The Next Big Thing: Brajackets and Bikevertising?

I just got turned on to an interesting website, one you’ll want to visit if you fancy yourself a bit of a futurist, are naturally curious about emerging trends, or are just looking for a breath of inspiration. Springwise and its global network of 8,000 spotters scan the globe for smart new business ideas and share them in easy-to-read snippets on the website.

As examples, the Marketing and Advertising portion of the Idea Database recently featured these trends:

• 3.5 billion wire hangers are tossed into landfills every year, and that's just in the United States. While the hangers are light, inexpensive and sturdy, they're not exactly bio-degradable. Hanger Network has developed an alternative: a dry cleaner's hanger made entirely from recycled paper. These EcoHangers are sturdy and cheap. And because they're paper, they can be completely covered in full-color advertising. Everybody wins: Hanger Network creates a media network of up to 3.5 billion in-home “views”, and advertisers gain valuable entry into consumers' bedrooms for less than the price of a stamp.

• Brajackets are one of the hottest new trends in Japan. Made from high-quality, coated paper that makes designs and colors pop, Brajackets offer consumers a free cover to keep their book nice and neat and come with a built-in bookmark. They offer advertisers a space to advertise that goes everywhere readers do. They're available for free from stands in bookstores. New designs come out a few times a month, and the most popular ones are gone in a matter of days.
  

The site also describes trends in bikevertising (messages placed on fenders and mudguards of bicycles), sympvertising (infusing consumer advertising with a pinch of sympathy that acknowledges the tougher times most consumers are currently experiencing) and even passout marketing (adding branding to the handstamps applied to nightclub patrons).

While it might not be appropriate or practical to jump on one of these bandwagons, you might just discover a gem that serves as a springboard for something that does fit your business.