I missed the Winter Fancy Food Show in San Francisco this year. As 1,300 exhibitors from 32 countries showed and sampled their 80,000 products to 17,000 attendees, I was off to India. But Andy Whitman of 2x Consumer Products was there and produced his usual excellent summary of emerging trends.

What he saw amid the sea of chocolates, olives and cheeses was the possible emergence of lesser know ethnic foods to take the place of those like Japanese, Thai and Indian that have become more mainstream.

Just got back from a business trip to Mumbai, my first visit to India. I got there ahead of time so I was able to do some speed-sightseeing, mostly in South Mumbai, the traditional business area and the location of some of the best-known tourist areas. Impressions and branding observations from the trip:

1) The Taj Mahal Palace and Tower

Photo: Taj Mahal Palace and Tower (me)

Facebook was ablaze with color and confusion this week. Those in the know were all black, beige and lavender. Those who weren’t were wondering what it was with all the colors in the status updates.

1) OMG! TMI! ‘What color’s your bra?’ becomes global Facebook fad for a day: NY Daily News
Turns out the point of the color status updates was to raise awareness of breast cancer and confuse men. Winner: Meme of the Week. Confusion: As many women not in the know as men. Impact on breast cancer awareness: Uncertain.

Photo: Risk! by geoftheref (Flickr)

Here’s one view of mergers and acquisition. In talking about M&A opportunities, The Boston Consulting Group says that companies must analyze their position to ensure that they are prepared for the coming economic upturn.

“A good one-fifth of all companies will be ‘predators‘ that are ready for acquisitions, while another one-fifth will be ‘prey‘–unless they take radical steps to survive” (my emphasis).

In this view, there are winners and there are losers. Very Von Clausewitzian, very aggressive, very competitive. And if your goal is to eliminate competition, reduce costs by combining assets and control everything from HQ, and if your intention is to quickly absorb an acquired company, throw out the executives and give it very little operating autonomy, maybe appropriate.

Photo from Brand Mix 2009 book cover

As far as I can see, there’s no rhyme or reason to this list of the six most popular Brand Mix posts from last year. It’s a mix!

#1: Vive la Difference: Building/Killing brand loyalty (Feb 2009)
A post based on a study published in the Journal of Consumer Research that showed that, if you want to raid brand loyalists from the competition, you should focus on the similarities between your product and theirs. But if you want to keep your fans loyal, you should focus on how you are different.

Photo: 2010! by pfala (Flickr)

Enough of 2009 and the Naughties. Onward and upward with the new year and decade. Let’s see what people are predicting for the year ahead.

1) Social Media Predictions for 2010: Scott Monty
Scott includes a list of predictions from Chris Brogan, Brian Solis and Pete Cashmore among others. One of his own predictions is that social media will become smaller and more local in 2010. He says the “collective cacophony is simply too much” and that people will start focusing on those who are close to them.

Photo: The Easiest Way by Martin Bishop

Last week’s edition wasn’t enough. We need more, more, more on the year and decade that’s about to end and more on the year and decade ahead as well:

1) 2009 Year-End Brands Survey and 2010 trends forecast: Landor
We are running a survey right now looking at brands that got us through the year and decade. The polls are open! Also, we’ve published our 2010 trends forecast. Will we consumers keep our recession-enforced, back-to-basics values or will it be a year where we learn to spend again? Also features predictions on financial services, social media, the airlines and design.

Decade from hell? A great decade? Somewhere in between. I link. You decide

1) The ’00s: Goodbye (at Last) to the Decade from Hell: Time
Time got in early with its pitch that it was the noughties from hell, going as far to describe it as the worst decade ever in this photo-essay. The decade actually got off to a good start by not having the Y2K meltdown that everyone expected. But then there was: 9/11, Iraq, tsunamis, Katrina, foreclosures and a market meltdown. Time thinks we only have ourselves to blame. A fatal mix of: greed, neglect, self-interest and deferral of responsibility drove these disasters.

Would a new approach to branding double Jarden’s share price?

I’m not a big fan of Mad Money. The whole Jim Cramer thing–the shouting, the close-ups, the boosterism, the hysteria–it just doesn’t work for me. But this segment was interesting. Cramer had invited Martin Franklin, CEO of Jarden Corporation, to talk about why home goods, specifically appliances, are doing so well this holiday season. Also, to harangue him about the fact that Jarden may be one of the biggest companies that no one’s ever heard of.

Photo: Brasil, meu Brasil brasileiro… by Andrea Fregnani (Flickr)

Maybe it’s because their economy is doing better than almost everyone else’s this year. Maybe it’s because they are worried about the destruction of their Amazon forest. Whatever the reason, Brazilians stand out for their concern about the environment and their commitment to buying green products.

The 2009 ImagePower Green Brands Global Survey shows Brazilians: Most concerned that the environment is “on the wrong track,” most concerned about the environment vs. the economy and most intending to spend more on green products next year. The next two countries on the list? In terms of commitment to purchase green products it’s China and India. Lagging behind: The UK, Germany and the U.S.