‘Tis the season for year-end lists and year-ahead predictions. From what I’ve been reading, the prognosticators have their crystal balls working overtime on forecasting the trends for 2013.

One of my favorites was Trend Hunter TV’s Top 20 Trends of 2013. Here are the crib notes:

20. Vending 3.0 (Look for a lot more interactive vending experiences with advancements like facial recognition or even swapping options.)
19. Upgraded Ordinary (We want different– but ketchup dispensed from calking guns?)
18. Dystopia Fascination (A darker pop culture driven by our fascination with “The Hunger Games,” “Twilight,” etc.)
17. Millennial Madness (The millenial/GEN Y demographic will become even more important as more boomers retire.)
16. Modular Retail (Those temporary pop-up and semi-permanent outlets are, ironically, here to stay.)
15. Imposed Interaction (Open office environments will continue to prove productive.)
14. Shoptimization (Taking the lead from mobile shopping experiences, retailers will offer more rewards, deals, etc.)
13. Sustain-citecture (Taking environmental environments to the next level)
12. Deliberate Vintage (Recreating antique imagery for greater appeal today)
11. Immersive Branding (Engage consumers in real life, not just via social media)
10. Wearable Multitasking (Products that let you manage your life from your watch, for example.)
9. Subscription World (Subscriber options for everything – right down to your underwear)
8. Physical Virtual (Augmented reality – as incorporated into our retail experiences)
7. Benefit Brands (Socially- and environmentally-conscious brand models continue to lead.)
6. Nostalgic Escape (Surreal experiences playing on childhood nostalgia)
5. Crossover Cuisine (Our fascination with east will continue to influence west’s taste for food, architecture, fashion and design.)
4. Fashionizing (Even the most mundane are revamped and  stylized for maximum appeal.)
3. Shoppertainment (Truly living the brand experience to engage consumers on an epic level)
2. Indust-Retail (The minimalistic aesthetic of less is more will prevail.)
1. Manufactured Addiction (The gaming inspired shopping experience, where shoppers buy quickly to unlock the next deal on the next level.)

My takeaway from this list is, in short, “buyer beware.” We all may have had a hand in shaping these trends (consciously or not), but that doesn’t mean we have to buy into all of them.

You can watch the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFUMZ_o6l2s .