"A unique guidebook for any company hoping to understand how to stay one step ahead of the competition." Wayne Garvie, MD of Content & Production, BBC Worldwide

"A comprehensive look at trends. An inspiration for anyone interested in making greater use of trends in their business." Gavin Emsden, Food & Beverage Insights Director, Nestle

"Finally a how-to book about this important subject." Liisa Puolakka, Head of Brand Identity, Nokia

"An insightful ‘how-to’ approach to identifying, understanding and leveraging trends. A ‘must-read’ reference." Marcel Engh, VP Brand Entertainment, Sony Music Europe.

What a consumer trend is. Why they are important. How trends start and how they spread. How to spot them. How to predict how they will develop. Trend typologies. Trends versus fads. The ways trends can help or hinder sales. How to interpret trends. Ways to integrate trend data into your company. Setting up and managing a trends team. How to determine which trends are relevant to your company. How to drive trend-based strategy through the company.

William Higham is one of Britain’s leading consumer trend authorities. He is the founder of renowned research and trends consultancy The Next Big Thing, with clients from BBC to HSBC, AOL to BSkyB. His expertise comes from 20 years’ experience in marketing and research. He is frequently quoted in the press (‘The Times’ to the ‘News Of The World’, ‘Cosmopolitan’ to ‘The Economist’ ), interviewed on radio and TV (Channel 4 to Radio 4) and is a popular conference speaker.

The Next Big Thing (Kogan Page 2009) strips away the ambiguity and mystery surrounding trends, providing a no-nonsense guide to incorporating them into your business strategy. It is the first book to reveal how consumer trends work, how to spot them, and how to use that knowledge to gain competitive advantage. Full of examples of trends and comments from industry insiders, it shows how to uncover new trends before they reach the mainstream; and enables you to anticipate, prepare for and benefit from trends.