Top trends of 2009

The Marketing headline "Top five consumer trends in 2009" was dated 15 December, 2009. Often "top trends" articles are predictions rather than recaps. In this case, Marketing was looking back on the year as it was about to end. These are the top five trends identified by the publication:

1. Decline of trust (I agree, and makes sense in this era of economic instability and frequent corporate/management changes)
2. Credit-crunch chic (frugal was in, conspicuous consumption was out--agreed)
3. Canny consumers (hardly a new trend, but agreed--consumers are still shopping around before buying and they know exactly what the competition is doing)
4. Social networking neurosis (what should brands do about blogs, Twitter, and so on? IMHO, this is not really neurosis but the normal shaking-out of new communications technology)
5. Crowdsourcing (not new but gained more momentum in 2009--agreed)

What would you add to these top trends from last year? I'd add "established brands dominated." Last year, consumers (and retailers) were more interested in the stability and security of established brands than they were in experimenting with unproven products.

As a result, the barrier to entry for new products was higher than ever in 2009. Financially, this made sense. From a marketing perspective, it narrowed the possibilities and opportunities.

I expect the second half of 2010 to be quite crowded with the introduction of many more new products than in the entire 2009 period. The global economy is strengthening, consumers are tired of postponing purchases and retailers need new products to perk up their aisles.