Guest Thinkers — February 22, 2011

How to spot a trend (before it’s too late)

For anyone trying to stay one step ahead of the innovation curve, Trendwatching.com has published a must-read report on Five Trendwatching Tips. In the process of explaining how to spot and analyze trends, the report does a great job of explaining what exactly a trend is and what misconceptions people have when it comes to trend hunting. Here are the five trendwatching tips:

(1) Know why you’re tracking trends

(2) Have a point of view

(3) Weave your Web of resources

(4) Fine-tune your trend network

(5) Embed and apply

As an added bonus, there’s even advice on how to name a trend (i.e. arouse curiosity while speaking a common language that will be recognizable to your core audience). Mad props to the team at Trendwatching for putting this together — it’s a tremendous help for anyone trying to understand more about the future of innovation!

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