In October, the advertising agency Ogilvy formed a worldwide consulting division called Crystal, being led by two managing directors: Zoe Lazarus, 32, based in London, and Richard Welch, 30, based in New York to try and find that advertisers dream commodity, Cool. In a recent interview with the NY Times, Ms. Lazarus and Mr. Welch discussed tracking initiatives and some trends they are watching. Apparently the Cool Kids these days are all about, "piercings, tattoos, the internet". Really? Following are excerpts from that conversation: Q. Why has trend tracking become such a trend? Or is it just a fad? A lot of the so-called cool hunters, self-styled experts at spotting trends among younger consumers, seem to be fading away. Ms. Lazarus: It has maybe been a bit of a fad, but the ideas behind it make good sense. It's good to have advance-warning radar about what's happening among consumers. Perhaps there is a danger with having to continuously come up with new ideas. Leading-edge trends change, but not every month. Some have longevity. Mr. Welch: A lot of "cool hunters" were just buying stuff new and interesting and bringing it back to companies and saying, "This is a trend." You need to dig deeper, look behind these things, look at the drivers, why it's occurring. Ms. Lazarus: Otherwise it's just random new ideas. Read the full interview here.