80 Things to Watch in 2008

Facebook Suicides, Eco-Fatigue and Intellectual Luxury Included on JWT’s Annual List

JWT, the largest advertising agency in the U.S. and the fourth-largest full-service network in the world, released its list of 80 things to watch in 2008.

“These people, products, places, services and shifts will help to define 2008,” says Ann Mack, director of trendspotting at JWT. “By examining what will resonate with people or drive their thinking and behavior, we can identify larger patterns that will shape all of our lives in the years to come.”

“Love it or hate it, technology continues to be a common thread on our list,” adds Mack. “It drives the serendipitous randomness that throws up chance connections, groundbreaking discoveries and great business ideas.”

JWT’s list of 80 Things to Watch in 2008, in alphabetical order:

1. Africa (foreign investment and development in)

2. Antibiotic backlash

3. Assisted marriage

4. Beijing 2008

5. Blue replacing green as the environmental movement’s color du jour

6. Brain exercises

7. British actress Keira Knightley

8. Carbon tax

9. Chinese hurdler Liu Xiang

10. Classical musician Gustavo Dudamel

11. Climate sightseeing

12. Continuation of comebacks (Indiana Jones, The Cure, etc.)

13. Cooperative consumption

14. Couch surfing

15. Country branding (Oman, Indonesia, etc.)

16. Designer Phillip Lim

17. De-teching

18. DJ Tiësto

19. DNA-based exercising

20. E-clutter (and e-clutter consultants)

21. Eco-fatigue

22. E-mail étiquette

23. Facebook suicides

24. Fashion label Vena Cava

25. Foreign government investment (e.g., China, UAE) in U.S. companies

26. French President Nicolas Sarkozy

27. Game 3.0 (gamer-generated global gaming)

28. Google’s Android

29. Gossip Girl

30. Gphone

31. Green weddings

32. Higher education online

33. Hip-hop’s Retro Kids

34. Humbling of the hedge fund manager (anti-excess post sub-prime)

35. Hybrid taxis

36. Indian actress Deepika Padukone

37. Intellectual luxury

38. Investigating ingredients

39. Japanese designs (Tsumori Chisato, Uniqlo, Muji, etc.)
40. Kitchen appliances as new power tools

41. Lifestyle curators

42. Lipstick trumping lip gloss

43. Manga-inspired clothes

44. Mobile technology explosion

45. Mobulimia

46. Music as awareness driver; concerts and other residuals as cash cow

47. Musicovery (music tailored to moods)

48. Myanmar

49. Nollywood (the rise of Nigerian cinema)

50. Outsourcing to Ukraine (and other Eastern European countries)

51. Pakistan’s Benazir Bhutto

52. Pantone’s 18-3943 (blue iris)

53. Pets in the office

54. Prius homes

55. Radical transparency

56. Radiohead repeats (name-your-own-price music)

57. Recycling into fashion (Nau, Gary Harvey, etc.)

58. Selfless as the new selfish

59. Sex and the City, the movie

60. Shiny Toy Guns (the band)

61. Skiing in novel spots (Kashmir, Japan, Greenland, Russia, Korea, etc.)

62. Single men saying no to sex

63. Skype sex

64. Smart Cars in American cities

65. SNS (social network service) brand communities

66. Spanish actor Javier Bardem

67. Staycations

68. Sturking

69. Tequila as the new wine

70. The N-11

71. Third screen (the mobile screen) rivaling the first screen (TV)

72. Trans-ertainment

73. U.S. gymnast Shawn Johnson

74. U.S. presidential election

75. Vicarious consumption

76. (Video) Gaming Olympics

77. Virtual gifting

78. Wannabe young Internet entrepreneurs (a.k.a. Mark Zuckerberg copycats)

79. Weak dollar/strong euro

80. Women juggling men