Futuresight: The Top 10 Trends

We though it might be fun-learning— and entertaining— to see how Ms. Popcorn's "Top 10 Trends" have panned out. She predicted these almost 15 years ago. See for yourself how true they've become in the world... and your world. And remember, back when this was written, the lady enjoyed a record of 95 percent accuracy. Enjoy....

Futuresight: The Top 10 Trends From The Popcorn Report

Trend 1: Cocooning Home as the safe haven from chaos, danger and frustration. Bunker mentality. Eating in. Partying in. Working at home. Home entertainment, home decoration, home security, buying and selling from home.

Trend 2: Fantasy Adventure The search for chills and thrills. Theme hotels, parks and far-out vacations. Shopping malls as entertainment. Virtual reality. Exotic food and drink. Spices. The Wild West — Wildering. Fun is at a premium. Living like a millionaire without the cash or burdens or waiting.

Trend 3: Small Indulgences Quality over quantity. Mini self-indulgences. More for the money. Gourmet chocolates, coffees and teas. Handmade jewlery. Aromatherapy. Pampering yourself. Elegant cosmetics and personal care.

Trend 4: Egonomics Self-esteem. Self-reliant. Self-absorbed. Self-gratification. Self-aware. Self-assured. The Needy Nineties. Personalizing. Customizing. The “Me Generation” growing older and bolder and voting for individuality with dollars.

Trend 5: Cashing Out No more job-security. Instant entrepreneurs. Flex-time. Self-employment. Downshifting life in the fast lane. Downsizing. Moving back “home.” Pursuing life dreams and aspirations. Changing the game.

Trend 6: Down-Aging Liz Taylor. Michael Jackson. Peter Pan. Younger than spring-time. Looking good rules. Feeling good, too. Older-is-better — as long as it’s younger. The Baby-Boom fighting the calendar. 50s and 60s revival, reruns of Lucy. Nostalgia. Cosmetic surgery.

Trend 7: Staying Alive Health food. Natural Food. Alternative medicine. Herbs, and vitamins and exercise. Diet; fat-free, low or no salt and sugar. Eschew the preservatives and the artificial. Healthy is wealthy. The healthy home the healthy future.

Trend 8: The Vigilante Consumer The customer is king and queen. No more Ms. Nice Guy. The emergence of corporate conscience and candor. Crusades. Boycotts. Reading labels. Be fair. Be real. Quality at the right price — or else.

Trend 9: 99 Lives Life’s too short. Asking “why?” and demanding answers. Getting 60 seconds out of every minute. Earn-while-you-learn. Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy. New and improved for real. Save time. Save money. Get all the meat out of the lobster.

Trend 10: S.O.S (Save Our Society) The backside of the excess and greed-gilded 80s. Socially, environmentally, politically, professionally and personally conscious and aware. Before we buy, we must buy into. Green products and companies. Recycling. The Children’s Crusade. Corporate soul. A future of hope.

So, how'd she do...? How accurate was the eminently predictable Ms. Popcorn for you...?

Faith Popcorn, founder of BrainReserve, the New York-based futurist marketing consulting firm, has been tracking trends for more than two decades, looking at patterns of behavior, technological advances, and evolving priorities and tastes to discover what the future might hold. She's been called "the chief trend bender" by The New York Times and "the Nostradamus of marketing" in Fortune magazine. She's the author of two business best-sellers, The Popcorn Report (which sold over 500,000 copies) and Clicking. She first identified the concepts of Cocooning and Icon Toppling; she predicted the fall of New Coke; and has helped create and market many of America's most successful new products.

Visit her remarkably minimal website, here: http://FaithPopcorn.com Copyright info The copyright in this work belongs to the author, who is solely responsible for the content. Please direct content feedback or permissions questions to the author.

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