Go-Tan, manufacturer of Eastern food products, has supplied the bottles of Wok Essentials found in supermarkets with a hanger with a QR (Quick Response) code. With a cell phone the QR code (a 2d barcode) can be scanned. Then your cell will display a webpage with a recipe and the matching shopping list. Go-Tan claims to be the first to use QR codes like this in Dutch supermarkets.

Future vision by Erwin van Lun

Products are losing their anonymity. In times past the baker knew exactly what bread he sold you. After that we had a period in which producer (the brand), consumer and the individual product knew an anonymous existence. Now we’re seeing the return of the dialogue with the product as focus of the conversation. Go-Tan is given a wealth of information just from measuring the moment the question is asked. In a next step a mobile application will start that explains us how to make the recipe in images and sounds. And then we can ask another question (‘can I use brown sugar instead of regular sugar?’) and we’ll be given an answer immediately. This is a step in that direction.

Related trends

• Brand-dialogue

MyHeritage, of of the world's most popular genealogy websites, is now available in nine additional languages. The new languages are Danish, Romanian, Bulgarian, Serbian, Croatian, Lithuanian, Malaysian, Arabic and Persian. MyHeritage is helping over 26 million people in the world to stay in touch with one another and helps families research their history in a fun and easy way.

Future vision by Erwin van Lun

The biggest brands of the coming century operate world-wide per definition, but speak exactly the language of the consumer. Currently as just the national language, but later as exactly the language that each individual customer uses. So that they feel most understood. Using the local language is a good start for this.

Related trends

• Brand-dialogue

The popular MMORPG World of Warcraft now counts 13 million players. It debut was in the US in 2004. World of Warcraft was recently launched in Russia and Latin America, and is currently available in eight languages. In addition to North America and Europe, the game is played in mainland China, Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Chile, Argentina, and the regions of Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau.

Future vision by Erwin van Lun

13 million. Soon we’ll get games we’ve walked around in with 1 billion and in the long term even 5 billion people. But what’s a game when reality and virtuality mix completely?

PSA Holland, the association of professional speakers in the Netherlands and Belgium, shows a testimonial of each speaker with the reason why the author thinks other speakers should be a member of the union. Each member has a special field for this on their account page. The home page and each deeper page show an example of the testimonials entered there. Giving a commitment to a brand in such a way and broadcasting it like this is something I've never seen before. An example every brand should follow.

Each member chooses their own style. For example, Chris van Vleuten says:

Speaking is a trade skill and a trade can be taught. To learn you need teachers and good examples. Both of these can be found in the PSA Holland. The most important thing to be found in the PSA Holland as trade union: inspiration and involvement!

Chris takes an energetic angle; other speakers may choose a different one.

Future vision by Erwin van Lun

All brands, whether you’re called Google, Wehkamp, Xbox, Mexx, Albert Heijn, MarketingFacts or Postbank, can implement this tomorrow and expand step-by-step. Each brand that has a log-in function already has a basis. As soon as you know a little more about the customer you can make testimonials more specific immediately: ‘people from your home town, your gender (call it something else, of course), of your age say x about our brand’. And if you’re really smart: friends say. The Facebook application Beacon gave the first push in that direction (see here).

Controlling this will be the big challenge for large brands. What will people say about my brand? Does it fit our position? I won’t describe it here in detail, but the time of this thinking is slowly but steadily ending. Nevertheless we’re still dealing with the old thinking which is still deeply rooted in companies, governments and NGOs. By the by it’ll get even more exciting when you can react to testimonials. Or when people change their opinions after many years of fidelity. Perhaps you’ll need to make a change log for testimonials. And if you link that up with your CRM database, the party’s complete. Openness, openness, openness, that’s what it’s about in brands new style. Enough to do in this fun time.
I’m curious who’s next.

Related trends

• Brand coming out

Using Mcast.fm (Dutch) you can listen to internet audio in the train, car or on your bicycle through your regular (mobile) phone. This allows you to listen to programs that interest you. For example to background information for the financial crisis, technology or the environment in the world. By calling +31 (0)30 711 5670 or +32 (0)808 0159 the user is dropped right into the news. By pressing 6 the item can be skipped and the next one will start. You can go back 30 seconds with 1, pause with 2 and go back to the beginning with 4.

Anyone who registers on the site will immediately receive a text message with the request to save the number on the cell phone. Then you can make a playlist based on your area of interest (so not on loose items) on the website. Downloading and synchronizing podcasts or audio files is, as such, unneeded.

Future vision by Erwin van Lun

This is how news coaching brands are slowly brought to live. Soon we’ll make a car phone call to ‘Momi’. Momi appears and greets us, we ask ‘is there any news?’ and Momi begins. Based on our reaction (whether we say ‘d’oh’ or ‘continue’ or ‘tell me more’) we get the news on our profile, but above all our profile will become ever sharper. This is how Momi can become our new buddy: the brand that keeps us up-to-date. And if Momi also has a nice image to go with it, we can say ‘save that for when I get home’ where the dialogue will happily continue through, for example, the television. This is a clear step in that direction.

American Express, a credit card company, is becoming a regular bank. The company has received permission to do this. This allows the company easier access to new funding.

Future vision by Erwin van Lun

You lend money to people you trust. You trust people you know. You know people when you’ve experienced something together with them. When you’ve been together for a prolonged period. The idea of a credit card, loaning based on no relationship at all, is based on nothing. The new financial system that’ll come will be based completely on trust. People are only allowed to spend money if they have it. People are only allowed to borrow when there’s a guarantee or trust. And a bank might not always know you well, but the bank can have relationships with people who have trust in you. Banks will start to use such relationships. Banks will start to facilitate networks in which mutual trust is shown. And that trust will be the basis for lending someone money.

That spells the end of credit cards and credit card companies. This development is shown here.

President-Elect Barack Obama of the US launched a new website last Thursday. On change.gov visitors can make suggestions for the new American government. "The story of the campaign and this historic moment has been your story," the website says. "Tell us your story and the issues that matter most to you. Share with us your concerns and hopes. – the policies you want to see carried out in the next four years." Users can also use the website to send in an open application for a job with the American government. There's a blog, an upcoming event (Obama's inauguration on January 20th) and the agenda is explained. Further more people can leave their email address and zip code for a newsletter.

Future vision by Erwin van Lun

This shows how the world is changing fundamentally. A beautiful example of how organizations, whether they’re NGOs, governments or commercial brands are becoming more open. In this case Obama also takes a next step: he really wants people’s input. How he’s going to organize all that input time will tell. Perhaps he’ll moderate the ideas (without removing what he chooses), group them and send concrete questions to the people together with volunteers or paid help. This way, in the long term, he can use the site to gauge people’s opinions. And if he does something with them (he’ll have to), you can take this ‘gauging’ as ‘voting’.

And if Obama takes it another step further he can call for people to do something. Not just listen to what he’s supposed to do (he just makes decisions anyway), but facilitate what others will do. That means a change in democracy.

Well done, Obama! My compliments.

Related trends

• Brand coming out

Augmented reality, the mixing of the virtual world and the physical world, is becoming increasingly more simple. Who prints out a PDF A4 on strafwerk.nu (Dutch) and allows the program to watch through the webcam will see a BMW appearing on their desk. It's astonishingly simple.

Future vision by Erwin van Lun

The essence of this innovation is the simplicity. Augmented reality gives brands the ability to show animations of products the moment a screen is near. However, before the masses start to use this (and brands get on with real innovative applications), all hurdles have to be taken away first. Software installation is an example of such a hurdle. And that works fine here.

Now it’s waiting for the first iPhone application. Then brands will follow quickly.

Singing and talking are treated differently by our brains. That's shown by new experiments. You need all sorts of brain functions for talking: you need to think of what you want to say, then you need to formulate it in words and then you need to use the muscles in your mouth and throat to make the sounds. It's possible to disable a selected area of the brain using magnets so that you can, for example, still formulate worlds, but no longer pronounce them. It's also possible to turn of certain sections that allows you to sing just fine, but when the same words have to be spoken you no longer can.

Future vision by Erwin van Lun

If we can turn off certain areas of the brain, will we start to concentrate more on the areas that are still being used? That might speed up the learning process considerably.

From 4 November onwards readers of Totaal TV (Dutch programming guide of Veronica Publishing) enrich their TV guide with 3D objects or videos. Readers hold their TV guide in front of the webcam of their own computer. On screen, the images turn into videos or become visible in 3D. Augmented Reality adds 3D-objects and videos to live images. Readers who hold up an article on Ilse DeLange will see the article reflected on the screen (like a mirror as it were). Something is added, however. In this image a picture from the article will turn into a video of the 'making of' of the new album 'Incredible'. TouchingMedia (Dutch) claims a world scoop with this innovation.

Future vision by Erwin van Lun

This is how paper is given an added dimension. But not just paper, soon we can get an automatic demonstration with everything we see and which stands still. If a car passes and we take a picture? The car manufacturer ensures a fitting personalized animation. We see someone on the street? We’ll see all kinds of movies with this person in action. In live action (as reflection of the real past) or as animation. See an animal? We’ll be handed documentaries immediately. See a tool and we’re shown animations on how to use it. And if we still don’t get it, we ask. This is how brands and consumers can enter a dialogue with the product as subject. In this case, Totaal TV enters the dialogue regarding the magazine, but a third, namely Ilse DeLande, can easily mingle into the conversation. This is how the virtual world is starting to be a little more like the normal world. And with that it also becomes more understandable.

Related trends

• Brand-dialogue

Google Maps Streetview, the photographic display of the street like you're looking into it, is now also available on the iPhone. The photographic image can be seen full screen while a small version of the map appears in the bottom right corner.

Future vision by Erwin van Lun

Currently as old photographs with people from the photographic era. Soon all changes (new billboards, renovations), but also traffic will be adapted dynamically. Like you’re watching through a camera. Then you can get additional information with everything you see. Spoken, through your ear piece. This future is fast approaching.

People who stay at home can follow the participants of the Zevenheuvelenloop (Zevenhillrun; Dutch) using the internet, thanks to ChampionChip GPS Tracking (Dutch). Each runner has a special tag on their shoe. This technology is used for the first time in the run. People who run with a team can only see how others have done on the internet afterwards. You can see all kilometer times, speed, progress and the class of others walking with a GPS Tracking.

Future vision by Erwin van Lun

We’re mapping everything in real time. Soon we’ll stick cameras everywhere with ease. They’ll be configured in such a way that we can follow their faces like we’re running along with a camera. And then coach them through the ear piece they’re wearing. If they allow it of course

You can now ask for a detailed map (Dutch) of Artis. On it you won't find just the formal street names, but also the paths around the monkey rock, the elephants and the penguins.

Future vision by Erwin van Lun

This is how we map the physical world ever better. Soon live cameras will be mounted with the names of the elephants and we can zoom in on the sound using a microphone. Inside buildings we’ll get maps too. One for each floor. And furthermore we can get virtual extensions. Stairs in the buildings like Escher could shape it so beautifully. Or walking through a building as it looked fifty years ago. In the virtual world, or in our glasses in the physical world. And with everything we see we can ask questions. With everything. Absolutely everything.

In the game Brullende Bolides (Screaming Bolides; Dutch) of the municipality of Rotterdam participants have to shout as loud as they can. The louder you shout, the faster you go. For this you use the microphone on your computer. During your screaming ride, the Coolsingel, Blaak and the Euromast fly past. This lets you discover the city in high speed. Create a hilarious sound and challenge your friends to scream an even faster time.

Future vision by Erwin van Lun

Brands start to react to us. Not just to what we type or click, but especially what we say, how we look, how we move. This is a primitive example of what’s to come.

Related trends

• Brand-dialogue

The Koninklijke Bibliotheek (Dutch royal library) has made the typed out texts of the ANP radio bulletins between 1937 and 1984 available through a special site. The collection of ANP Radio bulletins covers 1.5 million typescripts from the period 1937 – 1984. The years of 1939 – 1946 are missing. It's possible to search through the texts.

Future vision by Erwin van Lun

And so we’re mapping the world of yesterday ever more precisely. Soon we can travel through time and relive everything nicely. That’ll change the history lessons in schools fundamentally. Digitalizing our past is part of this.

With Windows 7, the successor of Windows Vista, users can control applications through touch. You won't need a scroll wheel to scroll through a document, but you can do it with a touch of the screen. Users can touch the screen with their fingers in more than one place at a time. That makes it possible to, for example, zoom in on a picture by pushing two fingers apart.

Future vision by Erwin van Lun

The computer will be the next medium that will respond to our gestures. Currently through touch, soon from a distance. If we then make a circle in the air we can, for example, turn a 3D space. Coupled with our reaction with voice and facial expressions brands will be given a fantastic dialogue medium.