LSN Global Trend Briefing October 2013
XX VS XY
This briefing look at the role reversal of men and women, in particular
how men are having to readjust to the new social norms.
Trend no 1 – The Athena Woman
This
woman is entrepreneurial, educated and empowered.
Trend no 2 –The Re-Con Man
This
is the recalibrated male who is embracing new freedom.
Contextual Factors
The Millennial Generation: These
people are raised on a 90’s exuberant consumerism and globalisation and fresh
from a decade of technological advances.
These
are the people driving the change in traditional roles of men and women.
They
are predicted to be the most powerful and important consumer in the luxury
market between 2018 and 2020.
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Trend no 1: The
Athena Woman
Trend Drivers
Education:
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56% of Masters degree graduates
globally are female
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Life
Control:
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Women are optimising their career
pathways by having fewer children or delaying pregnancy. New science and
technologies has made this easier with more women now opting to freeze their
eggs and have children at a later time in their life.
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Feminist
Renaissance
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Social Media allows women to be
feminists without it defining them. It creates a platform for people to
collaborate and share stories and opinions that they otherwise wouldn’t have
done face to face.
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‘Manomics’
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Lots of men are going back into the
home. Many agree being a father is just as important as being the
breadwinner. This would not have been the response 10 years ago. When asked,
men described ‘manhood’ as being a father.
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Trend Consequences
‘Fem-trepreneur’
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Elite women who have worked hard to be the head of the company. Their
power is growing.
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Reality check branding
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Brands are taking a more frank and inclusive approach to connect with
women, addressing real issues that matter to them in a public manner.
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Non-Gen Retail
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Stores are appealing to men and women. The interiors are gender
neutral as not to ‘pigeon hole the brand’.
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Re-Enlightened
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Women are seeking more and more products that are backed up by
science but not in the way we saw previously (e.g L’oreal ‘pro v’) Its about
real advancements in technology and making this usable every day.
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Zines
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The days of glossy fashion and beauty magazines are numbered, women
are looking more to niche and independent zines that really clue in to who
they are and what they want as an individual.
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Science Starlets
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Women are gaining an increased interest in science e.g. Vogue has
recently been sporting the Google Glass in their editorials. Millennial girls
are born into a society that celebrates and admires science and they are
taught this from a young age e.g. Barbie have released a ‘hacker’ toolkit.
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Super-mum backlash
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Women are now focusing on their own happiness as well as their kids.
Many mothers now agree that kids should fit into their lifestyle, not the
other way around.
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Sensory Splurge
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Women now look for a sanctuary from our visually saturated culture,
through smell, touch and sound.
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Stress is the new fat
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Stress is now one of the biggest topic women discuss. It has
overtaken things like diets and losing weight and focuses more on the mental
state of the mind e.g. Gwyneth Paltrow new cooking book is all about
cleansing the body not starving it. Now women are choosing their health over
their family when considering what to cook and eat.
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Sexy Sweat
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There has been a shift in women’s attitudes towards fitness, it is no
longer deemed disgusting to sweat when exercising as it shows how healthy and
fit the person is. The women’s active-wear market is growing twice as fast as
the women’s clothing market is. Women’s strength is seen through their hard
work e.g The Sure Maximum Protection adverts celebrate strong and normal
women.
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New Status Symbols
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The growth of fashion fine jewellery is now being driven by women.
Once seen as a product that only men would buy for their girlfriends and
wives as presents, women feel a sense of empowerment when buying jewellery
for themselves. They know what they want and they will get it themselves.
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She comes first
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Nothing is taboo anymore. Women are far more confident talking about
sex and taking ownership of their own sexual pleasure more than they have
ever been. They do not mind sharing their experiences and expectations with
others without embarrassment e.g. Tale Magazine.
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What is the future?
·
Re-equilibrium:
Both sexes will acclimatise to their new homes and environments.
·
Mind
Temples: It will all
be about optimising mental fitness through products and platforms. Meditation
and yoga retreats will become more popular as people take a further interest in
their state of being over their weight e.g. Parkour Dance in London is an
organisation that teaches people over the age of 60 to move freely around urban
areas.
·
New
adventure seekers: With an increase in women choosing to delay parenthood,
traveling will be more geared towards singles and couples who want to escape
screaming children. Holidays will be focused on relaxation and romanticism.
How can brands adapt
to this?
Brands need to:
1.
Transcend Gender
2.
Tap into nature and then some, use technology
that embraces nature
3.
Stimulate the senses
4.
Encourage wellbeing
5.
Show a human side
6.
Not discount men
7.
Help the Athena Woman look and feel good
8.
Show mothers the joy of exercise, adventure and
leadership
9.
Present positive images of women
Who is the Athena
Woman?
People are now stepping outside of their gender
roles and just being humans, gender no longer defines who we are and what we
like.
The Athena woman mixes hi and lo fashion,
(co-ordination and all over Burberry print just isn’t the aim of the game
anymore)
She wants convenience and diversity when it comes
to shopping, and this reflects in her love for boutiques who champion emerging
and fresh talent.
The Athena woman opts for fresh, organic and
healthy ingredients that improve her physical and mental being.
The Athena
Women Tribes
The
Fem-thlete
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These women marry sport with fashion.
It’s not about being skinny, it’s about being capable in your life.
Everything she does is about community. She would rather put money into her
locality over a global charity where she doesn’t know where her money goes. She buys organic cleaning products and shops
at whole foods markets.
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The
Fashionista
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This woman believes life is about
doing something you love every day. She doesn’t keep fit for external reasons
but to feel better about herself although she wants to look good whilst she
is exercising. New sportswear will encourage her to workout. She monitors
what she puts into her body and takes pride in this (Coconut water is the
next big thing in this field)
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The
New Mothers
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This woman has the attitude that her
life is not childless but child-free. Children need to fit into their lives
and around their busy schedules. In terms of buying, products need to be
practical and efficient because these women no longer have time to shop
around.
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Trend no 2 - The
Re-con Man
Men have become defined by what they consume and with this
comes a sense of emotional emancipation. Men are now juggling a myriad of new
tasks, they have their careers but are also present within the home, they are
now situated in the position that women were in the 1980’s. The Re-con man is
reconnected, reconfigured and reconstituted although they are happy with the
move towards gender equality; only 44% of men in the UK think the empowerment
of women is detrimental to them.
Trend Drivers
Turbulent Teens
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The current recession and rise in unemployment are altering mens
views of work. The Millennial’s have been hit the hardest, with 53% of UK and
US graduates being unemployed.
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Woman-economics
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Women are ‘leaning in’ to the workplace and men are ‘leaning out’.
Now 4 in 10 UK households have mothers who are the primary breadwinners.
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Social Media awareness
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Social platforms offer men a plethora of images of masculinity as
well as instant access to information and inspiration about men’s style. Men
are more confident talking about fashion and beauty through things like Pinterest.
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Entrepreneur Heroes
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Bill Gates is now voted as the most admired personality in the UK and
US. He looks like an ordinary man; it’s the ‘if he can do it, I can do it’
attitude that men respect.
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Boomerang-preneurs
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Due to the Millennial generation not having secure jobs or a steady
income, more and more are choosing to stay living with their parents until
they get their own business adventures off the ground. Twice as many men live
with their parents as women in this generation.
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VIPeers
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Celebrities have become replaced by ordinary people. The internet
allows anybody to become an overnight sensation and a role model to the
modern man.
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Commitment Pro’s
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Millennial men want to find a partner and settle down sooner than
generations before them. Now, only 8% of men say the number of sexual
partners they have is a primary definer of their manhood. This will be an
interesting area to monitor, especially to see if the number of cases of STDs
in this generation decrease.
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The Plate Spinning man
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Men are more proactive in the house these days, with more choosing to
put fatherhood before work. More is expected of them as women get busier.
E.g. The Samsung evolution toolkit TV adverts.
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Trend Consequences
Man-uals
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There has been a rise in the popularity of ‘how to guides’ for men
recently. It shows that men are still adjusting to their new roles and some
are a bit confused on what it means to be a ‘good man’.
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Mate clubs
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Men are now feeling more alienated as the ‘stay at home’ dads have
now lost their social groups from work so are being pro-active in their
approach to joining community clubs. They are looking to re-ignite
friendships through their shared interests.
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Man-ventures
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This is the notion of men looking to escape the pressures of home
life to embark on trips and adventures together. It’s not about competition
but about experiencing something new together. E.g Wilderness Collective
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Re-con retail
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Brands are now creating social hubs for men to gather as a way of
persuading them to stay longer in store. Many are making their stores one
stop destinations for all a man’s wants (barbers, bars, clothes shops in one
space)
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Rise in Pubs
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There has been an increase in the popularity of pubs recently, with
men looking to meet new people in a friendly and familiar place each week. Pubs
offer a sense of nostalgia and comfort for the Millennial man.
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Re-con Junk
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As healthy eating and fitness comes to the forefront of men’s agendas
so does their love junk food on the weekend. The Millennial man feels he
needs to ‘treat’ himself after a hard and busy week.
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Alpha- Snacks
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This is all about making snacking masculine. Brands are constantly
trying to make food products that have always been associated with women,
more appealing to the new alpha male. e.g. yogurts
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What is the future?
·
Re-quilibrium:
It is going to be all about collaborating with women and not competing
against them
·
Gen-ducation:
There will be a further emphasis placed on shaping children’s learning and
home environments to help both boys and girls to shine through in different
ways. Their brains are different and respond to learning in different ways. Up
until the age of 7, girls are better than boys at school, this needs to change.
·
Alpha
mortals: Men will fight to stay fit and embrace mortal behaviour.
·
New
men-erationals: The Re-con man was brought up and inspired by his ‘plate
spinning’ mother but how is his generation going to impact his children?
Fathers seem to be taking a step towards re-igniting a friendship with their
children. E.g. the Robinsons squash TV advert
How can brands adapt
to this?
Brands need to:
1.
Re-configure their brand essence to suit the new
man
2.
Reward the ‘plate spinning’ man for his
multi-tasking genius
3.
Use ordinary people to create extraordinary
moments
4.
Use the pub as a community to target
5.
Be mortal- It’s not looking about anti-aging.
Men want to show they have worked and lived hard.
6.
Think convenience
7.
Celebrate fatherhood
8.
Court Vipeers
9.
Support the Boomerang-preneurs
Who is the Re-Con man?
This man straddles professional and domestic life with
pride. He applauds the success of women and no longer feels the need to compete
with them. His interests and passions can all be connected through apps and
social media and he can create friendships both online and offline through
these shared interests. The Re-con man chooses to read media with instructional
and lifestyle tips to further help him understand his role. His preferences in
terms of grooming products are cheap, minimal and to the point.
The Re-Con man Tribes
The Boomerang Careerist
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This man lives with his parents whilst he works on his fledging
business. He is constantly utilising his parent’s expertise and knowledge to
support his work.
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VIPeer
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He has developed a following amongst his peers through their
admiration. The VIPeer wants to use his social presence to enliven and
empower ordinary people like himself.
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Dad 2.0
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The new father believes being a ‘stay at home’ dad is everything and
being with his children is more important than working. This is especially
true in Scandinavian countries where the paternity leave is over a year of
paid time off from work
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