Monday, December 29, 2008

CultureLab’s Trends to Watch For in 2009

#1 Rockstar and Skater Hip Hop will continue to gain in popularity (Lil Wayne and Kanye respectively are the icons: watch for Charles Hamilton, The Knux, 88 Keys, Black Milk, and B.O.B)



#2
Classism is the new racism

#3 The 90’s grunge era will influence in ‘09 as the 80’s did in ‘08

#4 Sneaker Brands to watch: Supras, adidas, Yums, and "Vulcanized" Shoes [See Images Below]

#5 Streetwear brands to watch: Rowdy, KR3W, Volcom

#6 Twitter goes to the masses

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#7 Classism, Ethnicity, and Lifestage will creep into online social network choice: Facebook: older, more affluent and more educated, MySpace: younger, less affluent, Black and Hispanic skewing

#8 C.R.E.A.M., Wu-Tang’s mantra will ring very true in ’09, cash will be king!

#9 Creativity in digital hustle

#10 Prepaid Cell Phone service will explode as the economy continues to slump

#11
Smartphones as status symbols

#12 Rise of the Black and Hispanic geeks

#13 Asian pop culture will continue to grow in popularity

#14 Renaissance of creativity in business, politics, music, and entertainment: watch for new music genres, new art forms, new ideaologies, and new ways of film-making

#15
Low budget but creative aesthetic in fashion, film, and music, “Thrift Chic”

#16 The urban elegance movement flourishes, i.e. Obama, Diddy, Maxwell
#17 Big Government will be cool
#18 The role of narrative and storytelling will grow in all art forms and advertising/promotional outreach

#19
DIY- arts and crafts

#20
Common Craft-style "what is" and "how to" videos will become an increasingly popular resource for education of online applications and communities


CultureLab is a full service research agency that focuses on the multicultural young adult consumer. Our segments of focus include Asian American, Urban Hispanic, African American and Urban White 18-34 year olds. We tapped into our network across the country to come up with our trends to watch for in 2009. Our clients include general market advertising agencies, corporations, beverage marketers and government entities.


[photos by: Martinchox, kikfoto , Elliot.P, ThisParticularGreg, clementpetit2, irrezolut, saturnism]

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

awesome summation of trends, I have definitely seen a few spreading in the urban community, and others I have embraced myself :-)

Anonymous said...

Great list. Agree with many of the trends. I have already seen the popularity in hip-hop enthusiasts, artists and producers taking to Twitter so you know the mainstream isn't too far off.

Not so sure about the grunge feel, but hey, who would have guessed half the stuff that happened in '08.

Anonymous said...

Really interesting list!

Building on the "Renaissance of creativity in business" aspect - think social enterprises will be taking centre-stage this year.

As in, using business in a creative way to tackle social problems, big and small.

The millennial generation is particularly keen on seeing these changes take shape, given how much exposure we all have to the wider world's challenges these days. I think there will be more schemes that foster/encourage this desire among youth to make a social difference (e.g. Google 10 to the 100th, Orange RockCorps to name a few) and there will be an increasing number of people getting involved as the year goes on.

Nice post. :)

Heta

Taylormade said...

This is a great start to the trends for 09. Technology wise I think you are spot on however fashion wise I would have to argue otherwise.

Streetwear is coming to a close. Early adopters have long moved on and streetwear has moved on to discount stores signaling the end of a market. Rowdy, KR3W and Volcom, will be no hotter than they are now (luke warm at best).

Early adopters will still be looking to Japan for fashion forecast, but the classic style of Europe will once again become popular. Knit sweaters, button ups and khakis will come into play. Think Mr. Rodgers with more swagger.

The sneaker game will continue to be strong and definitely look out for Supra this year, but I would add Clae and another strong year for Creative Recreation. Nike will turn it back around after a dead year and regain their strong hold on this market. Luxury brands Louis Vuitton, Common Projects and Lanvin (Gucci most likely as well with their new designer) will have strong showing in the sneaker market as well. I GUARANTEE IT!

Smartphones have always been a status symbol for us. Let's face it, $100 a month for a cell phone is a certain level of status that most can't afford.

Graffiti artists will arise to the main stream as "pop artists." Youth market now has the money to invest in the rebel artists that they grew up loving...

Big Government might be cool, but green energy will be "the shit."

Guess that's all for now... can't wait for 2010.