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    Eighty things to watch in 2008

    From Facebook suicides to eco-fatigue and intellectual luxury… these are on the list of 80 things that will define 2008, says JWT, the largest advertising agency in the US and the fourth-largest full-service network in the world.

    “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, are:

    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 future
    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

    And, if you have no clue what some of these trends refer to or who some of these people are, your homework for this January is to find out! Start Googling...

    In 1939, JWT pioneered the first national consumer research panel. In 1988, it created the first research study of consumer lifestyles, ‘Life Stages'. “We believe in being anthropologists first, advertising people second” reads a misson statement. For more: www.jwt.com.

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