MarketingProfs

The foundation of managing an innovative (company, brand, product, service, or individual) involves constantly monitoring and maintaining awareness of your broader environment – the big picture. On a regular basis, look away from the minutia found in the microscope of your day-to-day operations and use a telescope to see the horizons of what’s taking place around you. Here is an incomplete* list of (mostly free) companies, articles, books and websites that provide trend-related resources from consumer spending reports to reviews of prototype gadgets…

Trendspotting Tips

• The Trend Spotting Trend – Article from Fast Company Magazine with an outline of key strategies for spotting trends.

• Marketing Innovation Link – reported by Technorati.
  How to Spot Trends – Great article with key strategies for trend spotting from the Creativity at Work newsletter.

Trend Reporting Sites

• Google News Alerts – Have Google Alerts sent to your inbox searching news and web content. Use keywords like “retail industry” or the name of your competitor… Updates will be sent right to your inbox. Clever!

• AdRants – while it has become a bit ad heavy itself as a site. The folks at AdRants always have interesting information to share.
• PSFK – specializes in “Ideas, Trends & Inspiration”
• Springwise – Sign-up for their weekly e-newsletter. Springwise is a “Global network of 8,000 spotters scan the globe for smart new business ideas, delivering instant inspiration to entrepreneurial minds from San Francisco to Singapore.” One of my favorite resources. They are a sister site to…
• Trend Watching – does an excellent job report on consumer trends from around the world.
• Trend Hunter Magazine – a new discovery for me, looks like an interesting read. This link is a list of sites they recommend for trend spotting and “cool hunting.”

Demographics

• Advertising Age – American Demographics – Excellent source of consumer trend information (Subscription Required).

• Agenda Inc. – San Francisco based trend company. Click LIVEFEED to see their trend/blog/updates.
• American FactFinder – provided by the US Census Bureau has population, housing, economic, and geographic data!
• US Consumer Expenditure Survey – Provided by the U.S. Department of Labor offers surveys on American consumer buying habits.
• UK National Statistics Online – Excellent resource for UK consumer trends.

Research Your Competition

• Public Company Research – EDGAR Database – Search and read the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings of public companies.
• Public Company Research – courtesy of the US Library of Congress
• Private Company Research – the US Library of Congress also offers this excellent resource to research private companies.

International Resources

• CIFS – Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies. An excellent resource. Access to key articles requires membership. (It’s a hefty membership fee – something your company would subscribe to as a corporation).

• Foreign Company Research Tips – provided by the US Library of Congress.
• Innovation Lab – a future-thinking company in Copenhagen where “Lab Agents work to translate the latest technological developments into hands-on experiences and meaningful scenarios. Innovation Lab interprets the meaning of technology–and makes technology meaningful for all of us.”
• Instant Grass – cultural observers who focus on the youth market.
• Isis Centre – International Centre for Creativity Innovation and Sustainability. While not currently updated their Short News articles provide interesting information.
• SFI – The Danish National Institute of Social Research. Offers interesting/relevant articles with focus on Europe.

Magazines

• YOUR Industry Magazine – every industry and trade has it’s own publications. See this list of trade magazines from the Yahoo! Directory.
• Key Business Magazines – check out this list of business magazines from the Yahoo! Directory.

*There are certainly more resources out there… What are your favorites? Please add them to the comments.