Hi! Since this is my first post so I'll start by talking a bit about who I am and what I do...
There are things that you know, things that you don't know, and things that you don't know that you don't know. My work deals alot with information in the last category.
In Mindshare I'm known as 'The Scout' for Asia-Pacific, where I keep an eye on emerging trends within the lifestyles of youth living in major cities around the region. Most of the time I admit, I don't know exactly where, when, and in what form they will pop up from. I'm based in Bangkok and it's impossible for me to be present to physically check out all the other cities covered, all of the time. I also admit, I don't have that many years left to keep me officially in the 'youth' segment (no, I won't say how many).
To this end, we've recruited help from individuals in each city to act as our eyes and ears into the local youth culture, also referred to as our 'trend scouts'. Typically we choose those with a creative background as DJ's, musicians, designers, artists, writers, bloggers, and web developers or those who are well-connected to the scene. Why? As cultural creators, these people typically:
a) create new content and are therefore in touch with what's emerging at the street level
b) market their creations to youth and therefore have valid opinion on youth's behaviours and attitudes
c) have open mindsets and diverse social networks
We've called this group of the urban trendwatchers the "Scout Network".
In Asia-Pacific, the Asia Scout Network spans 11 cities ranging from Tokyo to Mumbai to Manila to Ho Chi Minh City. Their voices can be 'heard' directly on the blog www.asiascoutnetwork.com.
What next? I review the local input delivered from the scouts then balance them with the larger context of global trends as monitored through assorted blogs and publications. Drawing from experience in qualitative research and youth trends from, respectively, Millward Brown and The Filter Group (now acquired by Synovate), I tease out the issues that jump out of the mess of information, link them to media and marketing, and disseminate them through reports and recommendations. For more on what I do, here's a video of me on a youth trends panel at the PSFK Conference Asia 2008.
On this blog, I'd like to share some of my thoughts on emerging youth culture around Asia and, occasionally, beyond. Youth culture a pretty broad subject that covers everything from music to social media so I think the topic of my posts will vary quite a bit.
Lastly before I forget, my name is Achara Masoodi.
Big thanks to the people at Cream for setting up this blog!
