How We Predicted Brat Green Before It Hit The Feed

My kitchen is currently brat green, through no fault of my own. I’ve lived here almost eight years and never got around to changing the splash backs and embracing my own style. I lament the kitchen. I complain of it’s vividness, I couldn’t imagine a time where that shade of green would EVER be in vogue - and yet, there I was recommending that exact colour to a client. Why?

Well, one thing you need to know about us over here at Obsessd is that we do not let our personal taste cloud our judgement. Please read that again. It’s not about whether or not brat green reminds me of the stupid splashback in my kitchen, it’s about whether or not it’s going to sell. We don’t follow our taste, we follow the data.

I confess, I had one of those moments before sending the deck over where I doubted my own research skills. Really? Bright neon green? But then Charli XCX did her thing and I thought ah yes, I didn’t need to worry. Our research process is, as ever, solid. This lovely vivid green planner fits right in with the customer base, particularly a sub section that loves to subvert expectations, women who have a brat green vape and those teeny weeny little sunglasses that I love but could never pull off myself.

So how did we do it?

I mean, I’d love for you to believe I’m slightly psychic or that Holly and I have an Etsy witch on speed dial, but, that’s not the truth. The truth is, I’ve honed my research process over ten years, back when I started out research was make or break, I was the Marketing Manager for a start up which meant we couldn’t afford to be somewhat sure something was going to sell. We had to know. And how do you know when you can’t afford premium research tools that would tell you for sure? I’m about to tell you, don’t worry. I’m just hoping you’re enjoying all my inane waffling. At least you know this post isn’t AI.

But I’m not going to tell you everything, some things are a bit secret, with AI on the rise and a few copycats out there, I’d like to keep my brain my own. I’d like to say hey hands-off, this is my weird twisted research process and this is what makes Obsessd so successful. But dear readers, you deserve the truth (or at least some of it), because it may help you to predict trends in the future (and we’re nothing if not helpful!)

So how did we take a client brief “I want to release some products in the summer that are going to trend, be on brand, and help with the relaunch of my brand” and turn it into gold? Let’s break it down…

The process

We never approach briefs like a designer, or a marketer, or an whatever skill it is you need-er. If a client wants Instagram feed planning, I don’t approach it as a Social Media Manager. For this brief, it would’ve been far too easy to just go away and look at similar designs, trendy colours, and make somewhat educated guesses on the colours that needed to be manufactured.

Instead we went back to square one and looked at psychometrics. Damn, I love psychometrics.

We created an audience profile that looked into the psychology of certain age groups, we identified three key audience types (and shocker, they weren’t divided by age but by their current stage in life and digital beliefs) and then we went even further and identified the celebrities and influencers they liked, the trends they followed, the accounts they loved.

How to apply it to your own brand or business:

Take a step back from the current audience profiles you’re targeting. If it’s vague (we target everyone, man and woman from 18 to 80) try to be more granular.
✷ Who interacts with your brand primarily or purchases from you
✷ What does this group have in common?
✷ Try not to lump them together in the typical groups and look for other things to group them by (interest, fan of, product purchased, items worn, magazines read)

There are so many different tools you can use in your arsenal to double check your research, Spark Toro is a great one!

By doing this we identified three key groups, one of them being:

The New Sensorialists
These are the early adopters - curious, connected, and proudly unconventional. They pay in crypto but dine IRL. They unlock digital rewards to spend on physical products. They invest in NFT art not just for the flex, but to hang in their homes like a manifesto.

They move through the world with a rebellious edge - drawn to what’s new, what’s different, what challenges the norm. They want to be part of a community, but not a quiet one - they’re loud, proud, and unapologetically expressive.

They don’t fear technology, they believe in it.

In other words, they’re brat girls, before we knew that was going to be a thing.

Make a mood board

While you’re looking at them and the things they like, make a mood board. Screenshot things they interact with, get deep, and make connections look for colours patterns, images and create a little jumping off point.

Trend prediction comes from looking at what’s already interesting and then finding out what’s likely to be interesting in future.

Trend hunt

The next part is my favourite part, it’s all about hunting out the next big trends. We look at what brands are currently doing, what kind of visuals keep popping up, what’s happened before (and therefore is likely to again, trends are cyclical) and sink our teeth into colours, fabrics, words, anything that pops up is fair game.

Some links for your research:
https://www.trendhunter.com/
Because of Marketing
Business of Fashion
https://2025.foresightfactory.co/

I also make sure to have in my office a good set of physical resources (big fat books) that help guide me in the research process. Some recommendations would be:
The Copy Book
The Fashion Book
The History of Menu Design

With our trend research, we noticed a positioning change could help, and advised on the following:
To refresh the brand, a slight positioning change could help here, when reviewing the audience and how they’ve moved. The tone of voice could benefit from being fresh and informal. Learning from Crocs who lean into Hype Culture, Duolingo who created an unhinged owl persona, brands like Lisa Says Gah and even Marc Jacobs who collaborated with Teletubbies recently to lean into nostalgia.

So where did we find Brat Green, then?

Because trends are often cyclical, we found mention of neon green as the colour of the year in 2022, but also plenty of information to suggest it had been around for far longer. In the medieval era, lime green dye was said to go patchy (which made it associated with trickery and malice), then it had a resurgence later on, particularly in the 60s with designers like Mary Quant and again in the 90s with the neon leg warmers and the neon hippy trend.

It’s a safe bet that it’ll come back around at some point, but what really pointed us towards it was the runway. Yes, we always look at the runway.

We saw Albert Kriemler styling shades of lime green with swathes of emerald, we noted Lorenzo Serafini mixing shocking neon green with another trending tone of the year, muted ballet pink (like millennial pink’s grown up sister). This really helped us create our colour ways for the new launch, and with all the results from our research we ended up creating chocolate cherry (a rich burgundy that’s so hot right now), and a few other shades alongside our classic neon green.

In fact, here’s the wording from the deck we sent the client at the start of 2024: Green is definitely in for S/S 24 and S/S 25 however it’s not the muted sage green we’re used to seeing. This green ranges from nature-inspired to neon hued green but is often mixed with pink, lilac, purple, or yellow to create a new green palette.

I almost feel spooked by how right we were. But I shouldn’t be, because we know our sh*t.

The results of all this? Our client was delighted, the launch went beautifully, sales went up and even an A-lister dm’d about how beautiful the product was and ordered some! We can’t argue with that!

Beth x

Blog Post Title Two

It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

Don’t worry about sounding professional. Sound like you. There are over 1.5 billion websites out there, but your story is what’s going to separate this one from the rest. If you read the words back and don’t hear your own voice in your head, that’s a good sign you still have more work to do.

Be clear, be confident and don’t overthink it. The beauty of your story is that it’s going to continue to evolve and your site can evolve with it. Your goal should be to make it feel right for right now. Later will take care of itself. It always does.

Blog Post Title Three

It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

Don’t worry about sounding professional. Sound like you. There are over 1.5 billion websites out there, but your story is what’s going to separate this one from the rest. If you read the words back and don’t hear your own voice in your head, that’s a good sign you still have more work to do.

Be clear, be confident and don’t overthink it. The beauty of your story is that it’s going to continue to evolve and your site can evolve with it. Your goal should be to make it feel right for right now. Later will take care of itself. It always does.

Blog Post Title Four

It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

Don’t worry about sounding professional. Sound like you. There are over 1.5 billion websites out there, but your story is what’s going to separate this one from the rest. If you read the words back and don’t hear your own voice in your head, that’s a good sign you still have more work to do.

Be clear, be confident and don’t overthink it. The beauty of your story is that it’s going to continue to evolve and your site can evolve with it. Your goal should be to make it feel right for right now. Later will take care of itself. It always does.