As an aspiring brand manager, I’m constantly striving to keep my finger on the pulse of the hottest new trends. Occasionally, I’ll even write about them on this blog.
In this break-neck paced mobile world, it’s hard for a retired opera singer like me to keep up with all the trends. Often by the time I discover a funny meme or slang phrase, it has already gone out of style.
How does one manage to keep up? Endlessly surfing the net and rummaging through social media feeds is one way–one very inefficient way. Even looking at what’s “trending” on Twitter and Facebook will only yield limited results with the top stories of the hour, not what information is necessarily relevant to your business. Thankfully, there are many tools to help trend hunters like me stay on top of the latest.
* * * Trend Hunter to the Rescue! * * *
Fittingly, one of these tools is a company called Trend Hunter. I just discovered this company and I’m ecstatic. Their website gives marketers, entrepreneurs and other visitors to click around and discover all kinds of trends in pop culture.
Many large companies use Trend Hunter, including the consumer packaged goods corporations I admire like Kellog’s, Crayola, and Nestle.
The casual observer will quickly realize how overwhelming the Trend Hunter website is. The home page has a Pinterest-like display of seemingly unrelated trends. The navigation ribbons at the top are slightly less overwhelming as one can browse by category.
A good place to start is exploring what interests you and a business innovator. I selected eco-friendly office spaces as my first point of exploration.
In accordance with the proclaimed #14 trend of 2014, Trend Hunter takes advantage of Sampletizing to entice customers to work with them. Trend Hunter lets you click around and see what the company has to offer without having to pay anything for the information. What do you get? Mostly pictures, videos, and a few interesting bits of commentary. To get the hardcore data you have to pay.
* * * And now for my brief analysis of the Trend Hunter brand itself. * * *
When I first heard the Trent Hunter brand name (while watching the video above), I thought it was very appropriate, descriptive and dynamic. Upon watching the video that contains their official sales pitch, I realized that the “Hunter” portion is an intentional call to action that is consistent with their entire brand message. The company’s core philosophy is to help the customers overcome their farmer-like tendencies and embrace more hunter-like qualities under the assumption that this gets better results in business.
Their sales video is very well-done. It is all at once informative, engaging, and persuasive.
In a conversational manner, the presentation includes a high-level summary of what Trend Hunter is all about. It employs a sprinkling of data, case studies, and appealing visuals to illustrate key points and make their offer sound irresistible. I will refer to this presentation time and again as I prepare my own propositions in business school and beyond.
Whenever a company has two major entities, it’s hard to link them while keeping them appropriately separate from one another. I know this because I managed My Dream Teacher, the informative side of my online business, and Music Master Plan, the software program for serious music students. Trend Hunter does a good job at distinguishing its two main offerings–Trend Hunter and Trend Reports–while making it clear that they are part of the same whole. Trend Hunter is the ad-funded web-based side of the business, while Trend Reports is the arm of Trend Hunter that generates customized reports for its clients for $500 each report.
Actually, it’s remarkable for me to consider the similarity of structure between my online business and that of Trend Hunter. I wish I had discovered this company long ago so I could have had a better model of how to distinguish and link my separate entities in my business.
As I click around, I realize there is actually a third entity under the Trend Hunter umbrella: Jeremy Gutsche himself. You can hire him to give keynote speeches through the website. The navigation ribbons link together the three websites seamlessly. Seeing as I also have MimiWest.com, could our online businesses be any more similar in structure?
Mr. Gutsche makes a big effort to distinguish himself from all the other trend “gurus” on the internet who present generic information to all their clients. He does well to set himself apart from those other types by offering a highly customized product to many different types of business owners. I also respect the Trend Hunter brand more than the products of the “coaches” and “gurus” because it’s a product that speaks for itself. While Mr. Gutsche is the major spokesperson for the company, he doesn’t brand the entire company around his name. The only service he uses his own name for is the keynote speeches. I dig that.
Another thing I appreciate about Jeremy Gutsche and the Trend Hunter brand is the focus on real, hardcore information. Gutsche doesn’t make pie-in-the-sky promises about how you can “be your own boss” or “set your own hours”, as the guru coaching hacks do. His sales pitch is focused entirely on the product and what it can do for your business.
* * * Conclusion: Big Data Is Hot * * *
Trend Hunter’s use of big data leaves other hack businesses in the dust. I’m happy to have found out about Trend Hunter, and I will use its valuable marketing resources often in the future.