1) Traffic is again an acceptable excuse for being very late in getting to a meeting.
The breathless announcement that it took you four hours to get from one point to another is no longer shrugged off as mere lack of planning and alacrity on your part, but a genuine act of heroism that you made it anyway, however late. Mega-tardiness may make you miss out shows, opening speeches, and even offertory, but it no longer brands you as unreliable — EDSA was a parking lot. This flawed metaphor overlooks the fact that for the latter, you get to leave your car, lock it, and proceed to work… late, of course.
2) Political noise has become acoustic wallpaper and no longer rattles the market.
Even jolting announcements of breaking treaties and closing embassies simply await for a retraction — our relations remain strong; or just non-repetition and a change of topic. The spokesman doesn’t even need to clarify anything.
3) Every speaker mentions “millennials” in marketing conferences, as if it’s a new life form that will take over the planet.
They’re already in your homes and in the fast food outlets. Their habits are closely studied as if they all dance to the same electronic beat. But do they? Some of them are actually polite and deferential to elders and hold the elevator door for them.
4) Motorcycles are outnumbering cars.
Dinged side mirrors and scratched doors are part of the morning ritual when bikes squeeze between lanes like a horde of helmeted and unidentifiable drones. Of course, they don’t stop for a measly body bump…unless they are thrown down on the road from the impact. Guess who’s fault that is.
5) Millennials (see # 3) are no longer buying products but experiences.
White-water rafting, watching cherry blossoms at Ueno Park, and eating out with the gang at a new resto… these are all worth posting in social media with nice captions — the wild boar pasta was yummy. Experiences, it must be said, do not need storage space. That’s hard when you’re staying in a small place. And who needs the bother of parking space? Just book a ride.
6) Replays of basketball games, easily available even on the Internet, are only watched by the supporters of the winning team.
Okay, maybe the coaching staff of the losers also study the painful errors like 15 turnovers in the first half. This is not about a real game. We’re talking of trends and developments here, folks.
7) People are watching movies in the big screen again.
You actually have to line up to get tickets or book them on the net. Is it the super-hero trends with their big scenes and special effects that make the cinema experience better? Maybe, movies are becoming dating occasions again. Can rising sale of popcorn be far behind? They serve them at the games too… but who wants to be holding a bucket when hands have to be free for clapping and assorted sign languages? You need that middle finger unhampered.
8) More nonreaders are checking out summaries of business books.
This short cut to economic literacy is fine as it allows participation in conversations before meetings. After all, some of the other talking heads around the table may have read the same summaries, and even bought the books for their office library. They may still be wrapped in plastic. It’s important to get a quote from the book, which summaries also provide. Here’s one — life is too short for long books… no attribution required.
9) There are more bloggers than those reading them.
This development is hard to track. But it just seems to be a real trend, just basing it on unreliable anecdotal evidence. Have you met anyone lately who does not profess to be a blogger? I’m just starting this food review blog, and asking restaurants for free lunches.
10) Old people are wearing hoodies.
They like the bulky collar weighed down by the unused hood. They don’t zip up, not because they can’t but because they want to look like they just dashed off and grabbed this one from the closet. Sometimes these jackets even have slogans printed at the back… Accountants dig deeper. They never put the hoods up over their heads. It makes them look too young… from a distance.
A. R. Samson is chair and CEO of Touch DDB.
