The world has become a fishbowl. Satellites peer into our lives, cellphone calls are tapped, banking accounts are verified by credit providers and, wherever you go, in the first world anyway, the same brands are always apparent, especially a handful of soft drinks, apparel and fast food. People are like sheep, they like to follow the masses. In many cultures, mass appeal is everything; it’s about fitting in and being accepted. Hence, the spread of trends.

With easy access to the rest of the world through mediums such as the Internet, TV and magazines, worldwide trends make their way to South Africa, and are absorbed into popular culture, perhaps mere milliseconds after the moment of marketing plan inception. These trends either fit in and elaborate an existing trend, or change the way we see things, ultimately changing our concept of happiness and everything that encompasses it, from ambition to quality of life.

Dion Chang’s latest Flux Trends Review has hit the bookshelves and in it a chapter, by Loren Phillips, describes how we’re chasing a different kind of happiness – emotions – which play a big role in how we spend our money and our time. In a chapter titled, the Unplugged Revolution, Phillips writes, “People are beginning to question some aspects of digital life, such as being ‘always on’ and permanently available, seeing it increasingly as a downfall of a 21st century way of life. Our brains are largely being rewired to skim information. Reading is becoming less of a leisure activity [sic]… it is easy to see how living amidst all the gadgetry and technological clutter, there would be a pull in the opposite direction towards living a more simple, clutter-free life with more time available for the things that matter most – family and friends.”

When people have too much of one thing, moving towards the opposite end of the lifestyle stick comes naturally. It’s about gut feel as opposed to thinking things through, time spent doing the things one loves, appealing to the feminine side. Dr Sarah Britten, of Young & Rubicam, explained that the new principles of marketing were appealing to the female consumer and were more about feeding into emotions and dreams.

The marketing was more subtle, less Anglo-Saxon and more French. Think about it, the French are pros when it comes to marketing their wares. We wear French perfume and celebrate with French champagne. In fact, after a dispute of entitlement, the French got to keep the word champagne, so that it is only used to describe sparkling wine where the grapes are grown on French soil and harvested and fermented in France. Champagne was originally enjoyed flat not sparkling until a man, by the name of Dom Perignon, made a mistake that resulted in bubbly. The bubbly was taken to England by a nobleman and was enjoyed by the higher echelons of English society. So the French started exporting sparkling champagne, propagating a worldwide trend.

The joie de vivre of the French ensured that they never got their hands dirty in the industrial revolution; they preferred to keep to the natural route. Today, French beauty products boast natural ingredients. French cheese is available worldwide, and like champagne, only unpasteurised cow’s milk cheese from France can be labelled “Camembert”. They’re good at origin branding and as opposed to going for mass appeal, they’ve always target the discerning class. “The world has learnt from the French. In South Africa, Melissa’s is known for her nougat, the label appears handwritten and it’s packed by hand. Nomu, is another example of how quality is expressed through packaging and availability. The French won’t upsell; they’d rather undermine what they’re about, something which may come across as aloofness. At a restaurant, they’ll write up the menu on a chalkboard, rather than on industrially printed menus. It’s about quality rather than quantity,” explains Britten.

However, it’s difficult to escape the call of industry. The way the Chinese look at work and society is also making its way to the rest of the world. For them it’s all about putting work before life, either from necessity, or through habit. Contrary to the French way, the Chinese way is fast, quick and cheap. These trends are affecting South Africa, and the rest of the western world, concurrently. In a nutshell, French is about going back to a simple life, going green, recycling, eliminating excess… and trends from China are all about bling, fast, mass production and the pleasures of immediacy. People like to upgrade their cars, but are also environmentally recycling more, growing their own vegetables, planting trees, living a simpler life, going on holiday where they can meditate/find themselves and discover a new place. But people still want efficiency, ease (think Woolworths ready-meals) and availability, and value for money (think Mr Price clothing).

Jason Levin, MD of HDI Youth Marketeers says, “South Africa is still a ‘frontier’ mentality society with very material aspirations – unlikely most of Europe where craft is revered, and flashy German cars and conspicuous consumption are not. South African teens and young adults lust after French and other designer goods and the attached labels, but are happy to make do with ‘fong kong’ rip-offs from China and the East until they can afford the real thing – more so now in recession than ever.”

When it comes to marketing to the South African population, where cultures and income levels are varied, it’s fascinating to see how and where French and Chinese influences have made their mark. Does it stem from our perception of the world and how we see ourselves in it, or is it just the mass market appeal of fitting in?