* The BEST excites almost all consumers * Just as big as the REALLY REAL trend is the hunt for THE BEST OF THE BEST. In the current sea of sameness, who really cares for the MIDDLE OF THE MIDDLE? Consider the following quote from AirAsia founder Tony Fernande: “If low cost long haul services will be successful you will get market segmentation, with five-star airlines and three-star airlines". Meanwhile, the middle is becoming a wasteland. The explosion of choices at both ends of the market is leaving run-of-the-mill products and services starving for consumers”. With 2008 around the corner, dare we say that in this case, what applies to airlines, pretty much applies to all B2C industries? What’s fueling the BEST OF THE BEST trend? 1. Transparency of quality standards, transparency of which brand excels in a certain sector (EXPECTATION ECONOMY). Never before have ALL of us, consumers and business professionals, been so aware of BEST OF THE BEST standards. In fact, many consumers are now more versed in the art of competitive analysis than your in-house analysts. We/you have no excuses for not knowing. 2. An avalanche of interesting, well designed goods and services from all over the world (THE GLOBAL BRAIN has been unleashed, but more on that later). So just like consumers, we have scanned the globe for BEST OF THE BEST. We looked at architecture (some of the buildings slated for completion in the next few years truly defy the imagination), at a growing number of mundane products getting an upgrade, at the growing trend of brands co-creating, at famous designers working with blue chip brands to take on anything from phones to suitcases to mass-produced coffee machines), and at the burgeoning world of niche….so much is happening, and so much of it is out in the open, for you (and your competition) to sample and learn from, that in 2008, being among the (global) best will no longer be a choice, or a goal, but a requirement.