Discovering Trends Abroad

If you’re using media sources, however, it’s better to use foreign ones. The Telegraph or Times might not be keen to push a story initially exposed by the FT or Mail (or any other variation of this). This means, too, that you have much more chance of it not yet being a known quantity domestically, giving your pitch more power.

 

To which end, I would recommend monitoring foreign news sources once a week. Bookmark some good’uns and schedule time for a run-through. The New York Times is full of gold, as is the Washington Post. Bloomberg is good. For health, you could monitor mindbodygreen and Goop, of Gwyneth Paltrow fame. Dezeen and Dwell cover design. And so on. Look for places whose recent stories seem interesting and fresh, rather than stuff you’ve seen 12 times before.

 

Wait for a trend or story which fits your client, then lean on it. Don’t go too far — words such as “groundbreaking”, “amazing” or “extraordinary” shouldn’t be used to describe said trend — but just gently lean on it to make a smart, snappy pitch.