We keep a watchful eye on what's going on in the world, and we can also draw on our past experience of how people respond to different, and often difficult situations.
2012 is the Year of the Dragon, the strongest and positive of all the twelve star signs, characterised by happiness and good fortune; the year to start a new venture or to get married. At Twelve we’re not put off by Doomsday predictions, but nonetheless 2012 is a significant year as the last one in the Ancient Mayan Calendar. Here are our twelve trend predictions for 2012:
Young people will become increasingly attracted to apprenticeships and away from universities. A degree in Quantum Physics is great, but £25,000 of debt most certainly isn’t.
Journalism will come under much more scrutiny. Hackers à la News of the World will not be able to get away with it so easily this year.
In 2012, not only will consumers continue to hunt for deals and discounts, but they will do so with relish if not pride. Deals are now about more than just saving money: it’s the thrill, the pursuit, the control, and the perceived smartness, and thus a source of status too.
2012 will see a surge in hydrogen fuel; a hydrogen fuelling network has already been established in London. From there it’s a short step towards hydrogen cars, scooters, taxis, buses, why not even trains and the tube?
Travel trend – with everyone looking for cheaper alternatives, or ‘stay-cations’, schemes such as campinmygarden.com, or ‘rent a garden’ are set to become very popular with ‘gnomadic’ campers.
The decline of the e-mail – many young people are rejecting e-mail accounts for cloud-based sharing apps that work well with the hugely popular range of tablets and smartphones.
Anything that makes it easier - if not completely effortless - for people to contribute to things they care about will be more popular than ever in 2012. Unlocked by the spread of ever smarter sensors in mobile phones, people will not only be able but increasingly willing, to broadcast information about where and what they are doing, to help improve products and services.
Advertising will take on a new dimension with companies using Facebook and other social networking sites to ‘target’ products at likely consumers.
Just do it – work experience with school students will become ever increasingly popular as the drive to make oneself ‘employable’ continues.
Fenton! – as more and more viral videos hit the web, companies will learn the secret and use them to their advantage, we’ve already seen it this year with the John Lewis Christmas ad…
Less is more – with an ever-increasing speed of lifestyle, we value more and more concise and easy to understand information.
Bright and bold – 60’s fashion is back baby! Knee-high boots, graphic print dresses and striking shifts will be the crowd-stoppers in 2012.