Users of the new iPod Touch will automatically see an icon 'Starbucks' when they enter an outlet of this coffee chain. When they click the icon, they can see the latest play list, and directly download a song or album through online music store iTunes. This goes over the wireless network standard available at Starbucks, which is automatically recognized by iPod Touch (mf, Dutch). And thus iTunes further develops as a music coaching brand. Now just through iPod, later through any mobile device. Now you still have to download a play list, later iTunes will directly recognize the music you are listening too. Then you can say: 'that song they played at least three times that night! That song.' iTunes then always listens along, and can directly recall every auditive experience. Wherever in the world, no matter how long ago. This is a small step in that direction.

Google News now provides access to original press releases of press agencies. Among them are American press agency Associated Press (AP), French Agence France-Presse (AFP), British Press Association (PA), and Canadian Press (CP)(dc, Dutch). Now it is limited to a handful of countries, but this will lead to direct consumer access to all press releases that have ever been made. Thus the quality of web log postings will increase, as they can easily cite the original piece, and link to it. And the amount of postings will increase too. In the end news coaching brands will help us, based on our personal preferences, to make a selection of all news items available in text, audio, or video. Google News is a news coaching brand in development.

Comparison site Kieskeurig.nl gets a print version: Kieskeurig Magazine. The paper version of product and price comparer Kieskeurig must 'inspire' consumers to make online purchases. The magazine is targeted mainly to women and is sent along magazines of Sanoma, Kieskeurig's mother company (em, Dutch). Online communities become leading, print is just a copy. Whether the company has its history in print or online, it all goes the same direction. In the end print will disappear too, to make place for e-paper. Then the role of the readers (or do we call them members) will be even more dominant. This is just a small step in that development.

Music channel TMF starts the 'kweekvijver' (breeding ground). Here artists can upload their music and promote themselves. Through their activities they save credits for their own TV campaign or online campaign (mf, Dutch). This way music coaching brands develop more and more. This type of brands stimulate, facilitate, and distribute music. Music we will in the end hardly pay for. The most important function will then be creating a live experience in the physical world or the virtual world. That is what people will pay for. The rest is just promotion. The time in which artists could earn big status is over for good. Making music is going to be just like the other arts, and like before will be an activity by and for the people, which is really hard to make good money of.

iFashion is a virtual fashion store from the Shinsegae chain. At the iFashion site you can create your own avatar with your precise measures, have it try on your clothes online, and order them tailor-made. And not just that: the precise measures of your avatar can be stored on a personal card you can use as a standard for ordering clothes, for example through your mobile phone or through the computer (mf, Dutch). And thus the fashion retail branch is also taking new steps. Now you still have to measure yourself, later there will be all kinds of businesses in shopping streets who, on a commercial basis, will take your measurements and give you color and style advice. They will get a percentage over the clothes you buy, or you just pay a price for the service. Fashion coaching brands, iFashion might develop to be one, will help you anywhere in the world with new fashion advice, based on your earlier purchases, your personal profile, what you are going to do, where you are, what budget you have, and, very important, what your friends think of it. This is a big step in that direction.

Through Olllo people now can flirt on the spot. Through the website you make your own profile, and give your input as to what the person you are looking for should be like. There are matches for gender, age, length, fashion style, party type, and music taste. The moment you feel like contacting somebody in your neighborhood, you activate Olllo by sending a code to Olllo. If there are matches in your neighborhood (until max. 3 km), you receive a short profile. Through Ollo you can then send your match a text message, or get a more extended profile. Your mobile number is kept secret, only your nickname is visible. If you have activated Ollo, you regularly receive text messages with matches in your neighborhood. After 8 hours the service is disconnected automatically (mb, Dutch).

Thus a new function of social coaching brands slowly comes to life. Now through a text message, later through an extended (online) profile, so you can see who someone's friends are, and how he (or she) treats them. You can see what other people think of this person, and - even better - see what your (friends of) friends think of him or her. Social coaching brands in the future will facilitate making and maintaining personal contacts. The development of this function is a small step in that direction. Maybe Olllo will grow into a social coaching brand. Time will tell.

Through Simplify Media users can share and play each other's music play lists. With some extra software users can download and install, they can add friends, check their play lists and directly play them in iTunes. At the moment it is only available for iTunes, but the versions for WinAmp and Windows Media Player are on their way (mf, Dutch). Thus music coaching brands develop more and more. Now we can see the play lists, in the future we will also see the appreciation, we can review music we don't even have on our own PC, and we will automatically see what music our friends, family or colleagues liked. New music will be discovered quickly this way. A young band through play lists can conquer the whole world in a couple of days after making their music available online. This is a small step in that direction.

Belvilla is the first company in the travel branch to test an online 'reading aloud' function for visitors at the website. By clicking 'Lees Mij' (Read Me), a friendly female voice reads to you everything about the holiday villa you are looking at. In the test phase, only the descriptions of the holiday villas can be heard. Plans are to have the 'read aloud' function for all web content in the near future (cc, Dutch). Thus the spoken dialogue comes to life. Now the voice also plainly reads all impossible codes ("the 4 and 6 person villas BE-8421-01, type A/ BE-8421-02, type B/ BE-8421-07, type A comfort/ BE-8421-08, type B comfort, listen here), in the future the language will be completely tuned to us. Now still at the PC. In the future we will sit in the car and ask: "Hey Bella, I would like to go to France for a week. Is there something free from October 1st onwards?" And then you will hear some choices, you can select with your voice ("that one sounds good! Do you have something bigger too?"), and you can watch your selection at home on TV. Step by step it goes that direction.

People who search in complicated databases at Google, see a branded search animation. Brands extend their visual identity more and more. With logo animations, with logo illustrations and also with this type of animated graphical devices. This animation is typical for Google. In a next step this type of animations will start to show personalities. The two o's of Google for example could move around each other to show patience, irritation or relaxation. Google is ahead in using new visual characteristics. A lot more examples of other brands are to follow.

Vacation parks Center Parcs have consumers design their own park in a game. In this park they or others can play simple games around activities offered by Center Parcs in 'real life', like water skiing and golfing. The challenge for the park manager is to make the park as popular as possible, for example by inviting friends, or by stimulating visitors to come back regularly (ab, Dutch). Brands mirror the physical world to the virtual world. Now through simple games, later people will be able to design real life parks, while the present parks are templates offered in advance by Center Parcs. Based on the experiences in this virtual world, Center Parcs earlier or later will change their physical parks too. This is a small step in that direction.

Online telephone service Skype has been down for two weeks and extensively wrote about this at its special web log heartbeat (mf). Brands are communicating real time, more directly. More and more often we will have services from a distance, available 24/7, 365 days a year. Service we blindly count on. Whether it is our TV (video) provider (our home entertainment coaching brand), our contact provider (our social coaching brand), our telecoms provider, or our travel assistant (our mobility coaching brand): it just has to be there, always and everywhere. As soon as something stops working, we want to know what is going on into great detail. Not that everybody will read everything in detail, but who wants to, can do it. This way brands become more open, transparent, and accessible. This is a great example of things going in that direction.

New Dutch vacancy website Baneninbeeld.nl completely consists of filmed job advertisements. The films are made professionally (tm, Dutch). Brands start to communicate more visually. This fits with human nature: this is what humans are designed for. Over thousands of years we have bit by bit learned to use the written word. Now video is possible, so humans follow their natural motives: thinking in images. There are many more video examples to follow.

The Dutch Ministry of Waterways and Public Workes uses special cameras to register cars (through license plate registration) using highway A9 at least 3 times a week. This is a group of 12,000 drivers. These people have all been asked if they were interested in a special 'A9 accessible' pass. Three thousand of them said they would like to obtain one (rb, Dutch). Brands, even the Dutch government, will monitor the use of their products (the infrastructure in this case) to optimize their service on a personal level. Now privacy is still an issue, but in the future we will be able to state on our personal web page: yes, help me optimize the use. Then privacy all of a sudden becomes much less important. As long as the information is not shared with other parties. Very slowly it goes this direction.

Domino's Pizza in the UK has started accepting orders through text messages. A registered customer can order his desired pizza(s) by sending just one text message. You can even put together your own favorite menu, consisting of pizzas and other extras, and give that a special text code, so that next time you only have to send the message 'Big appetite' or 'Family Dinner' to Domino's for them to recognize your order (mc, Dutch). Thus brands get involved in dialogues more and more. They instantly recognize you through you mobile number, and they even recognize your specific terminology. In brand communication good listening is the key now instead of good sending. This is an example in that direction.

Controversial music exchange service LimeWire gets a legal version. With this, users can legally download music for about 1 euro per song (dc, Dutch). This way a music coaching brand comes into being. At first, most important is to have a complete assortment, so there is no reason to find music in another place, and then the personal profile follows. LimeWire can have built the profile based on the illegal music downloads, and then give advice about music that can be downloaded legally. In the end, new artists will come who will sell their music cheaper, or even give it for free (and make money on concerts and merchandise), so there will be price competition between the various music coaching brands. The added value in the end will be the personal advice. This is a small step in that direction.

Hema at its new website has a prominent place for customers to give feedback: 'tell us your opinion on hema.nl'. After clicking, a short survey follows (am, Dutch). Thus market research evolves into customer research. Brands will regularly ask their customers what they think of their services. Not at the first contact, but especially after a couple of contacts and experiences. And brands will remember the answers, and compare them: 'last time you were critical about the speed of the website; do you think that has improved now?' Thus questions will become more personal, and the answers more relevant. This is a small step in that direction.