I went to Nike store when in NY and suddenly saw this on the wall. And I thought, owaw, Lebron really does understand how it is to be an anthropologist… !
like playing a game
a modern woman
Ask any woman if she considers herself to be a modern woman and few will say “no”. The other alternative is just not attractive. But what does it mean to be a modern woman?
”My baby is only 3 months old and I am starting to feel that urge to be free. Get out. Go to work. Not to sit at home and breastfeed. I love children but that’s not my thing. I need some space. Typical eh. The modern woman. (Maria is a 37 year old journalist in Stockholm, Sweden)
“When you look at me you see traditional women. I have my chicken and I sell my eggs. But I am actually a modern woman. You can’t see it but my dreams are modern. In my dreams I am a pilot or a doctor. And I live in America. You see now. I am modern.” (Alganech is a 42 year old business owner in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia)
trends about consumers and ecological brands
This week Jonas and I will talk about what makes consumers buy ecological brands (or why they not buy) at Dagligvarutrender, Hotel Rival.
Modern man is an aware being, this largely due to the information that is available everywhere. When awareness grows the demands for products and services also grows. The conscious human knows she cannot change the world by herself, but she wants to do something for a better world, these actions make her feel good. But only a few act upon this awareness, at least to the extent they themselves deem ethically correct. To say that one is aware and to actually act upon this awareness are not the same. Brands need to understand this dwelling to truly connect to the consumers.
GET THE REPORT FROM US.
a comment to Sabuni’s article
In an article in DN today the Swedish ministry of integretion talk about what to do with the suburb in Sweden. Viktoria was invited to Swedish Television to comment. See the program here.
we are marked before we are born
The other day Swedish Radio sent a program titled Boende påverkar fostret (Housing effects fetus) saying that our housing area lay the foundation for our unborn babies health. The comparison was made between a posh Stockholm area (Östermalm) and a, what they call, a “socially segregated neighborhood” in Stockholm (Fittja).
Living conditions and its relation to health is neither new or a mystery, but the reaction to this program amongst fellow hoodsresidents where pretty strong since the program proposed the ”new” research in a predestined and permanent social model. A pregnant women said, “Now he is marked even before he is born”, while looking down at her pouching stomach.
I am also tempted to disregard this as deterministic bull shit but I do think that we have to acknowledge the fact that people are social products, but we are also creative, rational and socially reflexive. In other words pregnant mum, there is a lot of hope for your unborn child. Make it happen!
I love eco – or “real ecological” food?
Sara is in the grocery store. She often complains about the lack of “ecological and local products”, they are more real. When she sees someone working in the store she always talk with them about this. They answer her that there are so few people that actually choose the ecological products, they are too expensive. Sara’s trip to the store always makes her irritated. One day her grocery has started a new brand “I love eco”. Sara doesn’t see it, she is too occupied looking for ecological products as usual. When she suddenly realise the new brand she is not interested, it is too mass produced: “that is ecology for the average person”, she says and continues to look for “real ecological” products. (Sara 26 years in the grocery store)
There is evident that many consumers either go for quality or mass production; you go for soul or the general idea. For example; when it comes to food one either chooses ecological or locally produced or cheap canned good without story or localization. It’s a logical process depending on what currency you use in that certain moment.
att leka svensk
Sorry, this one must be in Swedish.
Fältanteckningar, februari 2009.
”Min pappa läser tidningen på morgonen. Svenskan. Han har svensk flickvän, så det är därför. Han skulle inte tänka tanken på att beställa hem tidningen om det inte var för henne.” (Sara 16 år)
”Ahh. Min farsa försökte också göra det …. eller han gjorde det ett tag. Försökte leka svensk. Men han bara … ´Va, det kostar?´ (Skratt) Det var den där Dagbladet…Dagens Nyheter som han prenumererade på. Jag kände inte igen min farsa. Han satt där vid frukostbordet med en tidning – en svensk tidning.” (Serkan 16 år)
recession be damned
While in New York last week we noticed signs of recession, here and there. Less people in the shopping areas, a lot of sales, agressive campaigns in stores and malls, consumers looking twice before buying. But the lovely little store Rice to riches in Nolita, serving rice puddings in different flavors, had a nice sign on the door. A woman working selling puddings told us: “When we see people stop reading the signs we see small smiles in there faces… and of course, they slip inside and buy a pudding instead of that expensive shirt… “. Small luxuries that taste good is worth a lot in a world marked by depression…
in-home interviews is not ethnography
Grant McCracken writes about the difference between ethnography and in-home interviews that many people nowadays define as “ethnography”. Many companies say that if they make interviews in people’s homes it’s ethnography! But they are missing a whole lot of the methodology. McCracken points out 4 important things with ethnography: it’s picking up the telling details, it can see all details at once, see the topic from several points of view and to see the product, innovation or opportunity in a broader context. It’s all about putting anthropology back in the ethnography! Almost all of this value is missing when “ethnography” is simply interviews in-home. Read the whole text at Cultureby.
