The importance of family and community is rising as people emerge from the age of cocooning and begin re-connecting. According to a recent study by market research firm Yankelovich Monitor, a growing number of U.S. consumers are connecting with each other through the home in a trend that Yankelovich describes as "hiving." The company's research shows a renewed and rising interest in connecting and community. "Across all generations, family is more important than ever," a Yankelovich spokesperson says. "People see more value in community. Through hiving, home is the best place to reestablish relationships and connect with others. Home is command central for this new lifestyle."

The metaphor of a beehive captures what consumers are seeking because a hive is a home base of activity and engagement that is connected with the surrounding environment, not sealed off from it. Hiving is the embrace of others in a safe setting abuzz with activity and engagement. Home is an integral part of hiving, yet hiving is not just about home. A hive is command central for a fully engaged and broadly connected lifestyle.

The Yankelovich study identified this social trend and the three key elements of hiving:

The current return to home is about reaching out, not retreating; about others, not oneself; about finding comfort through connection, not through isolation. Today's challenges can't be met by tuning them out; they must be met head-on. And people understand that no one should try to face them alone.

Yankelovich Monitor research revealed a turnaround in core consumer values in the last few years. Their tracking of values and lifestyles shows a surging interest in intangibles such as family, friends, community, and work/life balance. Consumers have not abandoned material interests, but they have a new set of first priorities focused more on comfort and connection than on “stuff.” There is a big opportunity for products that enable people to make their hives more comfortable and inviting. Consumers want things that add a new look and feel or that make their homes easier to manage, thus freeing up time and mental energy for friends and family.

Sources: Professional Builder, Feb 2004, p.S44; Chain Drug Review, March 15, 2004. p.57; Direct, Feb 1, 2004.

In 2005, when it's possible to store thousands of your favorite snapshots on an iPod, cutting and pasting may seem archaic. But the old-fashioned pastime of keepsaking is increasingly popular in the U.S., making scrapbooking big business. In 2003, Americans spent more than $2 billion for albums, stickers, ribbons, and other scrapbooking supplies. Diehards attend scrapbooking cruises and gather in online chat rooms to trade advice. Trade magazines and even a "master's" program are dedicated to the craft. "People are seeing that life is short, and they're preserving family memories for their children," says Marianne Madsen, managing editor of Creating Keepsakes, the industry's largest magazine.

A 2004 research study sponsored by Creating Keepsakes found that America's enthusiasm for preserving memories through scrapbooking has dramatically increased in the last three years. The survey shows the industry has welcomed 4.4 million new scrapbooking households since 2001, fueling annual industry sales growth by 28% to $2.55 billion. In 2001, a benchmark survey found 21 percent of U.S. households had scrapbooked in the last 12 months. The Creating Keepsakes survey saw household participation rise to 24.5%—or nearly one in every four households in the U.S. Each month, more than 4 million scrapbookers are gathering nationwide for "crops," slang for scrapbooking workshops.

"The new survey absolutely confirms the amazing growth we've seen at Creating Keepsakes," said Mark Seastrand, publisher of the eight-year-old magazine. "With a dramatic increase in annual sales in just three years, we believe the scrapbook industry is headed for continued high levels of growth. Scrapbookers are passionate about what they do, and some may even say the hobby is addictive."

"Participation in crafting is going up," said Don Meyer, spokesman for the Hobby Industry Association (HIA). According to HIA, the scrapbooking business will continue to grow for the next two to five years. And the growing community is willing to spend their cash. Start-up costs for scrapbooking run about $150. In addition, scrapbookers are spending another $32 to $90 each month on supplies.

Scrapbookers are most likely to be females between the ages of thirty and fifty. Of current scrapbookers, 82% have a college education and nearly 50% are employed full time. Three core market segments exist among scrapbookers:

According to Seastrand, the market share among these segments has shifted over the last three years. "Many of the novice scrapbookers have become intermediate or dedicated scrapbookers," he said. "In 2001, dedicated hobbyists made up just 24% of the total market. In 2004, they claim 43%." This means scrapbookers are spending more time with the hobby. Currently, 51% spend at least ten hours scrapbooking in a typical month, compared to 37% in 2001.

The act of scrapbooking seems simple and straightforward: It preserves the past through photos and other memorabilia, using modern, acid-free papers that are less likely to fade or deteriorate than old-style materials. But scrapbooking isn't just another hobby. For many women, creating a scrapbook is an act of artistic expression in an era when such opportunities have dwindled or disappeared at home and in the workplace. A scrapbook is an individual's own work of art. But it's also one that, most often, is fashioned during "crops," modern throwbacks to quilting bees at which women sit around tables together to work on their pages, talk, and build friendships. "They're scrapbooking," says one industry insider, "because they want to connect, to reach out and touch someone, whether it's someone sitting next to them at the crop or someone 100 years from now they'll never meet. It's a way of saying, `My life was worth something. I was here!' "

The process of turning a blank scrapbook page into a historical record provides creative satisfaction that has been lost by mothers and housewives over the past century because of the industrialization of the home. One of the compensations for the drudgery of housework used to be the opportunity to be creative—to sew the family's clothing, to cook the family's meals. Today, though, clothes come from the mall, and meals from the local take-out place. “Scrapbooking provides that missing creative outlet,” says Georgie Carneal, co-owner of A Page in Time, “even for the many women who don't feel all that inspired. Some people who never thought they had any creative ability at all—with all the material available, all the doodads, it's not hard to be creative in a scrapbook," she says.

And scrapbooking continues to evolve. A hot trend within a trend right now is to create occasion scrapbooks, particularly for special-occasion gifts like weddings and showers. Companies are seeking ways to make scrapbooking a little less time consuming, developing albums that have some of the work already completed and/or provide instructions, ideas, and tips. “The opportunities in the scrapbooking market are almost endless,” states Kathy Needham, vice president of marketing for Inspirio. “We offer—and continue to explore—a variety of products designed to help families commemorate events and memorialize their lives.”

Sources: Time, Nov 22, 2004, p.102; Business Wire, June 14, 2004, p5039; Drug Store News, June 21, 2004, p.92; Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service, April 15, 2004, pK5683; Art Business News, April 2004, p.S18.

In fall 2003, giftware industry experts predicted the following trend: Decorative accents that serve a function will dominate the market over the next few seasons. This is one prediction that has proved to be true. Industry experts and individual artisans are seeing this prediction borne out in their own experience. People still need functional things, even when the economy is not roaring and luxury items are not flying off the shelves. “I’m a potter,” states one artisan. “Pottery is a functional piece of art. You cannot only look at it, but use it, as well. My sales have been up while many others have not.”

“Women want functional gifts with style,” states Jill Sands, creative director of Toland. “Besides looking for items that are unique and convey a sense of self, women often want to get some use from the products they buy.” High on the list for Americans in 2005 are vases, bowls, baskets, boxes, tins, files, albums, frames, and other products that can hold and organize everyday items. Giftware manufacturers of all types are developing more functional products that combine beauty and creativity with usefulness. Mirrors that double as wall art, clocks that look beautiful in addition to telling time, plaques that are also key holders—the list of functional giftware is long.

This trend is even apparent at this nation’s creative epicenter— New York City. New York's Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum held an exhibit called Design = Art: Functional Objects from Donald Judd to Rachel Whiteread, which presented furniture, rugs, lamps, glass, and ceramics. Featuring work by well-known minimalists and post-minimalists, it aimed to highlight the increasingly blurred line between high art and functional objects.

“We’ve seen this trend in the research we’ve conducted over the past few years,” states Caroline Blauwkamp, senior vice president and publisher of Inspirio. “Consumers have stated that they want giftware that combines function with beauty rather than items that just sit around and become ‘dustibles.’ They want to use their gifts in addition to looking at them. Many products in our current and future product line fill this consumer need. Our albums, journals, ScriptureKeepers®, and Bible covers don’t just look attractive—they provide utility as well.”

Sources: The Financial Times, Sept 18, 2004 p.17, Gifts & Decorative Accessories, August 2004, p.111; Home Accents Today, August 2004, p.28; Gifts & Decorative Accessories, Feb 2004, p.16; Home Accents Today, April 2004, p.SS8; Gift and Dec Direct, e-mail newsletter, Nov. 25, 2003; Gifts & Decorative Accessories, June 2003, p.46.