The popular Dutch weather radar site Buienradar has launched some innovations, among which showing clouds and storms six times as detailed, for mobile phones, on Google Maps , and even in Google Earth(mf, Dutch).

We imitate the physical world completely 3D and realtime in the virtual world. Service brands, like buienradar, also contribute to that. Out of 'practicality' we eliminate any insecurity out of our lives. So that we know exactly what time the rain starts, when the sun breaks through, or if it will be freezing. Future generations won't even leave the house without this information, afraid of insecure situations. Just like we as westerners are very scared to walk through the jungle by ourselves. Let alone having to navigate by the sun and the moon. We keep moving further away from nature (although we do move closer in a different way, which is not in this scope however). This practical development adds to that trend.

Google integrates consumer profiles it earlier made for Google's social network Orkut, Google's weblog environment Blogger and Google Groups. YouTube will follow undoubtedly. With their profile, consumers can also place a picture. Then, based on this one profile, they can use all services under the same name. If someone publishes something public, the pseudonym is published instead of the real name (dc, Dutch).

Brands will recognize people, irrespective of product groups. A centrally operated CRM system with a central vision about consumer contact is necessary. New companies, based on IT, can easily make these kinds of changes. For existing companies, this is a little bit harder. In the end all brands will directly recognize us, and connect us to other people. Under our own name, or if we want under a pseudonym. Google takes the lead in this.

New Dutch dating site Paiq matches people with artificial neural networks, a form of artificial intelligence trying to imitate the way human brains work. People who register first have to enter personal characteristics and a picture. Paiq then matches people based on intelligent rules, which in their turn our based on psychological insights. At the first contact the picture is made very vague, so that the dating partner can't see it sharp. Only after the users have been talking to each other for a longer time, they can see who they are dealing with (via em, Dutch).

The brand Paiq thus becomes a little smarter every day. In fact this brand evolves to be a smart friend, who understands who you are, thinks along, your coach. Someone who can introduce you to other people. A valuable brand. Thus new technology is used to make a brand, and Paiq can grow to be a coaching brand. And this is only the beginning.

New Dutch holiday website Vakantieoordeel.nl searches all big national and international holiday review websites, and publishes all information in one spot. Vakantieoordeel claims to be independent because it is not owned by a tour operator. Besides, bad reviews are not removed. To have a review removed, suppliers will just have to do better (dc, Dutch). Coaching brands, a type of brands in development, have a couple of shared characteristics, among which completeness in the field they are serving, openness, and independence. Only this type of brands in the future will have access to the consumer. Transaction brands, tied to locations, a certain type of service or packages, will have to make sure they offer top service. The development of travel coaching brands has taken off, and this is an example of it.

Related trends

• Coaching brands

Through LiveContacts you can see on the map (on your mobile phone) where your friends are. It works with a small program on their mobile phones that passes on their location. It works through place determination through mobile network masts (dc). The next thing we will share is our location. First based on GPS and then based on Galileo, so we can even determine the location within a building. Once we permit other brands to see this location too, working, family life or a night out will get a whole new dimension. And the expression 'people close to you' will get a whole new meaning.

Mijnsportwereld.nl is a new Dutch network site for active athletes. Apart from central and user-generated sport news like game reports, pictures and videos. it is possible to follow leagues and (in the long run) even start a new league. Besides, members can make their own profile, chat, and apart from friends also add team members and club members. After that, tools will follow for team management, schedules for the bar, and washing the uniforms (mf, Dutch). Thus sport coaching brands slowly develop. First by taking care of many practical issues, but later this type of brands will become our ultimate personal coach by guiding us to top achievements on an individual level. This is only the beginning.

Google launches 23 translating chatbots for its Instant Messaging program GoogleTalk. This makes it possible to chat with someone who speaks a different language. For example in a chat between an American and a Chinese, 2 chatbots are added. The first chatbot translates English texts in Chinese, and the second chatbot does it the other way around. Google Talk thus further develops as a social coaching brand: a brand that facilitates mutual contact between people. In the future all communication barriers, big or small, will be removed step by step. The brand then stays in our lives as a kind of relationship coach. We won't be able to do without it any more then.

Business-social network LinkedIn shows what your colleagues have read lately. It combines the contact list with news on demand. The amount of job offers rises at the same time (dc, Dutch). Because of this you don't just see the important events in the world, but especially the important events in your surroundings. After all employees are not just employees, but especially humans. And humans are involved in their surroundings. Now for news, later also for participation in events, reviews of books or education. LinkedIn thus further develops to be a career coaching brand, a brand that helps you during your whole career.

In the United States it will soon be possible to legally download movies via iTunes, and watch them on TV through Apple iTV. The company has signed the first contract with Fox (em, Dutch)

Very soon we will be able to browse through a trailer caroussel, and directly watch the trailers. Movies we have recently seen, of course are not shown in this caroussel. Besides, this initiative will especially lead to new content, offered at differing prices. Movies might cost as much as 20 euros. But then you have something very exclusive. And after that your own iTunes will also be available at every other screen or display, wherever in the world. And once it becomes really interactive, it will really kick off. Only then TV (and advertising on TV) will really have a problem. In the future home entertainment coaching brands will completely take over the traditional role of broadcasters: programming a night of entertainment. This future is getting very close though.

Since last Summer, Fortis has had Aad as their spokesman. Aad is a virtual mortgage advisor. This chatbot answers questions about mortgages in Windows Live Messenger (formerly MSN Messenger) and on the website. To support the dialogue Aad shows an extra window on the site, or opens the so-called activity window in Messenger. This way the dialogue comes to life, we get more bi-directional contact, while documents, text, audio or images are there to support the dialogue. Just like a normal conversation.

Dutch real estate website Funda has now become accessible through mobile phones (fu, Dutch). Brands start dialogues through all kinds of screens and displays, and adapt their communication to the consumer, and the spacial context. In a next step GPS locations for example will also be included. Then you can see immediately if that house in the neighborhood is for sale. Or where the houses for sale are located in relation to the location you are at now. This is great when you walk around in a neighborhood that feels good to live in. A home coaching brand more and more becomes a brand helping you in the area of housing, wherever you are in the world. This development is part of that.

Kango is the first so-called 'travel review aggregator', a site that gathers reviews from all kinds of review sites, and puts them together. That means 20 million opinions of more than 1000 review websites have been analyzed. Holiday makers can search by terms like 'romantic', or 'sweet', apart from objective criteria like price and location. The beta version for now only works in Hawaii and California (mb, Dutch). In 2007 (and 2008 and 2009) completeness is important: bring everything together for me. This is an example of that.

Social Network Facebook shows your friends what you bought in online shops connected to Facebook (mb, Dutch). This has led to all kinds of privacy discussions. Which makes sense: of course you don't just want to show your friends everything you do. But sharing information with friends is the innovation here. In the future shops will recognize friends, and they will ask you if your purchases and your experiences there can be included in advice for your friends. That is a slightly different way of doing it, but much more pure. What does Facebook have to do with all purchases I make somewhere else?

Tripadvisor, the biggest travel review site in the world, has conducted research among its visitors and published it. Tripadvisor now contains more than 10 million reviews, and the research was conducted among 2500 travelers, to recover the trends for 2008. It was about Hotspots (with Jerba, Tunesia as No 1) and airports (with Schiphol, Amsterdam as No 1) (mb, Dutch). Market research is replaced by client research. Brands with access to consumers are very used to asking questions. This type of research then is relatively easy to conduct. In a next step we will get these types of reports more and more often from travel coaching brands, brands that really book the holiday for us, so that we are sure we have really been there.

Myngle offers a market place for language docents and students. People wanting to learn or docent a language register with Myngle. The student then looks for a docent who best covers his or her needs. At certain times the docent teaches small groups through Skype, in which for example you can learn a language from a native speaker. Students pay docents and judge the quality of the docents and lessons at the end of the course. Docents pay 18 percent commission per student. That covers lesson materials, a digital school board, the social network and a trade platform (em, Dutch).
If there is one branch suitable for worldwide personal service, it is the language course branch (after the virtual sex industry, sex at a distance, read: web cam girls of course). In fact this initiative facilitates mutual contact, people communicating with each other. It would make sense for social networks, potential social coaching brands, to offer similar services in the future, when they have tens or even hundreds of millions of users). By that time they will easily be able to tell what language somebody writes (and speaks!), and what interests this person. Mediating for language lessons will be a logical step then. For now, this is another extra step.

New Dutch travel portal Travelta aims for completeness. The site at the moment includes travel packages from about twenty tour operators. Arke and Oad are expected to join soon. Travelta expects to cover about eighty percent of the total online travel packages by this spring. From the first second onwards Travelta personalizes the site by giving these options: "I have been here", and "I want to go here". Besides visitors can interact with other visitors.

Related trends

• Coaching brands