Happy 2010 everybody. Happy New Decade, one that I predict will bring prominence to the individual. Not in a reality show kind of way but in the way that is truly meaningful and reflective of how the average individual is impacted by the decisions often made by a few individuals behind closed doors. Transparency, authenticity and engagement will be the rule of the day.

I am optimistic about 2010 itself simply because it’s also an election year, something that always motivates change for good.
Job Creation and solutions to the currently unacceptable high unemployment number in the United States will finally become Job 1 for the country’s leaders. If not, the Democrats are sure to lose their majority rule.

Social Media, already an exploding industry, will become formalized this year and I for one am very excited about it. The doors to so much will open as a conseqence of this movement for it’s sheer simplicity for reaching across the globe if for no other reason.

Luxury Fashion will reinvent itself because it has to and there is too much money being left on the table. Fashion has become democratized as a consequence of the web but also because of designer brands creating limited edition lines going into such places as Target and even Wal Mart–that’s unlikely to change. While some think haute couture is less defacto of luxury fashion, I think it will rise to a new prominence…it’s one of the few ways luxury can in fact distance itself from fast fashion. But new technology will allow for more instant and more improved results and services.

This decade will finally bring a new emphasis back to the boomer and marketer’s will begin targeting them once again with less emphasis on youth and more emphasis on reaching and speaking to the full range of demographics. Ethics (ageist discrimination) may be the initial motivation, but eventually it will be because of the bottom line. Boomers still are the wealthiest of the demographics and buy more than just drugs and financial services.

Speaking of which, financial services will be revamped….more of that focus on the individual. Much like broadcast television and mainstream media reinventing itself so too will the financial services industry. Serving the broader good will showcase itself back to the 60’s mantra of creating programs and policies where “all boats will be lifted.”

The anger and frustration that is throbbing beneath the surface of a self serving Congress, Mainstream Media, Celebrity Culture and CEO control will finally surface to the point that the person on the street gets their day in the sun and for more than the 15 minutes Mr. Warhol once declared. This time it will be to actually serve the person on the street and restore them to their rightful place in society. Systems like Twitter exemplify the emergence of the individual. People though like Bill Gates and Warren Buffett will be instrumental in making these things happen, even to the point of exerting influence in politics to create the change in focus. These two personify the movement. When they decide to focus on the average individual, they above all will benefit from it. The collaspe of institutions, companies, industries and governments at the end of this last decade has finally proven the individual has given up way to much power to the hands of a few and are back to claim it.

Ironically, while this report is macro to a fault, it’s all about things in importance being reduced to the most micro of levels: the individual.

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