Predicting the future was once the domain of palm readers, tea leaf enthusiasts, and crystal ball aficionados.
However, those days have, for the most part, disappeared, relics of an age with much less access to science and reliable data. And while the 21st century's version of the crystal ball is neither an exact science nor completely free of mystery, for merchandisers and designers itching to know the back-to-school season's hottest colors, that crystal ball is Pantone®.
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When weatherman Phil Connors, played by Bill Murray,labels himself a god in the mid-90s classic, Groundhog Day, it's as much a declaration about how much he knows as it is about his apparent immortality.
"Maybe God isn't omnipotent," he posits, after rattling off intimate details about seemingly perfect strangers in a diner, "Maybe he's just been around so long, he knows everything."
Knowing everything about shopping habits and customers’ preferences has long been a retailer's dream. But until big data analytics came on the scene, that "everything" was elusive.
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