Recently I was part of a discussion around how to best bring the products of Finland’s creative industries to the global market. One issue we discussed were trends and their impact on success. In my opinion, you should not follow trends, but you need to be aware of them and exploit them if it is in your best interest.
A simple example from our discussion was Nordic Breads. As it says on their web page, the founder’s “passion for bread baking extends beyond his dreams.” This is a guy who would never give up making bread, no matter the trends. However, the company has been able to really capitalize on the ‘local food’ trend in New York by using locally grown rye. Now, you need flour to make bread anyway, but if you can pivot your idea to align with a trend… you might have a winner!
To make it in the entertainment world, you need to believe in your product with an intensity bordering on insanity, in order to plow through all of the obstacles you will face. You cannot change your product to fit every passing fad, as it might extinguish that belief. But can you look at it through a new perspective and align it with a trend?
