For months, I schlepped a weighty hardcover book in my suitcase entitled, Vital Signs, by Greg Levoy. Finally, a long delay at LaGuardia had me cracking it open. Once an expert on finding your “calling” Levoy’s recent book is about finding your passion. In an over-hyped world, it’s hard to...
Author Archives: Patricia Martin
We Are What We Wear
We like Worn Stories, Emily Spivack’s fascinating collection of profiles about notable people through the lens of their clothing. It’s a study in identity expressed by fashion choices. We started following Spivack when she started the fashion blog for the Smithsonian. She has a knack for giving us nuggets of...
Future Trends: How Millennial Cultural Consumers Buy Travel, Culture and Luxury
Cultural consumers share traits of luxury consumers. They are educated and economically advantaged. In a recent report from Deloitte, luxury brands will need to up their game in technology if they are to remain competitive with the emerging Millennial consumer. When I read the Deloitte’s second annual Global Powers of Luxury...
Creativity is a Mix Tape
Millennials like Sadie Schwarm fascinate me. Sadie is an ambitious young PR professional with a penchant for finding out what makes people tick. Her recent piece for Platform Magazine quotes a study about Creativity in PR | A Global Study that revealed the industry’s investment in creativity is beginning to pay...
How Millennials Spend Their Money
Here’s a quick look at spending preferences among Millennials compare to all other consumers. The very first category, rented dwellings, is a stand out. First, it speaks to the steep hikes in rent that most cities have seen in the last two years. For instance, in 2014 the average monthly...
Seeing Millennials Beyond their Profile
Several years ago, a reporter named Maggie contacted me for an interview. She was writing about consumer trends and tracked me down. Maggie and I go way back, having lived in the same part of town, our paths crossed more than once. Lately, Maggie has taken on a project for TRUE,...
BusinessTown’s Satire of Silicon Valley Speak
We love following BusinessTown!, a Tumblr blog devoted to cartoon versions of Silicon Valley stereotypes. Lately it’s been blowing up on the internet. Cleverly illustrated by Lunch Breath, it reimagines the charming characters created by Richard Scarry, the children’s author most well-known for his Busytown series. We see “value-creating winners”...
Courting Millennials with Cultural Capital: 7 Things They Won’t Tell You
I’m excited to present our latest report: Courting Millennials with Cultural Capital: 7 Things Young Early Adopters Won’t Tell You. It’s offers a handy set of best practices for winning the hearts and minds of Millennial mavens. Dig in and learn: • Why young influencers play an even bigger role...
What Millennials Really Want to Know: The Society of Grownups
A few years ago, fellow author Ben Hammersley turned me on to the School of Life, a very successful London-based mecca for life-long learners, mostly Millennials, who want to live up to their potential. With classes selling out months in advance, it appeared the SOL founders had struck two primal...