Status stories from Trendwatching.com

"The shift from mass to unique explains the surge in niche or even one-of-a-kind products and services. So brands will increasingly not want to, or will not be able (if only for financial reasons) to tell their story to the masses. Which in turn means that consumers buying from these brands will no longer be able to rely on the product or service to provide them with that instant recognition and admiration from their peers. It is thus up to the customer to tell a story, any kind of story, with the brand providing the ingredients."

Domino's Pizza's new BFD builder (short for Big Fantastic Deal) lets consumers create the pizza of their dreams—specifying the type of crust, the amount of sauce and cheese, and unlimited toppings—for a flat rate of USD 10.99. The STATUS STORIES twist? Consumers can name and register the pizzas they design in Domino's BFD database, where they can be viewed and ordered by other consumers. Nearly 12,000 pizzas have been registered so far, including the "Happy Birthday Aaron" and "Rhonda Half Doug Half." The site even tracks how many people have ordered each registered pizza so far, and consumers can view the database with the most popular pizzas first, as well as by newest, oldest or alphabetically.

Knitwear brand Flocks gives customers details about the individual animals that provided the wool for their sweaters and mittens. Every item in young Dutch designer Christien Meindertsma’s collection can be traced back to its source. Since one sheep supplies exactly enough wool for one sweater, each sweater is tagged with a specific animal’s ID number, and comes with a certificate: the animal's passport. Information provided includes breed, weight, year and place of birth, and a picture of the sheep. Sweaters are priced from EUR 475.