Easyjet has recently launched a holiday planner within its Facebook fan page. It’s an application that allows fans to plan holidays with their Facebook friends. There is also an option to purchase tickets directly from Facebook eradicating the need to even visit the Easyjet website.

This is not the only case of ecommerce ever seen on Facebook (take 1-800-FLOWERS and Basketballer Amar’e Stoudemire’s Facebook fan store) yet it raises some interesting questions around the role of the social networking tool in marketing. Instead of using Facebook as a channel to drive traffic back to a central hub, in this instance Facebook is acting as the location for business transactions. So then – is this a one off or the beginning of a trend? Well it all comes back to value – will Facebook users feel they are gaining value being able to shop on Facebook? Or, conversely, will they feel that these ecommerce elements will interrupt their social networking experience? From a business perspective Facebook is a very clever way to reach diverse audiences and interrupt conversations and opinions around products, however, if ever the day were to come when Facebook was evidently more marketing activity than personal interactions and conversations I believe this functional shift would result in turmoil for Facebook.

easyJet on facebook
1800 Flowers on facebook

Last night I had the pleasure of attending a Wake Up Sydney! event at the recently refurbished Townhall. Wake Up Sydney! are challenging Sydneysiders to make Sydney the ‘kindness capital’ of the world, through anonymous acts of kindness. Imagine sitting in a café over the weekend, sipping your morning coffee and listening to the (seemingly never ending) rain pouring down. You get up to leave and realise that someone’s paid for your coffee and left you a kindness card instead of a bill… pretty cool idea isn’t it!

So after news of earth quakes and oil spills, the evening became a refreshing celebration of kindness and our connection to the living earth. Seen through the eyes of indigenous storytellers and dancers, visionaries and artists; the power of experience was truly inspiring and galvanising. Come on Sydney, let the kindness flow!

Like it or not, the need for recognition and status is at the heart of every consumer trend. Status is the ultimate (hidden) motive, a subconscious but ever-present force. Trend Watching has identified 5 ways that consumers get their status fix:

1. Bigger, Better, Harder.
This refers to a consumer’s appetite for expensive, in-your-face brands and products.
2. Generosity
This kind of status comes from feeling part of a greater good through aid and contribution. The online world also makes these random acts of altruism far easier to showcase (so maybe the old line “there’s no such thing as a selfless act” really does ring true!)
3. Green Credentials and Consumption
This refers to a consumers’ interest in green credentials that eco-conscious owners can show off to their peers. Bold, iconic markers and designs often assist with exhibiting eco-credentials to the world.
4. In the know and skills
There is a growing segment of consumers who find pleasure in mastering new and sometimes unusual skills and acquiring knowledge. Status comes from finding an appreciative audience that’s impressed with what they know, and can create, instead of what they consume.
5. Connectivity
Another form of status comes from accumulating the largest possible number of fans, friends or followers. Retweets, the number of views for a photo on Flickr or a video on YouTube are also associated with one’s social status and that can be shared instantly and on a potentially large scale.

So – what does all of this mean? Well there are opportunities amongst this egotistical, status-seeking mentality that afflicts us all to some degree of another. It’s worthwhile finding out who and how your customers are trying to impress. If you’re customers are all on the eco bandwagon, maybe the old bigger, better harder approach isn’t going to cut it. From an experiential perspective, it’s all about status stories – now more than ever we need to create experiences that have talkability and are worth sharing with friends to build status.

Trend Watching