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Are you a leader or a follower? Is it always better to be a leader than a follower? Isn't everyone a follower in some way? These are questions we don't often pause to ask when examining trends, but a new reflection can be refreshing.
Looking at trends can be like watching product life cycles. There are emerging, peak, maturing and dying phases of product cycles. And there are strategies that make it ok for your business to dive-in at any phase, even the dying cycle. After all, that's when a lot of players are getting out, making room for more sales to be made or product refreshments to be rolled out.
Comparing phases to trends, you find the following scenarios:
- Emerging phase. You can be the originator or be involved in the early stages of creating a trend. There may be a high risk of failure, but the rewards are often greater when you succeed. Your branding is the one that leads the way. Customers appreciate you more for bringing ideas to them first, increasing your perceived value.
- Strengthening-to-peak phase. You may be a follower, but there are still rewards to be realized as you improve on some early stumbles by others. As long as you do not plagiarize others' work, there is plenty of reason to jump in. If your design or idea is tailored to your needs or your customers', it will have a unique aspect and value.
- Maturing phase. The market has grown and the pipeline of demand is still out there for companies who work smart. While your business may not be the innovator, it can play a role in offering efficiencies and service, or there may simply be solid reasons to become part of a trend or movement. Companies often produce mature products to fill capacity, with a planned phase-out and simultaneous development timeline for new products to replace the mature ones.
- Dying phase. While there are fewer reasons to join in a trend that is winding down, there are occasional reasons to consider the possibilities. One of these happens when others stop supplying a product and you have new reasons to do so. There are plenty of examples of a major supplier dropping a brand that is now too small for them to market – and another, smaller firm buying it out. Another reason is that your involvement and tweaking of this "old" trend may create a new one!
Thinking of trends in terms of circles, rather than beginning-to-end phases pushes creativity further and says: "Everything old is new today."
(Susan Stansbury for Archetype Group. © May, 2003)
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