Nicola Cooper & Associates is an independent, innovative strategic consultancy, spearheaded by renowned Trend Researcher, Analyst and Cultural Strategist Nicola Cooper.
Nicola Cooper and her team of associates are here to provide in-depth research, analyses, and insights to help you understand the needs of your consumer today.
As a consultancy on the pulse of both local and global trends, you can trust us to accurately prime your business for your future consumer through the practice of glocalisation.
NC&A fills the critical gap with the expertise to increase your impact in the market.
Our current team is a selection of experts, critical thinkers and game-changers with backgrounds, and a perspective of own unique experiences that together enrich our strategic and creative processes, challenge perceptions, fuel innovation and offer a realistic perspective of consumers.
Our resources stretch beyond our focussed team into a rich data base of experts in their field that range from academic scholars to cool hunters on the street.
The hybrid term ‘Glocalisation’ illustrates where local and global considerations meet in our work.
Glocalisation is the concept that in a global market, a product or service is more likely to succeed when it is customised for the locality, consumer, country, or culture in which it is sold.
No matter how you feel about the term “glocalisation,” the concept is becoming an intrinsic part of any organisation’s opportunity to stretch their presence around the world. Today’s global companies need a presence that resonates as consistent in every country, yet also provides an intentional, personal touch to each region.
It’s time to explore what it means to be a Glocal brand with our specialised services and tailored products.
Our expertise offers unique insights into the African market, particularly in the act of Glocalisation – a form of analysis that includes interpreting international trends for a local market, local-for-local and local-for-international markets.
What is 'Glocal Branding'? Think global, act local.
Through trustworthy skills experiences, knowledge, critical thinking and analytical nature of the NC&A Associates, the business has developed products for the brand through conceptualising, researching, developing, constructing, delivering insights, trend talks, workshops and strategies tailored for business.
NC&A defines and unpacks the new landscapes of Business and the impact the Sociological, Technological, Economical, Environmental or Political shifts that impact the lifestyle, fashion, advertising, retail and emerging consumer market.
As suppliers to Lifestyle Retail, FMCG, Manufacturing, Brand, Advertising/Marketing NC&A assisting in arming business with key intel to guide strategy, product development or communications for the future.
Our products and services have been refined and perfected over time and application by Nicola Cooper in order to assist in maximising a Brand/Business’ time, minimise costs and allow for a focused approach to remaining relevant; understanding current and future consumers, as well as generating growth and increasing income.
With a focus in the Research, Analysis and Strategy space for over a decade, our product offerings have been refined with the understanding of what works to best deliver for our clients’ needs.
We help companies future-proof their business, increase revenue by transforming how they engage with their consumers, understand their market and enable their marketing and advertising teams.
With a team highly skilled experts in relative fields, our research, insights and strategic input help businesses plan a smarter outcome by empowering you with the vital tools to navigate the present and future Fashion, Lifestyle and Youth/Pop Culture sectors
Our tiered product offerings ensure we deliver outcomes which cater to a businesses needs and their price point.
I have had the pleasure and honour of working with Nicola for over 8 years. You never come away from a call or meeting with Nicola not feeling wowed by her breadth and depth of knowledge. Her forthright style and ability to hone into the important angle of the topic quickly but with supporting (and widely sourced) research never cease to amaze me. She is always ahead of the curve. Once you accept you are out of touch and Nicola is entirely in touch with tomorrow’s consumer today, you can relax, stop worrying about your age and just learn. You can be confident that Nicola will guide you and offer you enough insight for you to feel more secure in your strategy and in her ability to make all her knowledge and research relevant to your brand or company. Or, more importantly, where you are missing the mark, she does not try to make your strategy fit, she really empowers you to re-strategise to where consumer trends are taking us, so that you build a strategy better devised to succeed. I’d hate to face the future as a brand or business without access to Nicola’s thinking.
LEON BUHR - HEAD: MARKETING, INNOVATION & GROWTH at EQUATOR ACCESSORIES & THE BELT FACTORY
Nicola not only has vast knowledge in the field of trends analysis, having lectured trends at UNISA, The University of Johannesburg and LISOF but is able to use proven methodology to analyse and predict a trend trajectory. But while her strengths lie in the academic field, she matches that knowledge with grassroots connections with the influencers and drivers of pop culture in South Africa. The importance of using trends as business strategy – the Flux Trends mantra – is only now being recognised as a crucial business tool. Nicola’s passion for trends, as well as her passion for knowledge transferral, will add an important layer to building a more credible and competitive industry for South Africa.
DION CHANG - FOUNDER - FLUX TRENDS
Nicola Cooper & Associates have a fresh, local point of view that inspires necessary discussion and conversation around remaining relevant to your customer. All expectations exceeded!
LIZ NAUDE - SMIT - CREATIVE, CUSTOMER INSIGHT AND TREND MANAGER - PEPKOR
Nicola Cooper, Senior Trend Analyst (based in South Africa) has been on Trendwatching.com’s radar since our first South African visit in 2012. From the following year, Nicola became one of our selected local expert Trend Analysts and preferred supplier for South African clients, due to her strong academic foundation and an unparalleled knowledge of Fashion, Lifestyle, Youth and Pop cultural trends in Africa. Nicola’s cutting edge trend talks, impeccable research methods, and an instinctual knack for the field continue to set professionals like herself away from the pack.
LOLA PEDRO- AFRICAN REGIONAL DIRECTOR TRENDWATCHING.COM
Nicola has been instrumental in forcing changes across the South Africa fashion landscape through her projects, consultations and endorsements that advocate for a decolonial and Afrocentric aesthetic and praxis.
DR. ERICA DE GREEF -CO-DIRECTOR AT THE AFRICAN FASHION RESEARCH INSTITUTE