What the World looks like Today (Thursday May 14, 2020)

With all the blurred days blending into a very unfamiliar brain-zone, Feels like we are living in William Gibson’s newest book Agency. Where the space time continuum and the Tomorrow’s Today is Yesterday theme fits right in to my world right now. I cant quite time travel backwards or forwards like the book. But I can observe and think future forward.

The last post was already a month ago, which feels like a month ago or 8-10 days ago, once again the blurring of days into other days can throw me off a bit.  At that time, the main themes were the rising of TikTok, Zoom and Opportunity.

From Observance, reading, talking to people and intuition. Lets see where May 14th 2020 takes us:

Nostalgia:  People want to feel safe. By going back in time and visiting things they loved when the world was “Normal” helps them cope.  Some examples:  People watching movies from their teens and 20’s. The Buying and selling of Star Wars, 70’s and 80’s Sitcom and Pokemon merchandise is hot now.  Tie-Dye has been IN and will continue as a big fashion trend, think of the freedom vibe in the 70’s, there was war, but there were also hippies and lots of Tie Dye which is a safe, fun vibe. And the TD masks that will be created will be stellar. Of course one of a kind, which is still a very HOT trend, not going anywhere.

And Michael Jordan’s the Last Dance brings back the 1990’s to a TON of the sports and entertainment starved population of the world.  Stock X, who sells sneakers like stocks, had their site crash during one of The Last Dance episodes. And Jordan sneaker prices continue to climb.  Jordan’s Rookie card was selling for 7K about 5 years ago, Sold for 12K the week of May 4, 2020.

I didn’t even catch on that I was already doing the Nostalgia trend on Fridays I was watching a different Old school Basketball movie each week. The reason at the time, it was making me feel, well.. warm, comfortable and SAFE.  I watched He Got Game, Above the Rim, even Rebound helped me cope. Nostalgia and things that we liked when we were young will continue to bring relief and a feeling of safety,  a trend that isn’t going anywhere soon.

How can you take advantage of it?  Use some key entertainers from the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s in your advertising.  Do some Trivia games on your social media that cater to any of these years.  Bring Back the Drive-In movie or take it further and do a drive In RAVE or Drive up Virtual Concert.  Churches can use a low frequency FM stations and broadcast the sermon to the cars in the parking lot. There is so much we can do  Me, I’m gonna try and sell some Beanie Babies!

Aloha Shirts:  Yet another revival of a revival.  Wowza! This ties into the Nostalgia theme, yet goes a bit further. After the daily press conference in Hawaii, the game show:  Who’s Line is it anyway? comes on my TV. So, I end up watching a bit of the 2019-2020 season and both Drew Carey and Ryan Stiles have been wearing Aloha shirts.  They look slightly out of place since they are the corporate versions. I’d rather see them in some vintage looks. Adam Sandler has a new movie coming out soon The Wrong Missy, they are wearing the corporate, vintage and loud shirts in it.  And watch for the 70’s Trucker Hat in the trailer/movie on Netflix. That might or might not take off.

BTW-Pro Tip:  Tori Richard has been GIVING away free masks daily. If you go to their website. A pop up appears 1-2x a day. Sign up with your info and they send you 4 free masks. With a nice print on the outside and another pretty cool print on the inside. Plus you receive a $25 Coupon and free delivery on your next purchase.  Not sure how long this will last, check their site out and see.  There are also masks for sale, but look for the pop-up that appears mysteriously almost daily.

High Quality-Low Priced Clothing:  There’s going to be more clothes available than people to buy and wear them.  Look to Macy’s, TJ Maxx, Kohl’s, and Ross first. They will have inventory from Spring they should have sold 2 months ago. Even though, many have been selling on line, the things that have been delivered to the stores have been sitting for 2 months.  There are gonna be some MASSIVE DEALS on high quality clothing. Look to Nordstorm, Saks and Bloomingdale’s next.  However, a lot may just sit and turn into material for masks since unemployment is so high.

Pro Tip:  I don’t know how true this is, saw it on Footlocker New Zealand. But they say they will be releasing some HEAT from a few weeks ago. That means you may be able to score some retro Jordan’s at COST! Just need to time your store visit correctly and wear a mask.

Click and Mortar:  70% of customers use the internet before making a purchase, researching, pricing, comparing or buying. There’s stores in New York that use their store as an advertising venue more than a place to buy things. The RealReal is a good example of this. Order on line pick up in store. Stores using wi-fi and Geo tracking to give you deals while in store or when you get home. The click and mortar is basically a blend of the on line and on site experience. This is supposed to be what’s happening now or near future.  But because of all that’s happened, AMAZON just may be the only CLICKS store you need. I’m a shopper, thus I like to wander stores and browse, touch, feel, try things on. Yet, after all that’s happened, I doubt even I will be doing that in the near future.  Could be in another 10, maybe even 5 years. There won’t be much more Mortar to go to.  I am hoping that is not the case, Yet AMAZON has pretty much everything and It tends to be cheaper. One Company will rule the world.  AMAZON or Alibaba or maybe some underdog from Russia.  My main bet would be on AMAZON. They already own more than you think:  IMBD, Twitch, Whole Foods Audible, Zappos, Shopbop and a few more!

Specialized One of a Kind Boutique’s may be best equipped to be Click and Mortar. And stay in business both on-line and in a physical store.

Physical Retail stores were having trouble before all of this (Barney’s-RIP)  Now, who knows what may become of a traditional on-site store. At this very moment, I’m thinking a lot more CLICKS than mortars.

Look Good Inside:  All of this Zooming and sitting around the house will help the accouterments, lighting and beauty brands.  People want to look good in their zoom meeting. Look for special skin preparations, light specifically made for Zoom meetings and possibly home improvements.  But you can easily change your room to a stylish apartment on the upper East Side by using your iPhone to screen shot a great apartment background.  I don’t even bother with a made for Zoom Virtual Background. I just find pix in my camera or take a simple screen shot from the internet and interchange them dependent upon which meeting I am in.  And I’d buy something to get rid of some wrinkles on screen or even a stand for my phone so my head doesn’t look so big.  Hey, how bout a green screen, so that your real background doesn’t seep through the virtual background. I bet we see home style Green Screens for sale very, very soon.

Anyone ready for a DIY haircut done by a Robot. Perfect, Precision, Cut and Color to your liking in the comfort of your own home.  But, you’ll miss out on some juicy gossip.  Who knows maybe the 2nd gen version will come with gossip audio? Could happen! Actually will happen..who knows, maybe it already exists!

Ok, that should do it for May 14, 2020.  I know I forgot something, but as you and I know, too much writing usually doesn’t get read.  People want instant gratification and instant knowledge.  Next blog, promise, we will do 5 easy to read headlines with 2 sentence in each.

I leave you with this video for today. It’s keeping with the stay positive vibe, but you may need to do a bit of home work.  Hope it helps you navigate Tomorrow’s Today is  Yesterday.