As we noted before, TrendWatching provides very useful insights about coming trends. For example, see Useful Free TrendWatching Resources. Today, we focus on the state of play. Is there anywhere that we don’t want to play? 🙂
TrendWatching’s State of Play
TrendWatching created an animated slide show on “THE STATE OF PLAY — 25 reasons engaging your customers will never be the same”:
“Play is a serious matter. We play in public. And we play in private. We play online, offline, and waiting in line. And we play in stadiums. We play at home. And we play on alien worlds. We work to play. You play at work; and that’s OK. We play to win. And we pay for skins. We play to learn. And we pay to watch. We play with your competition. And we play on dates. We date to find playmates. And we play on good teams. We play with bad sports. And we play to keep fit. We play new games and ancient sports. Usually, we play till the end. And maybe after!”
“Play is a deeply held human desire. Changing behaviors, new tools, and emerging expectations related to having a good time impact all of you. Whether you work for Asia’s busiest airport, design apparel for Adidas, or run your own small business: play should be on your radar.”
“Here we will look at 25 global innovations that are delighting consumers today. Your mission: use them to inspire your own efforts to delight the customer of tomorrow!”
To view the slide show presentation, click the image. Then, press Ctrl+F5 at the same time for a full-screen slideshow.
Humans rely heavily on desire. Consumers tend to buy items we desire to have more than we need to have. More and more adults have begun to purchase items based on play. The whole reason we do things we do not want to do is so that we can play. There is lots of money to be made through play. People are constantly searching for new ways to be entertained. Businesses need to begin taking more of an advantage on the human’s natural need to play.
Theses days, people feel the need to be entertained at all times. Give people five minutes to kill and they will all naturally pull out their phones, or maybe a pocket-sized fidget toy or, perhaps, for the old fashioned…a book! For this reason, I can safely say that companies who produce items for entertainment can get ready to thrive. I predict many more firms will arise out of the human’s growing desire to play.
People love being entertained. If you can keep an audience entertained, they will be more likely to ask questions and even buy your product. If businesses focus on desire and entertainment, then they are more likely to succeed.
The idea of interaction involved with products can be a huge advantage to a company. People can be easily distracted or have a short attention span, so keeping them entertained makes them interested in the product. This ability can get people to realize global issues while enjoying themselves. It creates a positive takeaway while the consumer might not notice. This play tactic has impacted marketing in a huge way; it can persuade people in so many ways.
Being entertained and having fun is a huge part in most of people’s lives. I feel the saying “if you do what you love, then you’ll never work a day in your life” can be used to support that people need some form of enjoyment or positive incentive to do their jobs. I also feel that if you enjoy doing your job, you’re most likely going to perform better.
Consumers need to be engaged to notice a company and its product or service. Creativity should be utilized to produce the most eye-catching display for consumers to make them stop and look. I believe that the more creative a company is, the more consumers will remember them, which may increase the chances of the consumer purchasing that company’s products.