Bibendum's Top 10 Market Trends in 2012

William Gibson’s 1993 sentiment still rings true when it comes to most/all retail sectors. The ‘innovation’ we’re all likely to see over the coming years is already known. In the world of technology, this is known by a tiny number of people. In the wide world of customer focussed retailing though, the source of future trends can be much simpler, with it following mainstream media trends (with a typical 9-18mth lag) and borrowing heavily from history. In much the same way as I’m about to “borrow heavily” from Robert Zemeckis, they “go back to the future!”

What was ‘new’ in the high street in 2009, was out-of-fashion [even] in Prestatyn by 1987. The sharp Farhi suits, knitwear and Stepford Wives home baking of 2011 is soaked in 50’s misogyny, and the speakeasy cocktail-in-a-glass-jar experience being enjoyed across London into 2012 has been re-hashed many times since it was first seen 90 years ago on America’s Eastern Seaboard.

Life on Mars, Mad Men & Boardwalk Empire, the trends of the last 5 years across fashion, food and drink have been nothing short of slap in the face obvious. But to get hung up on where the idea has come from, old or new, is to miss the point entirely.

What’s exciting is how the creative geniuses amongst the UK’s restaurant owners, bar tenders and BWS range masters take the trends of yesteryear, the passions of modern foodies, drinkers and party people, and the innovation of an amazing global supply chain to create the genuinely new in the UK food and drinks sector.

There are new twists on old ideas and even some exciting, genuine innovation cropping up from Penzance to Penrith, Canterbury to Cape Wrath and Bibendum’s Trade Marketing, Design and Insights teams are all over them.

Below are 10 top teasers for the year ahead to get your taste buds going – we’d love to give you more; but we save the killer activation ideas for our lovely customers!

1.    The Year of Flavour

2012 is going to be all about customers. Part of that is their growing understanding of their own flavour needs and an aversion to being told what to like – they just want to make right first time choices around products they are going to love! Some commentators are talking about wine cocktails (Bourbon and Rioja/Vodka and Chardonnay) but in a world where too much alcohol is not remotely cool (do you really want your customers forced to go home early?!), the only cocktail I hope we see working in the UK is the Kalimotxo!

2.    Small is beautiful

Don’t like feeling bloated? Don’t like feeling drunk? Very few people do! Sated and ‘a little squiffy’ is fine by me so the trend for lots of small plates (call it English Tapas, Little Lids, Sharing Platters, whatever) and multiple sample sizes of different wines/beers/cocktails is manna from heaven. You get to try more, taste more and enjoy your evening for longer – win, win, win! Many people are prepared to spend more for slightly less of something better – repeat after me – “more for less of better”!  

3.    Never Forget [where you’ve come here from!]

This is old news but it is still so real and relevant and will only get bigger and better. People take pride in where they are from and where they live and want to taste the flavours of their region when they go out – not just some homogenous high street plate of beige. This sense of being a genuine local, offering a service to your community by providing products of provenance & value is the now and the future and should be to all our lasting regret that it hasn’t been the recent past. Whether you be a local restaurant, micro-brewery or wine merchant, it’s about understanding and servicing the needs of your community.

4.    Acting on Impulse

Spontaneity is back; and it’s more organised than ever! New – Exclusive – Immediate, all frightening terms that we don’t know what to do with. Technology is running away with us and new “Point & Know” ‘phone applications will allow more of us to be online whilst being in-store, walking the dog, or even underground. We’ll be able to investigate, analyse and most importantly buy, more product, more swiftly than we’ve ever done it before. When you add in a layer of Cashless Technology (using your phone to pay for items under £10 without even using a pin number!) then the opportunities for product, customer service and impulse purchasing are bigger and better than ever. So if you don’t know what a QR code is, let alone what an Aurasma app could do for you, then you really ought to ‘phone your Bibendum account manager immediately!

5.    People matter!

“Twinsumerism”, or Peer to Peer recommendation is still here, and God willing always will be! It’s an obvious trend – people like talking to people and recommending things to your friends is something the Jewish community even have a word for (It’s “maven” if you’re interested).  What is important is understanding the global nature of P2P and harnessing it to your commercial advantage by refining and aligning your offer to those people your shop/bar/restaurant/dinner table is focussed on providing for.

 6.    Be Real

Another marketing watch word for 2012 is “Flawesome” - great isn’t it! This is being awesome by displaying your flaws (god I love portmanteaus!). Fundamentally this is about integrity. We all make mistakes, we’re human. Companies make mistakes too, despite many being in-human. What’s important both for us and for business is to admit when you were wrong and to try to be better. In the interests of both, here’s a short anecdote: Bibendum were the first to bring Chinese wine to the UK. It was thought to be a great idea, a courageous pioneering masterstroke, aligning one of the world’s largest producing wine countries with burgeoning trade links to the UK, offering a good range of wines at a really good price. Unfortunately, as Blackadder once said, “the plan had one major drawback - it was bollocks.” The product came in with no relevance to the UK consumer, no traction in the market and no commercial point of difference versus plummeting Pinot Grigio and Sauvignon Blanc prices. We failed. Spectacularly. But we tried. And despite that knock back we’ve not lost one ounce of courage and have been first to market with both Indian and Brazilian wine since, so here’s to failing!

7.    Be British

2012 should be a festival of everything that is brilliant about being British. Not just the Olympic Games are coming to town but our wonderful Queen celebrates her Diamond Jubilee. Brit is back! If you can’t muster up any pro-British sentiment you should probably leave.
If ever there was a year for some sporting jingoism, unleashing a well-overdue feelgood factor and being proud of our country, our people and of course our produce then 2012 is it. We have the best cheeses, beer, beef, lamb, sparkling wines and much much more and we also have a phenomenal array of diversity the length and breadth of Britain from Scottish smoked kippers and Welsh Lamb to amazing British Asian cuisine – so celebrate Britain and in doing so – be local!

8.    Treats

Times are tough, they have been for some time and they will continue to be for some time, but when the going gets tough, the tough stop bloody whining and get on with it! Young consumers are looking for inspiration, many people are unemployed and those that aren’t are being worked more hours than ever before for less money – so how do you help them enjoy themselves? Mood Food is one answer – small treats jam-packed with the right vitamins and minerals to be a proper [healthy] pick-me-up, so start rivalling the coffee boys and unlock some serotonin! Small plates are one way, naughty but nice mini-treats are another (fancy a Snog?!) and old fashioned pick-me-ups are another. 2012 is the year of the treat: treat your partner, treat your mum, treat yourself!

9.    Healthy-on-the-go

Life’s still too short – time poverty never left us, it’s just been buried under blind financial panic. Now it’s back on the agenda and being catered for in the form of food on the go’s major re-vamp courtesy of M&S and other High Street favourites – Healthy bites will form a major part of this as the trend/desire/need for fatigue solvers and a solution for failing concentration – so a major fish revival looks set to flourish as Omega 3 and Vitamin D will be the trendy deficiencies of the year as we all seek ‘good cholesterol’ and sunshine!

10.    Dealer Chic

It’s still cool to find a deal – it’s even cooler if the deal feels like a money can’t buy, one-off experience. There are 1000s of shoppers seeking luxury for less through premium one-off deals like  “Catch-a-Choo”. The WIGIG is back, in a big way and should be used in every form from dinner plates to wine parcels, boutique beers and occasion cocktails.

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