Why Fear of Disappointment will be 2015's biggest marketing trend

With Christmas just 11 months away, it’s time to start thinking about everything we want, what we think our loved ones want, what our loved ones really want, and what marketing wants us all to want and then carefully bridge the gaps in-between without turning into crumbling ghosts.

What I learnt from Christmas 2014 is that we’ve all become Chief Expectation Fulfilment Officers. It’s a tough job. Sometimes enjoyable. Often stressful. All encompassing. If we don’t do the job properly then the expectations of loved ones become dashed against the rocks and, to stretch the metaphor to breaking point, we get fired. Out of a canon. Arse first. The need to not disappoint and not be disappointed has become a driver more ominous than the dude chasing after Dennis Weaver’s truck in Duel. Stick that driver in a saucepan and boil them down and what remains is a thick black reduction of fear — the great human driver of them all.

After reading FastCo’s rather insightful, sometimes warming and quite frankly scarifying Creative Forecast 2015 (which to be perfectly honest reads like it could have been 2014's forecast), I’d like to add to the pile of real life emotional digital muddle and propose ‘Fear of Disappointment’ (sister to 2012's FOMO — fear of missing out) as 2015's biggest trend.

Forget the warm fuzzy feeling of a bank trying to reconnect to its entirely ticked-off and rightfully disenfranchised customers with some plinky-plonk guitar music and a husky voiced cover version overlaid to grandparents Skype-hugging or something and pretending everything’s okay and made possible in sepia tones. It’ll be the core fear of disappointment that’ll make people download the next mini-series after mini-series after mini-series, flash-buy the latest Nespresso coffee butler or splash out on some 72 hour deodorant. And the reason? We’re no longer geared up for disappointment.

When The Rolling Stones sang something about not always getting what you want, given it was 1969 you very probably couldn’t (unless it was a bag of drugs or you were the Queen). The lyrics don’t ring so true today. Even though the mercurial powers-that-be are sophistically telling us what financial dire straits we’re all in, we can all one way or another — regardless of consequence dished out at 1000% APR — still have credit up the yang, which means we can always have whatever we want RIGHT NOW. Because it would be disappointing to not take that sofa away today, wouldn’t it?

Way back when I could convince the nice lady in the local video shop that my mum said it was okay to rent American Ninja 2 (insert joke about that being last week), if the video you wanted to watch that night was being borrowed by someone else, there was no boo-hooing, just a re-calibrating of expectations and a different film was rented instead. Admittedly you felt gutted, but that character-building sensation quickly passed. Today every film is available whenever you want it. And not just films. Disappointed you missed a TV show last night due to too many after work sherbets? Just catch up with it online. Feeling disappointed you don’t know what everyone’s talking about when they talk about remembering their name? Breaking Bad is there for you to stream. Disappointed it’s two in the morning but want to check out the album to which your favourite celebrity says they cook lobster bisque in their second home in Nebraska? You can on your cleverphone, right now. Found your internet connection has just gone bung? FFFFUUUUUUUU! THAT PIECE OF CRUT ISP RUINING MY LIFE GAAAAHHHH!

No, we’ve lost the fine art of dealing with disappointment somewhere along the way and, dear marketeers, 2015 is the business opportunity you’ve all been waiting for. And should you play your cards right your customers can enjoy climbing over each other’s faces as every day becomes Black Friday. Your only concern should be if the much promised ‘slow’ culture gets traction and the world (more commonly known outside the centre of our universe bubble as The West) chills a massive one off and — unlike Kevin Bacon (who don’t like waitin’ for anything) — learns again to be patient and embrace the transient bitter sweetness of disappointment.