Cultural Brailing

Cross Cultural Analysis

Cross cultural analysis is watching both cultures and industries for signs that an idea or trend is beginning.  If the idea or trend emerges within a culture and in industry it is very likely to become both long-term and highly influential. 

A forecaster has to open and browse information and media on a daily basis, as well as regularly visiting exhibitions and trade fairs for everything from fashion to cars to interiors, technology etc.  Using websites such as Trendwatching, The Cool Hunter, Cool Hunting, WGSN, Lifestyle News Global, the David Report, or PSFK help with this process.  However a good forecaster will not just rely on the internet, they will use all their resources such as magazines, newspapers, journals, books etc. covering everything from fashion, design, architecture, graphics, technology, clubbing, leisure, music, finance, medicine, literature, the arts, gaming, and economics among others.  In other words all aspects of culture where “stuff” is present and where a trend could emerge.

Cultural Brailling – Faith Popcorn

“Cultural Brailling” is a term created by American Forecaster Faith Popcorn.  Popcorn and her trend forecasting organization BrainReserve, have been using this technique since the 1980’s to detect and track changes in the way consumers live.  

“Brailling is a way of communicating language through bumps on a page.  We take that same technique here and feel the bumps in culture.  The bumps are everything.  Again it is about using all of your senses: things that you see, things that you taste, things that you hear.  For example, it could be a matter of walking into a retail store and noticing the lighting, the music, feeling the different textures, just fully immersing yourself into whatever environment that you are in”

Susan Choi, Trend Track director at BrainReserve.

Brailling is about being hyper observant and alert to newness.  You have to reach out for new “stuff” in professions, societies, countries, or industries (automotive, beauty, fashion, architecture, medicine, technology, biotech, stem cell etc.) that you may have no real knowledge of, or interest in.

Brailling is all consuming, something you must do wherever you are and whoever you are with.

To understand anything you must ask questions.  Who started the trend, where it came from, why it is emerging and when it was first noted.  Basic questions but without knowing the answers it is difficult to ground a trend.

If possible seek out the innovator, without the ‘who’ it is difficult to determine the importance or relevance of the ‘what’ and whether or not it is likely to cascade into a trend.

The ‘what’ is about the “stuff”, trend, innovation, or cultural shift being identified.  The ‘where’ is the place the trend began within society or culturally.  ‘Why’ did the trend emerge this is often to do with society issues such as economical, social, financial, etc.  The ‘when’ is hard to pinpoint but looking back it is clearer.  There are periods within history of the world that seam random, but we now know that bursts of creativity or innovation can be tracked back to moments within a society or a culture when ‘Innovators’ and ‘Early Adapters’ were more connected and communicating with each other within cities, clubs, sectors, socially, scientific and artistic communities.