For consumer facing companies the main thing I look for is this: After someone tries the product, do they tell their friends about how great it is?
Some examples:
People who used the first generation iphone....told all their friends how great this phone was.
People who test drove the first Tesla....told all their friends how great this car was.
People who first used facebook.......told all their friends how great facebook was.
People who first used google search....told all their friends how great google search was.
The great thing about this strategy is most likely as long as you are somewhat in tune with your social network then most likely you will hear from your friends what is the new popular product.