FORWARD MARCH

	POPULIST MARKETING

The trade deficit, immigration, a potential shakeup of the housing market, and the war in Iraq will be cause for a resurgence of populist sentiment throughout the country. More American advertisers will jump on this bandwagon and try to differentiate their products with a “made in the USA” theme.

	RFID ME

Consumers will see more applications of RFID technology in everyday products. We've already been using RFID to pay highway tolls for years; this sort of application will become much more common as banks and credit-card companies push “contactless” payment cards for everyday purchases.

	THE NEW GLOBAL CONSUMER

The continuing globalization of the world economy and the expansion of economies in China and India are creating a new global middle class, which will provide a fertile new market for media, technology, electronics, healthcare, and automotive products.

	THE DEATH OF SPAM

Spam will begin a sharp decline. With the on-going improvement of filtering software coupled with the ever-increasing sophistication of the average Internet user, spam has hit its tipping point.

	ORGANIC BACKLASH

The obsession with organic foods will ebb as people question the environmental costs. Take Whole Foods' New Zealand organic apples: Is it really environmentally responsible to fly an apple halfway around the world? Many will begin to question the supremacy of organic and will instead focus on “local” foods.

	IT'S TOO EASY BEING GREEN

With companies touting hybrid cars (Toyota Prius, et. al.), ecologically friendly packaging (Procter & Gamble), and free disposal of old computers (Apple), to name just a few, “green” will get old fast in 2007. Companies will need to look for ways to differentiate their greenness by basing it in some unique truth that competitors cannot match. We'll see more marketing tied to community — the place from which products and services come or in which they will be used. With Google Earth already reemphasizing the link of a business to its location, we'll see companies do more to ground themselves in green.

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Thomas Ordahl, Michael Megalli, Michael Cucka, and Todd Merriman are the leading forces at Group 1066, a New York-based strategic marketing firm.

	DIY spas, Asian chic, and precautionists

	BY PATRICIA PAO

As consumers move to take more control over all aspects of their harried lives, we're seeing dramatic changes in media, marketing, and retailing — the rise of multichannel commerce is an obvious case in point.

Other changes, though, are more subtle. Merchants that can capitalize on the emerging trends can expect the most growth, with much of it from nontraditional sources.

Exactly what trends are we talking about? Here's a list:

	SPAS COME HOME

More and more people want to “spa” on their own. The desire for privacy and their own space encourages them to learn how to incorporate the spa experience into their everyday lives. That's why we're seeing more entrants into the home spa-products market, such as the recently launched Akhassa, which is dedicated to bringing the Asian spa experience to the American home.

	SPEED IS IN FASHION

It no longer takes months for runway trends to trickle down to the masses. H&M, Zara, and Topshop are three European retail chains that boast of being able to translate and merchandise runway trends for a mass audience with production times of less than 30 days. And home-grown retailer Wal-Mart hosted “Rock the Runway” in September as part of New York Fashion Week, showing clothing that was highly reminiscent of lines shown by Proenza Schouler and Roland Mouret. This trend may be a challenge for catalogers, with their more-advanced lead times.

	GREEN IS GOOD

Eco-awareness is only going to become more widespread. In the apparel and footwear sector, for instance, Nike recently announced that it figured out how to remove the greenhouse gas from its sneakers, and Levi Strauss is introducing Eco jeans, its first organic-cotton line. According to Organic Exchange, a nonprofit advocacy group, demand for organic cotton by clothing makers is increasing at an annual rate of 93%; it projects that sales from organic cotton will be $2.6 billion by the end of 2007. Vendors ranging from American Apparel to Wal-Mart now offer clothing under the organic-cotton banner. What's more, fibers made from wood pulp, bamboo, seaweed, soy, and corn blended with luscious organic silks and cashmeres are becoming a fashion staple.