At the beginning of 2009, Natural Marketing Institute (NMI) released its annual trends report for the coming year. For 2009, they found the overarching theme for 2009 is what they call Recalibration. For the next few months I'm choosing one or more of the 10 trends outlined in NMI's initial report, go into more depth and explore how they effect change with customers and how we do business. Last month I talked about Big Changes Through Small Steps. This month: From Isolation to Affiliation. By JP Collins

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Nationally, people are coming together to share interests, learning crafts or creating public space. From the maker movement to the livable streets movement; people are attending events, getting out of their homes or getting together with friends. Additionally, people are making things and finding new uses for discarded item.

Ironically, in what would seem like an isolating experience, online social networking is helping people seek out face to face interactions in public spaces or situations to interact with others to learn, create and have fun in ways that haven't been part of our society in a long time. People are finding out about events, mixers or classes through Twitter tweets and posts on Facebook or on blogs and getting out of their homes, out of their cars (in some cases) and interacting with each other.

On the Street

In San Francisco, the livable streets movement has been instrumental in creating Sunday Streets. On designated Sundays, a specific street or part of town is closed to car traffic to encourage people to come out and play in the street, bike, roller skate, blade or walk. The same movement is driving other street closures to create public squares and street plazas such as the trial plaza now open in the Castro district in San Francisco that promote personal interaction and civic pride.

The national trend of farmer's markets has been very effective in getting people out to a public market place interacting with growers and neighbors to promote healthier food and lifestyles. For years the small town of San Luis Obispo in central California has combined a street closure and farmer's market/street fair event every Thursday evening. Five downtown blocks of Higuera Street are closed and feature food stalls, produce stalls and live entertainment.

Crafters and Makers

There's a new renaissance in making things with an added twist: reusing discards to make something new. People are taking classes on knitting, sewing and cooking. This month, the Maker Faire is taking place in the SF Bay Area. This event combines technology, crafting, DIY and creativity through reuse. And the rise in popularity of magazines like Make and ReadyMade or web sites like Etsy is a true indicator that people are interested in creating, purchasing and sharing hand made items rather than buying more plastic what-nots made in some factory employing questionable labor practices in another country.

On the market(ing) side, what you need to know

Green businesses and social entrepreneurs will do best in marketing to this consumer trend. That's because green business and social entrepreneurs have a lineage with roots in social and environmental activism and grassroots organizing. Traditional businesses entering the green market or promoting their corporate responsible programs must be careful and creative. But all businesses need to respond with innovation.

Look for ways to introduce your products or services in unlikely ways. For instance, this past San Francisco Sunday Streets on May 10th, a bike rental company set up a booth in a part of town where they normally do not have a presence. They rented bikes to people who would ordinarily not be their customers. Being there introduced a potentially new customer base to experience the service and possibly use the service the next time friends or relatives visit and want to do something different. A new customer in a new context.

Although this is a trend that favors small business, it presents opportunities to businesses of all sizes. Like in my last article about quality over quantity, it's important that companies maintain their authenticity, especially if they are sponsoring an event or participating in a community street fair.

No matter what size business you are, marketing to this trend requires new thinking in how to approach these customers through messaging and positioning and is a perfect environment for viral marketing. Mrs. Meyer's is a great example of that. From their marketing directly to customers at street fairs, to ad copy and positioning, to the videos of Thelma Meyers talking about various everyday life experiences, they are speaking directly to the audience embracing DIY and personal interaction.

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JP Collins is the owner and principal of Pylon Studios, a San Francisco creative agency that provides graphic design and creative marketing services for clients in the LOHAS, green building, and renewable energy markets. JP has over 12 years of experience in graphic design and internet marketing, and has consulted for companies like Great Place To Work Institute Inc., HarperOne (Harper Collins San Francisco), CNET, Apple Inc., Barclays Global Investors and the San Francisco Small Business Development Center.