Predicting Which Products Are Going to Be in Demand is Big Business

Retirement homes for cats and dogs, snacks to combat depression, clothing with an in-built massage facility, and sleep machines to provoke intense dreams. These are some of the products and services 21^st century consumers can look forward to, according to futurologist Marian Salzman.

Ms. Salzman is head of the Brand Futures group at advertising agency Young and Rubicara and travels the globe spotting consumer trends for clients include Ford, Sony, PepsiCo and Citibank.

Here aim is to provide an 'early warning system' for companies, keeping them up-to-date on consumer behavior and identifying the way in which changing lifestyle could affect their brands in the future. New trends are identified through interviews with academics and scientists, as well as groups of consumers judged to be at the cutting edge of fashion.

"Marketers have always needed to understand customers' current concerns and experiences with their brands. But if they are to thrive in the years a head, they must anticipate where technology, social trends and myriad other change agents are leading, so that they will have a place in the consumer future." She says.

"One of the most important emerging trends is that mass marketing is becoming obsolete in high-tech cultures. As consumers we are being led to expect products that meet our specific needs - Levi's makes computerized-fit jeans to your exact measurements, for instance. And parents can buy personalized storybooks and videos for their children. Demand for these types of products will soar." She forecasts.

"Entrepreneurial companies will find plenty of business opportunities if they target the increasingly ageing population," she says. By 2030, approximately 20 percent of the US population will be over 65 and this group will influence everything from financial products to easy-to-open packaging.

"We will see great shifts in attitude regarding age. This group's power will increase, images of the elderly as victims will become historical, and they will increase their economic power as they move into their second half-century of life. Expect to see them driving top-of-the range cars," she says. Meanwhile the 'oldest olds' - those in their nineties and beyond - will be looked after at day-care centers, along with under-fives and pets, while the economically active are at work.

Demand for food with added health benefits will also rise as the world's population ages. Ms. Salzman says in the US a third of consumers regularly eat foods recommended for specific health conditions and half want food that can boost the immune system. Snacks which claim to influence mood are already on sale in the US and Asia. Personality puffs, for example, contain a blend of plant extracts which includes St John's Wort and ginkgo biloba to fight depression and improve memory, while Kava Corn Chips claim to aid relaxation.

But it is not just the elderly who will demand new goods and services - parents will be a prime target for marketers with bright ideas. "Today's parents are faced with unique pressure - and conveniences - of rising children in the digital age.

"Expectations are high, resources are plentiful, but time is limited," Ms. Salzman says. Anxious parents will not only feed their children 'nutraceuticals' to make them healthier and more intelligent, they will also invest in anti-bacterial toys, educational products and organic cotton clothing.

Members only parks and beaches and theme parks which promise to keep out undesirables will spring up in affluent areas, and trendy loft-living couples will call in teams of 'baby proofers' to make their high-tech homes child-friendly.

Labor-saving gadgets and services will become vital as increasingly harried consumers have less time to shop, cook and clean for themselves.

"Intelligence refrigerators will track consumption, printing a shopping list on demand or transmitting it electronically to a home delivery service smart cookers will know how you like your eggs, meal trucks will circle neighborhoods at dinner time, offering complete meals, and you will get your personal shopper to pick out everything you need from clothing to food," says Ms. Salzman.

But she warns that for an emerging underclass of technological have-nots, the future look bleak.

"The chasm between those who do and do not have access to new technologies (particularly the Internet) will be far more significant than separations caused by age, geography, sex or lifestyle. Those who aren't wired will be blocked from an entire universe of information, communication and community." She says.