On Trend

trendwatching.com scans the globe for the latest emerging consumer trends. Henry Mason, its head of research and analysis, tells us what to watch this month.

RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS

Faced with the doom and gloom of economic hardship, a growing number of brands are adding a feel-good factor to their marketing, attempting to befriend us through "random acts of kindness".

Parisian commuters, for instance, were delighted to find a number of bus stops spruced up with comfy sofas, shelves and intimate lighting - part of a campaign to promote IKEA's winter range (ikea.com).

Social networks can play an important role in this too. In the UK, for example, skincare brand Biotherm scanned Twitter for users who had Tweeted that they were tired and offered them free product samples of their new anti-fatigue Skin Ergetic range (biotherm.co.uk).

Meanwhile, Apple fans were heartened to hear that, after a customer returned an iPad 2 to the store stating, "Wife said no," as his reason, a store employee sent the man a new one for free, with a note saying, "Apple said yes" (apple.com).

In many cases, these are, of course, savvy ways to encourage people to part with their cash - especially at Christmas time - but, with brands giving out free stuff, this is marketing that people are happy to see more of. To subscribe to the free monthly Trend Briefing, available in English, Spanish, Dutch, German, French, Turkish and Portuguese, go to trendwatching.com

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