Airlines, hotels, travel & tourism

With the premiumisation trend seeing a boom in first-class travelling, airlines are tripping over themselves to provide their passengers with a seemingly ridiculous range of extras. It?s hard to believe that a decade ago, business class passengers sat in seats (albeit fully reclinable ones). Now it seems that a flat bed hardly qualifies as adequate, with airlines offering everything from feather pillows and quilts to double beds or private suites for those travelling in first class.

Healthcare, medicine & pharmaceuticals

If you thought user-generated content was limited to the media and entertainment industries you?d be wrong. The medical industry has recently seen an outbreak of cancer videos, wellness wikis and bulimia blogs that borders on a epidemic. In many ways this is nothing new. Online support groups have been around for at least 15 years and the distribution of material related to specific medical conditions via physical meetings has been around much longer than that.

Healthcare, medicine & pharmaceuticals

If you thought user-generated content was limited to the media and entertainment industries you?d be wrong. The medical industry has recently seen an outbreak of cancer videos, wellness wikis and bulimia blogs that borders on a epidemic. In many ways this is nothing new. Online support groups have been around for at least 15 years and the distribution of material related to specific medical conditions via physical meetings has been around much longer than that.

Money, banking & insurance

Late last year there was a cartoon in the Daily Telegraph (UK) showing a bank cashier pointing a gun at a customer and saying ?Leave your money where it is?.The sign above the cashier said ?Northern Rock?. If you don?t live in the UK the fiasco surrounding Britain?s fifth largest mortgage lender may have gone unnoticed, but in Britain this was the first run on a bank since 1866. So what went so wrong?As recently as July, Northern Rock?s Chief Executive was publicly talking about a ?robust? credit book.

Automotive & transport

In the past, the carmakers who were most likely to succeed were those that offered quality, high performance and low-cost autos (a dedication to this saw the Japanese rise to the forefront of the market). However, with more stringent environmental and safety rules, experts say that the new breed of car manufacturer will succeed by creating a new wave of vehicles that embrace emerging technology (like fuel cell vehicles), rather than trying to adapt existing designs.

Household goods, utilities & services

A strong demand for better home security is seeing a surge in different electronic door locks. Proving especially popular are those that use keyless entry or those that can be installed on existing doors. Tokyo-based Secure Inc?s Selfrico system is designed to provide added security to a traditional lock and is attached to the top of the door. It uses an infrared remote control to move a latch into place, which prevents the door from opening even if the conventional lock system is unlocked.

What?s next in retail? According to Viewpoint magazine, the trends include stores becoming embedded in the local community. This makes a certain amount of sense as it links back to the history of retail and also to the rise of localisation, although citing the Samsung ?Experience? space in the Time Warner Centre in New York isn?t the best example I?ve ever heard of. Another trend that?s highlighted is the LATTE Factor ? Local, Authentic, Trustworthy, Traceable and Ethical. Spot on with that one.

Retail, shopping & leisure

A decade or so ago, many exuberant e-experts were predicting the death of bricks-and-mortar stores due to the rapid emergence of online stores and e-tail. It didn?t happen. Instead the Internet has complimented physical stores and given customers the choice of how and where they shop. The Internet has also fundamentally changed consumer behaviour because it has shifted power in the form of information from the retailer to the customer.

2008 Food Forecasts

With the New Year upon us, experts are rolling out their predictions for what the food industry is set to look like in 2008. US blog, Food Democracy, says the future is generally bright, with healthy eating trends featuring heavily on their list. Pressure on companies to un-muddy the waters of food labelling could see the removal of unknown or unpronounceable preservatives, additives or colours from their products. Fortified and functional foods are still on the scene, with the next big craze touted as phytonutrients.

Paul Cezanne once observed, ?The day is coming when a single carrot, freshly observed, will set off a revolution.? With rapid rises in the price of basic foods now leading to social instability in some areas, he may not be far off the mark. Governments are struggling to keep a lid on inflation, attempting to artificially control the prices for staples such as bread, dairy, maize and rice in the wake of public outcry. With an election looming in Russia, the Kremlin forced suppliers of milk and bread to freeze prices, while countries including India, Mexico and Yemen have experienced food riots.