As our world becomes increasingly artificial, people have begun to feel less “real.” Nearly six in ten respondents to Euro RSCG’s New Consumer study worry that we have become too disconnected from the natural world. Nature is seen as an embodiment of our ties to a more “authentic” past–and it has become a place of escape, somewhere to rejuvenate and relax. This longing for the real is one reason we’ve seen a surge in home vegetable and fruit gardens, in home cheesemaking and the revival of other hands-on crafts. It’s about eco-consciousness, but also a desire for self-sufficiency and connectedness to something inherently real.
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Posts Tagged ‘culture’
New Consumer Sighting: Rockaway Taco
Yes, We Can…Reinvent Ourselves
This is the fifth in a series of 12 posts expounding on the 2011 forecasts in the annual trends report from Marian Salzman, president of Euro RSCG Worldwide PR and an internationally respected trendspotter.
We hear the word “reinventing” applied to systems all the time: reinventing capitalism, reinventing credit options. Reinventing health care, politics, journalism, food, the factory town, the airport security line. And now it applies to many Americans, who are reinventing their lives, changing “Yes, we can” from a political mantra to their own as they launch their third (or 15th) act. People will be refocusing and committing to life changes with gusto in 2011.
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| Tags: Abraham Maslow, Barack Obama, biology, change, Cindy Sherman, communalism, culture, Daily Beast, economics, Euro RSCG, excess, globalization, innovation, lifestyles, Madonna, Marc Andreessen, Marian Salzman, Match.com, midlife, New Consumer, online dating, Oprah, PicPlz, Recession, reinvention, retirement, Roger Ebert, TED, values, volunteerism, waste, wealth 
Post a Comment | 1 Comment | in Community, Growing Up, New Consumer, Purposeful Pleasure, Recession, Responsibility, Rightsizing, Social Media, Uncategorized, Values
Food for Thought: The Commons
What are commons? And why do we need them? A thoughtful explanation from On the Commons.
| Tags: collectivism, conscious consumption, Creative Commons, culture, David Bollier, economics, Gar Alperovitz, Lew Daly, Maude Barlow, mindful consumption, natural resources, Peter Linebaugh, public spaces, Sustainability, values, water crisis, wealth Post a Comment | 1 Comment | in Collaboration, Community, Eco-Consciousness, Growing Up, New Consumer, Purposeful Pleasure, Responsibility, Rightsizing, Sustainability, Uncategorized, Values, Youth
Net Gain
This is the third in a series of 12 posts expounding on the 2011 forecasts in the annual trends report from Marian Salzman, president of Euro RSCG Worldwide PR and an internationally respected trendspotter.
There’s a loss-of-faith crisis, and it’s as movement-ready as the one that led Jerry Rubin to pen the Yippie manifesto in 1968. That was the genesis of the famous “Don’t trust anyone over 30″ message that went viral in the election that ushered in President Richard Nixon (aka Tricky Dick). Today, our trust deficit feels just as hairy. In the United States, people say they don’t trust politicians, institutions, the media, the schools or, the direction of the country. In ceremonial Japan, which has one of the world’s fastest-growing divorce rates, divorcing couples gather for a ritual smash (with a hammer) of their wedding rings, while toasting to never seeing each other again.
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Talk to the Hands
People are seriously re-evaluating their lives, their work, their play. The question isn’t only “What are you going to do with your time in today’s virtual world?” but also “What are your jobs and activities really worth?”
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| Tags: craftsmanship, culture, DIY, Dumpster diving, elite, Euro RSCG, financial crisis, food, Marian Salzman, Matthew B. Crawford, meaning, New Consumer, Recession, Shop Class As Soul Craft, simplicity movement, simplification, skills, Studs Terkel, Sustainability, Tea Party, The Huffington Post, thrift, time banking, traditional values, trends, urban farming, values, volunteerism, Working Post a Comment | 2 Comments | in Community, Growing Up, New Consumer, Prosumers, Purposeful Pleasure, Recession, Rightsizing, Sustainability, Uncategorized, Values
Here’s to You, Bud and Johnnie B.
Fifty-five percent of Prosumer respondents to Euro RSCG’s Future of the Corporate Brand study said they prefer to do business with companies and brands that have a distinct personality. More than nine in ten agreed that, to be successful, corporations of the future will need to show a more “human” face (meaning they must care about people and take a more active role in community and social causes).
Count me among them.
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| Tags: accountability, Andrew Benett, Ann O'Reilly, Arnold, Bob The Fish, brand engagement, brand pesonality, Bud Groover, Cavas Gobhai, consumption, CSR, culture, customer service, discounts, Euro RSCG, freebies, Future of the Corporate Brand, Greg Welch, holiday shopping, humanized brand, Johnnie Boden, Mark Twain, Mini Boden, New Consumer, Recession, reputation, Retail, values Post a Comment | 3 Comments | in Branding, Corporate/Brand Leadership, Marketing, New Consumer, Prosumers, Purposeful Pleasure, Recession, Shopping, Uncategorized, Value, Values
Purposeful Pleasure: Brooklyn’s Habana Outpost
This post is taken from GOOD. Click here for the original.
In the Fort Greene section of Brooklyn, New York, a space that was once a parking lot has been transformed into one of the borough’s best scenes. Habana Outpost, a restaurant-cum-cultural center, features an open-air market, outdoor movies, great food and drink, and a social hub for the creative and diverse local community. Underlying it all is an ethic of sustainability: The eatery, powered by renewable energy, boasts dozens of green building features—none of which takes away from the enjoyable experience. We took a look at some of the Outpost’s most inventive innovations.
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| Tags: art, Brooklyn, community, conscious consumption, culture, eco-eatery, excess, food, GOOD, green, Habana Outpost, mindful consumption, New Consumer, organic, recycling, Retail, Sean Meenan, solar power, Sustainability, University of British Columbia, values, Vibe Mountain, waste, water conservation Post a Comment | 2 Comments | in Community, Corporate/Brand Leadership, Eco-Consciousness, Growing Up, New Consumer, Purposeful Pleasure, Responsibility, Rightsizing, Sustainability, Uncategorized, Values
Can the Evolution of Empathy Save Us?
Increased concern over the environment and climate change is apparent around the globe. And people and communities are beginning to make real changes, whether it be a parent sending the kids to school with reusable water bottles or a city banning plastic bags at retail. Looking at the findings from Euro RSCG’s New Consumer study, we see that more than six in ten respondents in the seven markets surveyed feel good about making environmentally friendly choices. More than half are making an effort to buy fewer disposable goods, and 72 percent are feeling good about reducing the amount of waste they create. All hopeful changes, but can centuries of eco-mindlessness be undone?
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| Tags: biosphere, consumer consciousness, culture, empathy, Euro RSCG, future, green, Jeremy Rifkin, plastic, recycling, RSA, Sustainability, values, waste Post a Comment | 1 Comment | in Community, Eco-Consciousness, Growing Up, New Consumer, Responsibility, Rightsizing, Sustainability, Uncategorized, Values
5 Ways You’re Changing the World with Your Money
Have you felt the end of the recession yet?
It’s officially been over for quite a bit but, you and I both know, the global economic crisis is far from over.
The economy is in a period of great reset. The old ways will fall away and new ways of commerce will prevail. This isn’t a far-flung prophecy; it’s an observation of changes taking place already.
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| Tags: cause marketing, conscious consumption, consumption, CSR, culture, DIY, excess, financial crisis, freelancing, frugality, green, John Gerzema, mindful consumption, mindful spending, New Consumer, provenance, Recession, Retail, Scoutie Girl, self-employment, service economy, simplicity movement, sourcing, Sustainability, Tara Gentile, thrift, transparency, values Post a Comment | 1 Comment | in Community, Consumerism, Corporate Social Responsibility, Corporate/Brand Leadership, Design, Eco-Consciousness, Growing Up, New Consumer, Prosumers, Purposeful Pleasure, Recession, Responsibility, Rightsizing, Shopping, Social Media, Sustainability, Uncategorized, Value, Values
Eco-Geo-Sustaino-Tourism
Adapted from KNOW: The Future of Travel, available to employees and clients across the Euro RSCG Worldwide network.
Bundled within the sustainable-tourism rubrics that have grown so common of late are a variety of philosophies and practices related to greener and generally more mindful travel. The term ecotourism has been around for at least two decades, generally referring to travel that combines nature-focused sightseeing with sustainably managed accommodations. More recently, the term has been expanded to incorporate a focus on indigenous populations and the needs of local communities.
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| Tags: accountability, certification, conscious consumption, consumer consciousness, culture, customer engagment, ecotourism, Euro RSCG, geo-tourism, green, Green Building Council, Green Globe, GreenMoney Journal, GSTC, hospitality, hotels, International Ecotourism Society, LEED, LOHAS, luxury, Mikhail Gorbachev, mindful consumption, New Consumer, organic, Partnership for Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria, public relations, social responsibility, STEP, STI, Sustainability, Sustainable Travel International, tourism, transparency, Travel, United Nations, values Post a Comment | in Branding, Corporate Social Responsibility, Corporate/Brand Leadership, Eco-Consciousness, Marketing, New Consumer, Purposeful Pleasure, Responsibility, Rightsizing, Sustainability, Travel, Uncategorized, Value, Values
