2020 is just around the corner and with the new year comes the 2020 business marketing and trade show season. Here is what is trending.

The promotional products game is no longer the same old crap that your parents generation once embraced.

The days of giving someone a leaky pen or a crappy coffee mug are numbered if not gone. In fact, IMO, if you give someone one of these 2 ideas they will likely chuck it into the garbage can.

The days of giving someone a leaky pen or a crappy coffee mug are numbered if not gone

What is hot for 2020 in promotional products!

2020 is the year of the geek. In 2020, if you want to be seen as a trend savvy b2b marketer you need to be getting your logo on something unique and geeky.

#1 geek swag. Blue light blocking glasses.

As a business marketer you want your logo on something that is trending at retail. One of the top trending products on Amazon is the bluelight blocking glasses. What are Blue Light Glasses read more.

Why are blue light glasses trending?

It’s always a little bit of a mystery as to why one product takes off and then another does not much of anything, but as we have found out, spotting a trend as it takes off usually has a few key commonalities.

Commonality #1

Controversy: Weird to think this is a commonality in trends but it is. Remember fidget spinners? Kids were going to eat them, put them in their nose or lose their shit and runaway from home if they didn’t get one. The other controversy was did they cause autism or cure it? Controversy brings attention to the product or idea.

The blue light blocking controversy: There are 2 schools of thought here which is the controversial nature of blue light blockers. Do they or don’t they work?

The short answer is as follows. They definitely work to reduce eye strain and more importantly reduce the blue wave light that causes sleep disturbances. Read the Harvard report.

Commonality #2

The other commonality with spotting trends is a sharp decline in price.

When a trend starts the price is usually high. This comes about as a result of a product being introduced to the marketplace and trendspotters all coming together to buy them as they first hit.

Online sites like Indiegogo and Kickstarter are key players in launching new ideas. The problem for newbies to manufacturing is that they do not know the costs of manufacturing and marketing and fall into some massive holes along the way. A great example of this is Final Straw. Their folding drinking straw started off at $30 and then they got 1000’s of complaints due to poor customer service and expectation of clients concerns. In the meantime a very similar folding straw can now be purchased for less than $5. This is an indicator of a trend taking flight.

Commonality #3

The other commonality of a trend is the underlining fact that they are something you can probably live but often becomes essential. Sad to say but salad is and will never be an emerging trend. Even if it was once a trend it is now a necessity. Which by definition, is not a trend.

So to spot a trend it needs to be somewhat controversial, be experiencing a sharp decline in price and is something you can likely live without but will soon become a necessity. The next perfect trend? Blue Light Blocking Glasses.