Physical keepsakes are a powerful way to hold on to memories of important events in one's life, and Followbands are a product designed specifically to satisfy that nostalgic impulse. The stylish bracelets each come with a charm that has precise locational coordinates etched into it, and consumers can customize the charm with whatever location they want to keep memorialized on their wrists.
The founders of Followband first invented the concept with the prospect of graduating from college fast approaching. As a way to remember her sorority house, Monika Dammann, one of the founders, etched the house's longitude and latitude onto a bracelet -- and so the idea was born.
Followbands are indeed good gifts for graduating students, but the company's ethos has expanded, and the bracelets are frequently worn to commemorate traveling adventures or new careers.
Coordinate-Embedded Bracelets
'Followbands' Help Wearers Remember Important Places in Their Lives
Trend Themes
1. Keepsake Jewelry - The trend of incorporating locational coordinates or other personalized touches into bracelets, necklaces, and other jewelry items is growing popular, offering great opportunities for custom jewelers or startups to design and produce unique pieces.
2. Nostalgic Accessories - As people embrace nostalgia in all areas of their lives, there's a rising demand for products like Followbands that evoke a sense of sentimentality. Companies can cater to this trend by offering personalized accessories with a sentimental twist, like coordinates of a birthplace or hometown etched into bracelets or keychains.
3. Meaningful Customization - Followbands addresses the growing desire among customers to personalize their products to fit their interests and memories. Companies should consider incorporating customization options in their product lines, such as selling bracelets that are meant to be paired with personalized charms that feature exact coordinates of a place of sentimental value.
Industry Implications
1. Jewelry - Jewelry manufacturers, designers, and custom jewelers can all benefit from the trend of keepsake bracelets with personalized coordinates, which can potentially offer a diverse range of customization and memory-keeping options for customers.
2. Accessories - Accessories brands and retailers can take cues from Followbands by offering sentimental products like customized keychains or bracelets that evoke true memories for consumers.
3. Personalization - As offering personalized products gain traction with consumers, other industries such as apparel and gift items can capitalize on the trend by creating customizable products to fit consumer desires for sentimental or heartfelt products.