The coolness coefficient
At the 7th German Trend Day, trust became the most important (scarce) commodity of the future
At the 7th German Trend Day, trust became the most important (scarce) commodity of the futureBy Oliver Classen This year, the Hamburg Trend Office posed the crucial question of what holds our multi-option society together at its core. The answer - "instant trust as the new morality of network children" - was far less surprising than the consequences that follow. Also and especially for marketers of all stripes.
The trend is dead, long live the trend. In the German cultural sphere, no one stages this royal return of the eternally new more elegantly and efficiently than Peter Wippermann, communications designer and former business partner of Matthias Horx. Last week, the top trend bureaucrat held court for the seventh time in Hamburg's Curio House (which, significantly, takes its name not from "curiosity" but from a Hanseatic merchant). And this year, too, the orientation seekers came in droves to pay their respects to the whimsical king of postmodernism.
The fact that one in five of the 500 or so guests belonged to the writing guild this time too is part of Wippermann's multiplication calculation. After all, the shrewd strategist and canvasser, to whom we owe terms such as "Ich AG" and "Power-Napping", is all about temporary air sovereignty in the feuilletons and marketing gazettes. (Stich-)Wortführerschaft as a simple but powerful business principle: the philosophical tabloid ultimately works according to exactly the same principle as the journalistic one. So perhaps the Trendbüro, which is currently also rather lackluster in terms of orders, should simply get into the ring the next time they pitch for the Bild or Blick budget.
The attention economy is followed by the trust economy
With such a disposition, instinctively setting topics is naturally part of the trade. After economization (2000: "Ich AG") and biotechnization (2001: "Posthuman"), this year's twelve speakers therefore logically focused on the moralization of the individual and society by the media. In times of a rampant decline in values, when paparazzi are dumping celebrities, black suitcases of money are part of politicians' hand luggage, managers are making millions for themselves and pupils are massacring entire teaching staff, the question of a new code of conduct that provides at least some residual security and commitment is almost self-evident. There was a quick consensus on this and on the need for moral pluralism at the lectern.
So far, everything was foreseeable. What was surprising, even disconcerting, was that there was widespread agreement on the slogan that would lead us into the ethical wonderland of the future: coolness is king or "first civic duty" (Sloterdijk) and communicative cooling is the only effective remedy against the moral overheating of our minds. A bold basic thesis that (even for a trend day) met with so little opposition that it sent shivers down the spines of skeptical listeners who don't just think in terms of sales figures and target group grids. The resulting marketing consequence, according to which the attention economy of the nineties is gradually giving way to a trust economy, does little to change this cold shock.
The moral minimum is (mathematically) assured
As usual, Norbert Bolz opened the series of keynote speakers with a programmatic all-clear. "There is no need to worry, the moral minimum is secure," the media theorist announced beamingly. To justify his confidence, the conceptual juggler for once did not refer to reason, altruism and certainly not to a God who demonstratively stays away from such occasions anyway. The (nota bene real, not ethical) superiority of nice cooperators over ruthless egoists follows other, more rational laws: those of mathematical logic. A "robust program", which Bolz eagerly presented to his increasingly incredulous listeners, ensures that those people who are non-aggressive but provocative, conciliatory but not forgetful and, above all, never jealous, assert their interests. According to Bolz, this pattern of behavior, which is the only successful one in the long term, "automatically leads to society's ideal operating temperature: close to the cold pole".
The recent television star of the event was also there. Peter Sloterdijk, dressed in black as always and mumbling authoritatively, illustrated his coolness apology with the brightest and at the same time most delicate sentence by another dark author, the German constitutional lawyer Carl Schmitt. "Sovereign is he who decides on the state of emergency", he stated in the 1930s. Today, what Schmitt meant back then - namely the opposite of stationary, stable power relations - has become the individual and social norm, believes Sloterdijk. The "boundary-breaking and disinhibiting stimulation of desire" by an advertising industry that thrives on social explosives such as envy and desire has played a significant role in this.
Pornographic view of young wallets
Accordingly, the pop philosopher sees coolness as a natural, indeed necessary, protective reaction against the increasingly brazen "encroachments of the commodity world and its vicarious agents". This would finally give academic legitimacy to the zeitgeist attitude of ironic distancing - which, incidentally, fundamentally contradicts the "committee as lifestyle" later invoked by Wippermann.
Most marketers were able to ignore this broadside against their guild. Not so, however, the smart and smug rebuke from New York media professor Douglas Rushkoff, who accused the perplexed audience of talking about the "new morality of network kids", but actually only referring to their accounts and purchasing behavior. "Staring at young people's wallets is no less pornographic than staring at their butts," warned the rhetorically brilliant author and New York Times columnist.
Even word design is no substitute for a lack of warmth
The worst thing for kids, however, are trendy young professionals who try to be cooler than their target audience with their marketing concepts. Instead of mere cheap images of themselves, young people hope and expect advertising to provide role models who live and communicate different, adult attitudes and values. "Don't worry you youth marketers, it's cool to be uncool. So grow up at last": Rushkoff bid farewell with this urgent appeal, whose provocations have left their mark even on hardened industry cracks, because in addition to brainpower, they also contain a lot of heart and soul.
There was much less evidence of the latter when Wippermann crowned the 2002 and subsequent trends with the names "instant trust", "sociotainment" and "self-commitment". All velvety and pleasant-sounding brainchildren that seem as cool as their creators. Because remember: even the most avant-garde word design is no substitute for the lost warmth of the nest, for which no price is too high and hardly any product is too uncool.
The trend is dead, long live the trend. In the German cultural sphere, no one stages this royal return of the eternally new more elegantly and efficiently than Peter Wippermann, communications designer and former business partner of Matthias Horx. Last week, the top trend bureaucrat held court for the seventh time in Hamburg's Curio House (which, significantly, takes its name not from "curiosity" but from a Hanseatic merchant). And this year, too, the orientation seekers came in droves to pay their respects to the whimsical king of postmodernism.
The fact that one in five of the 500 or so guests belonged to the writing guild this time too is part of Wippermann's multiplication calculation. After all, the shrewd strategist and canvasser, to whom we owe terms such as "Ich AG" and "Power-Napping", is all about temporary air sovereignty in the feuilletons and marketing gazettes. (Stich-)Wortführerschaft as a simple but powerful business principle: the philosophical tabloid ultimately works according to exactly the same principle as the journalistic one. So perhaps the Trendbüro, which is currently also rather lackluster in terms of orders, should simply get into the ring the next time they pitch for the Bild or Blick budget.
The attention economy is followed by the trust economy
With such a disposition, instinctively setting topics is naturally part of the trade. After economization (2000: "Ich AG") and biotechnization (2001: "Posthuman"), this year's twelve speakers therefore logically focused on the moralization of the individual and society by the media. In times of a rampant decline in values, when paparazzi are dumping celebrities, black suitcases of money are part of politicians' hand luggage, managers are making millions for themselves and pupils are massacring entire teaching staff, the question of a new code of conduct that provides at least some residual security and commitment is almost self-evident. There was a quick consensus on this and on the need for moral pluralism at the lectern.
So far, everything was foreseeable. What was surprising, even disconcerting, was that there was widespread agreement on the slogan that would lead us into the ethical wonderland of the future: coolness is king or "first civic duty" (Sloterdijk) and communicative cooling is the only effective remedy against the moral overheating of our minds. A bold basic thesis that (even for a trend day) met with so little opposition that it sent shivers down the spines of skeptical listeners who don't just think in terms of sales figures and target group grids. The resulting marketing consequence, according to which the attention economy of the nineties is gradually giving way to a trust economy, does little to change this cold shock.
The moral minimum is (mathematically) assured
As usual, Norbert Bolz opened the series of keynote speakers with a programmatic all-clear. "There is no need to worry, the moral minimum is secure," the media theorist announced beamingly. To justify his confidence, the conceptual juggler for once did not refer to reason, altruism and certainly not to a God who demonstratively stays away from such occasions anyway. The (nota bene real, not ethical) superiority of nice cooperators over ruthless egoists follows other, more rational laws: those of mathematical logic. A "robust program", which Bolz eagerly presented to his increasingly incredulous listeners, ensures that those people who are non-aggressive but provocative, conciliatory but not forgetful and, above all, never jealous, assert their interests. According to Bolz, this pattern of behavior, which is the only successful one in the long term, "automatically leads to society's ideal operating temperature: close to the cold pole".
The recent television star of the event was also there. Peter Sloterdijk, dressed in black as always and mumbling authoritatively, illustrated his coolness apology with the brightest and at the same time most delicate sentence by another dark author, the German constitutional lawyer Carl Schmitt. "Sovereign is he who decides on the state of emergency", he stated in the 1930s. Today, what Schmitt meant back then - namely the opposite of stationary, stable power relations - has become the individual and social norm, believes Sloterdijk. The "boundary-breaking and disinhibiting stimulation of desire" by an advertising industry that thrives on social explosives such as envy and desire has played a significant role in this.
Pornographic view of young wallets
Accordingly, the pop philosopher sees coolness as a natural, indeed necessary, protective reaction against the increasingly brazen "encroachments of the commodity world and its vicarious agents". This would finally give academic legitimacy to the zeitgeist attitude of ironic distancing - which, incidentally, fundamentally contradicts the "committee as lifestyle" later invoked by Wippermann.
Most marketers were able to ignore this broadside against their guild. Not so, however, the smart and smug rebuke from New York media professor Douglas Rushkoff, who accused the perplexed audience of talking about the "new morality of network kids", but actually only referring to their accounts and purchasing behavior. "Staring at young people's wallets is no less pornographic than staring at their butts," warned the rhetorically brilliant author and New York Times columnist.
Even word design is no substitute for a lack of warmth
The worst thing for kids, however, are trendy young professionals who try to be cooler than their target audience with their marketing concepts. Instead of mere cheap images of themselves, young people hope and expect advertising to provide role models who live and communicate different, adult attitudes and values. "Don't worry you youth marketers, it's cool to be uncool. So grow up at last": Rushkoff bid farewell with this urgent appeal, whose provocations have left their mark even on hardened industry cracks, because in addition to brainpower, they also contain a lot of heart and soul.
There was much less evidence of the latter when Wippermann crowned the 2002 and subsequent trends with the names "instant trust", "sociotainment" and "self-commitment". All velvety and pleasant-sounding brainchildren that seem as cool as their creators. Because remember: even the most avant-garde word design is no substitute for the lost warmth of the nest, for which no price is too high and hardly any product is too uncool.
