5. New professions: coolhunting, stylist, retail manager, chef & web

Coolhunting

Coolhunting (an term from 1980's America) is a marketing instrument that has exploded into the beginning of the 21st century and is all about observing tendencies and cultural models that are being formed or are evolving in the media, in fashion, or simply in daily life. "Cool" has suggested attractiveness since the 1970's. Coolhunting applies a sociological approach to "cult research" through desk research (surfing the web, social networking, blogging...) and the visual and direct exploration of the worlds and scenarios that are a reference for youth culture (often using photographs and/or video as a support for the research). Every coolhunter operates autonomously with respect to the general way of thinking and supplies materials which are useful for defining, before they happen, the fashions and languages that "will be seen" in events, media, spectacle, marketing, communication, the fashion system and consumer culture. From a niche phenomenon, coolhunting has become a well-defined profession, and training courses have begun to be dedicated to its study.

5 Sites for cool hunting:

www.trendwatching.com/
www.mtvsticky.com/
www.coolhunting.com/
www.futurescoping.com/
www.trendhunter.com/

Video. A short film created as the final project for the Coolhunting course which can be taken at the the Istituto Europeo del Design (IED), Milan:

Stylist: create a celebrity's image

A stylist is an expert in communication who combines art and science to make people and objects appear at their best and express their real personality. It is often confused with or thought to overlap with the profession of image consultant, but the stylist mainly looks after celebrities or those who would like to become celebrities, while the image consultant looks after "normal" people. The stylist is able to create an image for a particular public figure which will be able to attract the attention of the media during public appearances, events, interviews and TV programmes.

Video. Advice from the stylist of some of the world's top celebrities:

Retail Management: shops also need managers.

Retail management is taking on an increasingly crucial role in the commercial success of companies, whether in the manufacturing or service sectors. However, setting up and seeing a strategy through and establishing a successful operating model for sales points is very complex, and no operating guide exists for companies. This is why the experience and instincts of retail managers are fundamentally important. These are people who were professionally born in retail and so who are able to decode and interpret the needs and changes of the sector. For this reason it is vital these days to concentrate resources on developing brands capable of creating "the shopping experience".

Video. An experiment in the shopping experience in London before Christmas:

The web and everything associated with it

The market is on the hunt for new professions, particularly those linked to the most recently burgeoning sectors that are constantly evolving, like the web. Social networking and blogging are the new battlefields in which the big companies are daring to develop their marketing strategies.
Apart from marketing and communications experience, considerable technical skills specific to Web 2.0 are useful. Here are some of the new professions that use Web 2.0:

WEB ANALYTICS - WEB CUSTOMER PROFILING
Analyse and segment potential clients on the internet; advanced information technology skills with notions of marketing.

INFOBROKER
Research economic data and information on the web.

WEB MARKETING MANAGER
Specialised in web marketing for managing director of big companies.

MARKETING MANAGER SOCIAL MEDIA
Applies the rules of marketing to social media, networks and blogs.

COMMUNITY MANAGER
Maintains virtual platforms and networks in big companies.

SALES MANAGER
Commercially gifted with technical skills in the digital. Manages advertising campaigns using internet tools.

WEB CREATOR
The originator of online advertising campaigns. Creative and communications capacities emerge.

EXPERT IN SEARCH ENGINES
Finds the best positioning and visibility on search engines.

PERSONAL DIGITAL VIP
Maintains and manages web campaigns for companies or public figures to develop their image and reputation. Innovative marketing applied to the web which requires a variety of abilities.

Video. An interesting video which shows the speed of development of the web today. Impressive!

Territorial marketing: how "I ♥ NY" began

The logo "I ♥ NY" was invented in 1977. That year, William S. Doyle, the Deputy Commissioner for the Trade Department for the State of New York, engaged Milton Glaser, a graphic designer, to contribute to a marketing campaign to promote the State of New York. Glaser only expected the campaign to last a few months and created the logo for free. Since then, the logo has been successfully used to promote tourism in the entire State of New York, and not only in New York City, which is what most people think. The image has been more than ever in the limelight since the attack on the Twin Towers on September 11, 2001. Glase created a modified version to commemorate the attacks, "I ♥ NY More Than Ever", with a little black mark in the heart to symbolise the crater left in the World Trade Center.

Video. The story of I ♥ NY in images:

"Good" eating: slow food chef/authors

Slow Food is an international non-profit association that began in Italy in 1986. Its aim is to promote the right to experience meals, and the world of gastronomy, as a pleasure. It was thought up as a response to the spread of fast food and the frenzy of modern life. Slow Food studies, defends and divulges farming and gastronomic traditions from all over the world.

Through projects, publications, events and demonstrations, Slow Food has pledged to defend biodiversity and the rights of all peoples to food sovereignty, battling against the homogenisation of tastes, mass farming and genetic manipulation. Through its web of associates, people can meet and exchange ideas an experiences. Slow Food has agreed to make gastronomic pleasure an act of awareness-building of the public, showing how a good dish is made up of choices that take place in the countryside, on boats, in vineyards, schools and governments.

Chef Jamie Oliver