the App World trend as more and more

consumers turn to smart mobile devices; their expectation of instantaneous connection, information
and entertainment will continue to expand at an accelerated rate.
4. Social Media Storefronts: with 300 million Facebook users spending a combined 8 billion minutes a
day on the site, it makes perfect sense to offer shopping opportunities that don’t require fans to leave
the friendly confines of the Facebook community, while fitting seamlessly into the experience they are
already having. Not to mention they’re already predisposed to the brand, being a “fan” and more likely
to buy.
WHY THESE TRENDS MATTER
5. 21
st
Century Vending Machines: this is clearly about convenience for consumers and new sources
of revenue for brands. With over 17,000 machines, Redbox DVD rentals may be the most
recognizable of this new generation of vending machine (and possibly the final nail in the coffin of
traditional brick-and-mortar video rental stores). Pizza, shoes, jeans; the vending machine code has
been cracked and the sky’s the limit for smart marketers and entrepreneurs to reach customers with
24/7 access to the products they want.
6. Crowdsourcing: is about giving the consumer ultimate control. It also plays into individuality as like-
minded individuals are likely to be attracted to similar crowdsourcing opportunities, creating an
acceptable outcome that feels personalized to each individual. It can be a risky and rewarding
proposition for any brand to undertake, but it is a necessity as brands slowly cede control of who
they are to their true brand managers … the customers.
7. Mobile Contactless Payment: this trend has potential to be huge. Contactless payment has been
around for years, but it has always required an additional fob or device to complete the transaction,
thus stymieing its mainstream adaptation. The credit card companies finally adapted the RFID
technology to work on actual credit cards and now have figured out how to make it work via NFC
chips on mobile devices. Consumers are becoming tethered to their cell phones and mobile devices
almost like articles of clothing (never going anywhere without them). As smart mobile devices
continue to become the norm, they are likely to start replacing wallets and money clips like cell
phones replaced watches.
8. App World: the current iPhone advertising says it all: “There’s an app for that.” As more and more

consumers migrate to smartphones, an increased functionality and meaning in day-to-day life will be
expected. Brands will need to adapt to this potential all-in-one device so that they can be front and
center when needed.
WHY THESE TRENDS MATTER
9. Niche User-Generated Humor: humor comes in many forms. What some find funny, others find
offensive. But no matter what the humor niche, there always seems to be an audience. For decades
TV shows have been built around selected comedians and their brand of humor. So why not a 21
st
century spin on this concept, featuring user-generated material in the digital space. As long as there
are book deals to sign and TV shows to be made, these types of niche sites will surely proliferate and
continue to provide a daily chuckle to their users.
10. Goodness: 2010 has got to be better, right? January 1 will mark a turning point for consumers and
brands alike to put the last 24 months of economic turmoil behind them and look to brighter days.
Small acts of goodness may be inconsequential on their own, but when multiplied by the power that
well-known/respected brands can put behind these acts, they may have the power to become
difference-makers on multiple levels.
A SPECIAL THANKS AND SOME LINK LOVE
For providing insight and inspiring us, many thanks to our
partners at Iconoculture.
And friends at TrendHunter, Trendcentral, Trendwatching,
Springwise, PSFK, BoingBoing, Mobile Marketer, Gizmodo,
Engadget, FierceWireless, GIGAOM, Wikipedia, Wired, Mashable,
Fast Company, Paste Magazine, The New York Observer and Pew
Internet & American Life Project.
CONTACT AND MORE INFORMATION
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how we think, please visit our Web site, www.luckie.com.
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