For several years, I had the pleasure of traveling to London each spring for the International Direct Marketing Fair.
In addition to bringing home tons of news and story leads, I also always came back to the states with tips on what was going to be the next hot trend to jump across the pond.
One year, a database vendor confided in me that I should bring home anything I could featuring characters from a popular U.K. children’s series that was soon to launch in the U.S. “It’s called Teletubbies,” he said. “Get up and watch it tomorrow morning. Trust me. It’s going to be huge.”
The next day, I groggily fumbled for the remote when my wake up call rang and put the TV onto BBC1 (or BBC 2…or BBC48…who knows?). I watched it for a minute, shook my head and decided it would better if it was late at night and I had just come back from the pub a little sloshed.
The next month, the multicolored Fab Four made their debut on PBS and were indeed, huge. And little did I know then that about five years later I’d be watching the Tubs every morning. Uh-oh!
Another year, I came home humming Spice Girls songs before the girl group sang their way to our shores. And I also had the chance to see “Art” in the West End long before it became a Broadway smash. (I saw Robert De Niro fleeing the Fleet Street photographers that night outside the theater—perhaps he was there picking up on trends too?)
This year, the International DM Fair will be held May 1-3 at Earls Court 2 in London (http://www.idmf.co.uk). Sadly, I won’t be attending. This is a major dilemma. How will I ever be able to stay on the cutting edge? The closest I get to international trends is watching BBC America on cable – and that programming is usually six months to a year behind what initially airs on the Beeb.
To get in the know, I contacted my friend Sue Baker of Lexicon PR in London, who does publicity for the DM Fair. Being in public relations, surely she and her mates at Lexicon would know what was hot and ready to bubble across the ocean.
Turns out, it’s already here. One craze she cited was the Nintendo Wii, which she was sure we knew about. Another hot pop culture touchstone she was sure we didn’t have yet was “Deal or No Deal.”
Nope, I said, we’ve had that one since last summer. Good to know that high culture is universal, I joked.
“Ha!,” said Sue via e-mail. “Well, you can also thank us for ‘American Idol,’ which is a U.K . invention too. There’s no limit to the trash we’re prepared to export around the world! ”
Speaking for the states, I say, right back at ya’ friend.
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