Sunday, May 01, 2005

I’ll see your 7 trends and raise you 3

The story that consumed my attention in March is now in print (and online). I researched the top 10 trends that will most affect business over the next five years for PROFIT Magazine.

My article came out longer than expected, because I just couldn’t do justice to the new demographics, nanotechnology, or even China, in the space I was assigned. So my 10 Trends turned into 7 for publication. (The remaining three will be doled out over the next few weeks in PROFIT’s online newsletter, PROFIT Xtra.)

For the record, here are my Top 7:
The sensor society (RFIDs are just the beginning)
Telling customers what they want to hear (the new economics of one-to-one marketing)
Aging boomers fight it every step of the way (the graying workforce means big changes in business, and an unexpected succession crisis)
The China syndrome (The Middle Kingdom’s rise into the first rank of industrial nations is creating huge opportunities and risks)
Innovation in process, not product (just think of Dell: with manufacturing now a commodity, how you do business will be more important than what you make)
The end of cheap oil (coming faster than we think)
Treating customers like human beings (in the Age of the Individual)

Alas, my other three trends are:

1. Wireless waves: Canada’s current wireless market is like a supermarket with just two shelves of food
2. Matter on demand: Nanotech is a whole new way of looking at manufacturing, materials and innovation
3. Space Travel: Between the Mars probes, SpaceShip One’s capturing of the X Prize last year, and Virgin Galactic’s upcoming fleet of space ships, space flight is capturing the public imagination again and becoming a growth industry. We will never look at our planet the same way again.

You can check out the 7-point story at
http://www.profitguide.com/growing/article.jsp?content=20050407_011822_5592

I will try to keep you updated on the other three trends as they are published online.

Meanwhile, do check out Virgin Galactic’s website at
http://www.virgingalactic.com

Welcome (finally!) to the 21st Century.

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