NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Coolhunting

Coolhunting is a term coined in the early 1990s referring to a new breed of marketing professionals, called coolhunters. It is their job to make observations and predictions in changes of new or existing cultural trends. Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ... Marketing is a social and managerial function that attempts to create, expand and maintain a collection of customers. ... Observation basically means watching something and taking note of anything it does. ... Prediction of future events is an ancient human wish. ... Look up trend, trendy in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

In this they resemble the intuitive fashion magazine editors of the 1960s such as Nancy White (Harper's Bazaar 1958-1971). Coolhunters operate most notably in the world of street fashion and design, but their work also blurs into that of futurists such as Faith Popcorn. Many webloggers now serve as online coolhunters, in a variety of cultural and technological areas. Intuition is an unconscious form of knowledge. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Harpers & Queen. ... It has been suggested that Japanese fashion be merged into this article or section. ... Futurology or futures studies (called futurism in the United States) is the study of the medium to long-term future, by extrapolating present technological, economic or social trends, or by attempting to predict future trends. ... Faith Popcorn (born February 11, 1947) is a futurist and founder of the boutique consultancy, BrainReserve. ... The first use of the term weblog. ...

Pattern Recognition, a 2003 novel by William Gibson, features a coolhunter as its main character. Book cover Pattern Recognition (G. P. Putnams Sons 2003, ISBN 0-425-19293-8) is William Gibsons eighth novel, the first to be set in the contemporary world. ... William Ford Gibson (born March 17, 1948, Conway, South Carolina) is an American-born science fiction author resident in Canada since 1968. ...

1 Areas of Research
2 Coolhunting as a Business
3 Coolhunting Methods and Practices
4 Further Reading & Viewing

Areas of Research

For coolhunters, there are numerous interest areas but they focus on trends predominently geared towards the young consumer demographic of 12 to 24-year-olds, also called the preteen and teen demographics. Look up Trend in Wiktionary, the free dictionary Wikiquote quotations related to: Trend The word trend has a number of possible meanings: In statistics, a trend is a long-term movement in time series data after other components have been accounted for. ... Consumers are individuals or households that consume goods and services generated within the economy. ... A demographic or demographic profile is a term used in marketing and broadcasting, to describe a demographic grouping or a market segment. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Tween (demographics). ... A separate article is about the punk band called The Adolescents. ...

The most common areas of research for coolhunters are: Research is often described as an active, diligent, and systematic process of inquiry aimed at discovering, interpreting and revising facts. ...

Fashion, most importantly street fashion
Music, especially youth-oriented genres like pop and hip-hop
Movies, especially youth-oriented franchises like Scary Movie or Scream
Television
Youth culture and lifestyle
Computer gaming
Mobile technology such as cellphones and MP3 players
Virtually anything relating to pop culture

The term fashion usually applies to a prevailing mode of expression, but quite often applies to a personal mode of expression that may or may not adhere to prevailing ideals. ... It has been suggested that Japanese fashion be merged into this article or section. ... Music is a form of art and entertainment or other human activity that involves organized and audible sounds and silence. ... Popular use of the word youth refers to a person who is neither an adult nor a child, but somewhere in between, scientifically referred to as an adolescent and, in most English speaking countries, commonly referred to as a teen or teenager. ... A genre is any of the traditional divisions of art forms from a single field of activity into various kinds according to criteria particular to that form. ... Depending on context, pop music is either an abbreviation of popular music or, more recently, a term for a sub-genre of it. ... For other uses, see Hip hop (disambiguation). ... For other uses see film (disambiguation) Film refers to the celluliod media on which movies are printed Film — also called movies, the cinema, the silver screen, moving pictures, photoplays, picture shows, flicks, or motion pictures, — is a field that encompasses motion pictures as an art form or as... Meanings of franchise: Full rights of citizenship given by a country or a town, especially suffrage (political franchise) In a wider sense: any right or privilege granted by constitution or statute. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Scream can refer to several topics: Look up scream in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The introduction to this article provides insufficient context for those unfamiliar with the subject matter. ... ... Mobile has several different meanings. ... Cellular redirects here. ... A digital audio player (DAP) is a device that stores, organizes and plays digital music files. ... Popular culture, or pop culture, is the vernacular (peoples) culture that prevails in a modern society. ...

Coolhunting as a Business

Coolhunters are found in many different places. The most popular are:

Coolhunting Firms

A coolhunting firm is a marketing agency whose exclusive purpose is to conduct research of the youth demographic in the areas listed above. They then compile their data and produce reports detailing emerging and declining trends in youth culture as well as predictions for future trends. These reports are then sold to various companies who's products target the youth demographic. They also offer consulting services. Coolhunting firms often provide services for some of the largest corporations in the world. An example of a leading coolhunting firm is Look-Look. Marketing is a social and managerial function that attempts to create, expand and maintain a collection of customers. ... Research is often described as an active, diligent, and systematic process of inquiry aimed at discovering, interpreting and revising facts. ... The introduction to this article provides insufficient context for those unfamiliar with the subject matter. ... Prediction of future events is an ancient human wish. ... Management consulting (sometimes also called strategy consulting) refers to both the practice of helping companies to improve performance through analysis of existing business problems and development of future plans, as well as to the firms that specialize in this sort of consulting. ... A corporation (usually known in the United Kingdom and Ireland as a company) is a legal entity (distinct from a natural person) that often has similar rights in law to those of a Civil law systems may refer to corporations as moral persons; they may also go by the name...

In-House Coolhunting

Rather than outsourcing their market research, some companies opt for in-house youth culture marketing divisions. These divisions act in much the same way as a coolhunting firm but the reports and data collected remain within the company and are used solely to promote its products. A company will often prefer this form of coolhunting as a way to gain an advantage in the valuable youth market since the research conducted by coolhunting firms is available to anyone willing to pay for it. A prime example of a company that employs in-house coolhunting is Viacom's MTV television network. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article may require cleanup. ... Market research is the process of systematic gathering, recording and analyzing of data about customers, competitors and the market. ... The introduction to this article provides insufficient context for those unfamiliar with the subject matter. ... Marketing is a social and managerial function that attempts to create, expand and maintain a collection of customers. ... Viacom (NYSE: VIA) (NYSE: VIAb) is an American media conglomerate with various worldwide interests in cable and satellite television networks (MTV Networks and BET), and movie production and distribution (the Paramount Pictures movie studio and DreamWorks). ... MTV (Music Television) is an American cable television network headquartered in New York City. ...

Open-Source Coolhunting

Coolhunting turned into a global online project when trendguide.com was launched in December 1998 to be the first open-source lifestyle trend database with rankings based on users' votes, uploads and comments. The global project was started by a Swiss research team led by Michael Hänni, creating a global virtual network of coolhunters. The concept of trendguide.com (democratization of trends: give free access to trends reports and base trend reports on inputs from all around the world) changed the former trend business field where reports, which are created by few individuals, are sold at high prices. Online means being connected to the Internet or another similar electronic network, like a bulletin board system. ... It has been suggested that Open source culture be merged into this article or section. ... Look up trend, trendy in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The term database originated within the computer industry. ... This article is about the computer terms. ... A social network is a social structure made of nodes which are generally individuals or organizations. ... Look up Trend in Wiktionary, the free dictionary Wikiquote quotations related to: Trend The word trend has a number of possible meanings: In statistics, a trend is a long-term movement in time series data after other components have been accounted for. ... Look up Trend in Wiktionary, the free dictionary Wikiquote quotations related to: Trend The word trend has a number of possible meanings: In statistics, a trend is a long-term movement in time series data after other components have been accounted for. ...

Coolhunting Methods and Practices

Coolhunting is much more than simple market research because of the nature of the subjects. The teen and preteen market is often referred to as a "stubborn" demographic in that they do not respond well to blatant advertising and marketing campaigns targeted at them. Coolhunters therefore must be more stealthy in their methods of gathering information and data. Billboards and street advertising in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan, (2005) Advertising is drawing public attention to goods and services by promois performed through a variety of media. ...

Focus Groups

Focus groups, though quite obvious in their attempts at gathering information, are very popular among coolhunters as they provide direct insight into the thoughts and feelings of their target demographic. Think of focus groups much in the same way as lab rats being observed by scientists. Coolhunters will typically gather a group of randomly selected individuals from their target demographic and sit them down in a boardroom or hotel room. While one or more market researchers interacts with the group, they are often being monitored and recorded by a non-visible group, because not only do coolhunters want to hear what their subjects have to say, they also want to observe their simple manerisms. A focus group is a form of qualitative research in which a group of people are asked about their attitude towards a product, concept, advertisement, idea, or packaging. ... Thought or thinking is a mental process which allows beings to model the world, and so to deal with it effectively according to their goals, plans, ends and desires. ... Feelings are most generally INFORMATION that biological beings are capable of sensing in the situations they are in, exposed to or depending on. ... A demographic or demographic profile is a term used in marketing and broadcasting, to describe a demographic grouping or a market segment. ... A demographic or demographic profile is a term used in marketing and broadcasting, to describe a demographic grouping or a market segment. ... Market research is the process of systematic gathering, recording and analyzing of data about customers, competitors and the market. ... Methods and media for sound recording are varied and have undergone significant changes between the first time sound was actually recorded for later playback until now. ...

Depending on the nature of the study, the methods of the information gathering during a focus group interview may be extremely broad, with questions relating to lifestyle and youth culture, or more specific, like comparing certain brands and determining which brands the group is most responsive to. Intelligence (abbreviated or ) is the process and the result of gathering information and analyzing it to answer questions or obtain advance warnings needed to plan for the future. ... The introduction to this article provides insufficient context for those unfamiliar with the subject matter. ... This article is about brands in marketing. ...

Participants in focus groups are usually rewarded for their participation, whether it be a cash amount, free products, or other rewards.

Undercover Coolhunters

Coolhunters will often seek out individuals from within their target demographic who are regarded as leaders or trendsetters. They will then hire these individuals to be undercover coolhunters, who gather information secretly among their peers and report their findings back to their employers. This is a popular method of coolhunting as it provides insight into their target demographic in their "natural habitat". A demographic or demographic profile is a term used in marketing and broadcasting, to describe a demographic grouping or a market segment. ... In common usage, leadership generally refers to: the position or office of an authority figure, such as a President [1] a group of influential people, such as a union leadership [2] guidance or direction, as in the phrase the emperor is not providing much leadership capacity or ability to lead... A trendsetter is an individual whose style, mannerisms, fashion, etc. ...

Online Coolhunting

There are a wide variety of methods for conducting market research online. Popular examples are online surveys where upon completion, the participant will usually receive a prize or monetary compensation. Other times coolhunters will enter chatrooms and webgroups posing as an individual within the target demographic and gather information. Market research is the process of systematic gathering, recording and analyzing of data about customers, competitors and the market. ... Online means being connected to the Internet or another similar electronic network, like a bulletin board system. ... A paid survey is a type of online statistical survey where the participant is rewarded through an incentive program. ... A chat room is an online forum where people can chat online (talk by broadcasting messages to people on the same forum in real time). ... A demographic or demographic profile is a term used in marketing and broadcasting, to describe a demographic grouping or a market segment. ...

Contents

Areas of Research

Coolhunting as a Business

Coolhunting Firms

In-House Coolhunting

Open-Source Coolhunting

Coolhunting Methods and Practices

Focus Groups

Undercover Coolhunters

Online Coolhunting

Further Reading & Viewing

Print & Video

See also

External links

Contents

Areas of Research GA_googleFillSlot("encyclopedia_square");

Coolhunting as a Business

Coolhunting Firms

In-House Coolhunting

Open-Source Coolhunting

Coolhunting Methods and Practices

Focus Groups

Undercover Coolhunters

Online Coolhunting

Further Reading & Viewing

Print & Video

See also

External links

Areas of Research