Dear psheph1064,
I divided my answer into several groups, as you can see bellow
Trendsetters Research
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The following sites have regular updated on cultural and fashion trends.
Trend Report
http://www.thetrendreport.com/ - probably your best source online
(outside from the L-Report, listed under ?Magazines?). Has a section
on ?Trendsetters? which is regularly updated, as well as a newsletter.
See also Trendsetters in action:
<http://www.thetrendreport.com/fashion/trendsetterceleb.cfm?CFID=1099399&CFTOKEN=39159444>
Trend Central
< http://www.trendcentral.com/trends/default.asp> - news, regularly
updated, on what?s cool (but no special reference to ?who?s cool?).
Trendsetters
< http://www.trendsetters.com/index.html> - Also regularly updated,
but refers more to products than to people.
Trendwatching
< http://www.trendwatching.com/> - ?its 3,000+ trendspotters scan the
US, Canada, European Union, Japan, South Korea, India, South Africa,
Australia, Brazil and 50 other nations & regions for hot, emerging
consumer trends and related new business ideas. We report on our
findings in free, opinionated newsletters, and in exclusive, yet
affordable seminars and corporate trend briefings around the globe,
combining global observations, insights and new business ideas into
trends like 'POP-UP RETAIL', 'GENERATION C', 'ONLINE OXYGEN' and
'MASSCLUSIVITY', all colorfully explained and illustrated.? another
good source, but judging from the current newsletter (on the site),
mostly relating to products, less to people.
Trendzine ? Fashion Information
http://www.fashioninformation.com/index.htm - newsletter with fashion
trends and news.
Most Popular Search Terms and Sites
---------------------------------------------
The following sites rank the information on search-terms, popular
sites, and therefore bring, in my opinion, better (and more updated)
picture for the trend analyst than anything else in other sections of
this answer. I especially recommend the first two: Google?s Zeigeist
and Lycos? 50, though all of these resources are very valuable.
Google Zeitgeist
The most searched queries:
://www.google.com/press/zeitgeist.html
Lycos 50 Daily Report
http://50.lycos.com/ - ?Daily commentary on search trends and pop culture?
Yahoo! Buzz
<Buzz Index - Top Yahoo! Web Searches>
Alexa
http://www.alexa.com/ - includes links for the most popular sites, for
?movers and shakers? (up and down), hot searches, etc.
Google News
< http://news.google.com/nwshp?gl=us&ned=us&topic=e> - The most
spoken-of entertainment news.
Compuserve: Who?s Hot
<http://webcenters.compuserve.com/gatewaynet/celebrity/hottest.jsp?floc=ce-main-1-l3>
- Hottest celebrity of the day.
Magazines
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Magazines and hard copy reports that could assist a trend analyst.
First of all, the L-Style_Report,
< http://www.lstylereport.com/> - which provides quarterly updates on
trends and styles (for a subscription fee). This is the mother of all
style and trend guides, initiated by DeeDee Gordon and by Lambesis
(http://www.lambesis.com/)
LookLook Magazine
< http://www.look-lookmagazine.com/llmag/frames_toc.html> - another
project related to Gordon, this time an arts/style magazine written by
the target groups. Very stylish.
American Demographics
< http://www.adage.com/section.cms?sectionId=195> - provides general
information on population trends, etc.
Futurist
< http://www.futurist.com/> - Provides some predictions as to future
trends (though frankly, I wasn?t much impressed with their website).
General Gossip Information: Who?s Hot
-------------------------------------------------
Knowing who is on the top of the news would help us understand better
who?s a trendsetter. It is, however, not a perfect source: being on
the news, doesn?t mean that you?re not ridiculed (e.g., Michael
Jackson or Paris Hilton).
National Enquirer
< http://www.nationalenquirer.com/>
Hollywood.com
< http://www.hollywood.com/celebs/>
Teen Hollywood
< http://www.teenhollywood.com/> - since teens are the main audience
influenced by trendsetters, this is a good place to find information
about who?s considered interesting and cool.
The Movie Insider
< http://www.themovieinsider.com/celebrities/news/index.php>
E! Online
< http://www.eonline.com/>
Other tools
-------------
Various sites that provide perspective on trends, from their own niche:
What?s Hot on eBay
< http://pages.ebay.com/sellercentral/whatshot.html> - what are the
most selling items on the popular auction site.
CelebDAQ
< http://www.bbc.co.uk/celebdaq/> - A BBC game, based on celebrity
stock exchange (viewing the data requires registration). This could
tell you, who is considered ?cool? and could prove an excellent tool.
Cultural briefings
< http://www.culturebriefings.com/articles/artindex.html>
Box Office Mojo
< http://www.boxofficemojo.com/> - most popular films, includes also forecast.
IMDB Pro
< https://secure.imdb.com/signup/v4/signup?b=th> - a database (for a
fee), prioviding ranking of celebrities (movie and television
industry) and their popularity on a daily basis.
Trend-Akademie
< http://www.trend-akademie.de/promi-vip-list.htm> - the list is
unfortunately updated yearly,
42 (Australia)
http://www.42.com.au/ - trend analysis firm
Iconoculture
<http://www.iconoculture.com/index.aspx> - trend analysis firm
SheFinds
http://shefinds.com/ - trend analysis firm
Youth Intelligence
http://www.youthintelligence.com/company/default.asp - trend analysis firm
I hope this answered your question. Please contact me if you need any
clarifications on this answer before you rate it. My search strategy
has been to search for terms such as ?trendsetter(s)? , ?trends?
(+culture, +style, etc.), or related terms; I also have some previous
knowledge on the subject, which was of course used here. |
