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The 'Real' Source for Cool

By David A. Morrison
TWENTYSOMETHING^™ Inc.

Dear Editor:

Your "Quest for Cool" article (September 8th, 2002 issue), was, well, a pretty cool read. Unfortunately, it contains a fatal fallacy that may misread your readers. The piece erroneously states that "the wpe25.jpg (6628 bytes) God of the trend setter is the 14-year-old hipster". For a myriad of product categories and industries, nothing could be further from the truth,. The trend setters my firm has closely tracked since 1991 couldn't care less about what 14-year-olds are up to: think of such current cultural phenoms as "Queer Eye" and "American Chopper", Converse "Chucky T" sneakers, import tuning, Latin hip hop, oversized pants, and 20" wheels (i.e., "dubs"). Think any of these examples originated with the 7th grade set?

Ironically, it is the inherent aspirational needs of younger teens (e.g., 14-year-olds) to feel more grown-up which has them incessantly emulating their older siblings as veritable "mini-me" carbon copies. Today's real "cool" can be found on the city streets and college campuses among cutting-edge older teens and twentysomethings. After all, the highly coveted 18-34 year old market is incredibly experimental and doesn't require "mommy's and daddy's" permission to make most purchases. Organizations truly seeking to leverage emerging trends should look for cool hunters with extensive academic training (vs. hype), a proven track record, vision, proper business and "real world" experience, and the ability to see the underground world well past the cool hunter's own personal experiences (e.g., "perspectivus myopicus"). Only in this fashion will meaningful trends be identified and strategically aligned with a firm's objectives, resources, timing, and competitive advantage.

Anything else would simply be uncool.

David A. Morrison is president of TWENTYSOMETHING^™ Inc. Philadelphia-based and an industry pioneer, his firm specializes in young adult consulting and marketing research. Clients include an impressive array of Fortune 500s, leading advertising agencies, colleges and universities, global nonprofits, and state as well as federal government agencies.

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