Publisher Sanoma has bought Dutch living websites Leadz.nl and Woonwebsite.nl as an extension to their existing websites Woonklussen.nl and Allewoonwinkels.nl. The two newly acquired websites are both aimed at consumers who want to change their house or garden. At Woonwebsite.nl the user can ask for the services of a 'Realtor' to find the right contractor for a complete renovation. Leadz.nl is an auction site at which supply and demand for jobs on houses. Consumers can post their jobs, and professional companies can put their offers in.

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• Coaching brands

The Dutch Directorate for Public Works and Water Management 'Rijkswaterstaat' want to make maps available for free (em, Dutch). Information will soon be free, everything will be freely available and connected worldwide, so that the physical world becomes completely transparent. Earning money on general information (which is still the foundation of most publishers' business models) will be impossible. It will be the art to get to know individual consumers in-depth, and present them tailor-made information. Brands who are able to do that, and are even able to get the consumer to (re)act (I call them coaching brands), are the strongest brands of the 21st century.

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• Coaching brands

Binck bank sends 8 Mb videos to bloggers, as well as links to videos in a campaign sent via YouTube (I received them myself). Brands discover mavens: people who want to know everything in a certain area. They provide them with the right information, in the right way, at the right time. We used to get press releases of sites going live two days later. That doesn't make sense: you can't write about it or link to it. Online journalists are happy with pictures, videos, and live websites. In the end we want to have real-time image communications, as that is most suitable for humans. The campaign by the way wasn't relevant enough for Mensmerk.nl, but it does deserve a posting because of the way it was done.

Dutch publisher VNU Media has placed displays in its hallway. Until recently, this high wall (probably about 5 meter, or 15 feet) was exclusively covered with magazines. This action will give the employees a sense of moving into a multi-medial direction. Publishers have enormous chances, but if they only keep being proud of the paper, they will keep thinking paper. Although there are still more magazines than displays on the wall, this step illustrates the internal changes at the company.

Cisco has opened its new Globalisation Center East in Bangalore, India. On top op being a center for research, IT and customer service, this location will also be the center for demonstrating the next generation of virtual techniques (think of advanced video conferencing). The Globalisation Center East is the biggest data center outside of the United States (cm, Dutch). While China is fully focusing on production and (product) design, India takes the lead in IT and customer service. The two biggest countries in the world will soon be the numbers 1 and 2 on the list of world economies.

Yahoo from now on determines the position of an advertisement not solely by the highest bid, but also considers the 'quality' of the advertisement. This quality is mainly determined based on the click through ratio: the amount of other people having clicked through before (ab, Dutch). In the end the most important goal is to make a fitting offer to the individual. And 'advertisement' only becomes 'relevant' if the consumer says 'yes' instantly. Now we still look at the content of the page, the behavior of other people. In the future coaching brands will look at the individual's behavior, and the behavior of his or her trusted relations (friends, family, or colleagues). Coaching brands won't advertise (yell) any more: they will especially be good listeners. This step of Yahoo is an example in that direction.

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• Coaching brands

Viewdl recognizes faces in videos, accurate by the second. The first partner is Reuters, who has provided 600 hours of news video. In this video for example Dutch prime minister Jan Peter Balkenende can be found (mf, Dutch). Searching in video and audio in the future will be as simple as searching in text nowadays. We will be just be able to say 'all vacation videos I'm in with John', or 'all remarks Bush has made about taxes in 2006', or 'all movies in which Lisa has a minor part'. In the future we will only have to say something, and we get it on demand. It will be as simple as that.

Vlingo Mobile makes it possible to have mobile phones listen intelligently. Instead of building the intelligence into the phone, the spoken sentence is sent to a central point, and analyzed there. The advantage of this is that potentially millions of sentences come together at the central point, through which the system can learn quickly and therefore highly exceed the quality of current voice recognition systems (at). After having experimented with our phones for a while, we will now start to just talk with it again. Just like in the old days. Only now it is computerized, and where possible supported by images. This development contributes to that. And brands by the way will do the same thing. When we ask the question: 'are there any fun last-minutes for me?', we will get an immediate answer. In word. And in image.

Comsys offers companies an interactive voice response system through which consumers can upload videos on their mobile phones (cc, Dutch). Through this system, brands can communicate with consumers in a more visual way. It will first be applied in the entertainment sector, but soon other sectors will follow. So that we sill be able to call the doctor to show him the eczema on the knee, call the plumber to show him the cabinet under the sink, and ask the insurance companies for advice by showing them the first impressions of the damage. This system makes it all possible.

Google buys American company GrandCentral. This is a free web service through which registered users get one phone number, which they then can connect to all their business and private telephone numbers. On a website the user can program what incoming phone call has to be connected to what device, and which ones eventually could directly end up in a voice mailbox. (em, Dutch). We slowly work towards one virtual mailbox in which text, speech, and video come together. Dependent on who sends a message, where we are, and what we feel like, we come 'live', we send a message, or don't answer at all. Thus not only spammers don't really get a chance any more, neither to stalkers and companies who make unwanted phone calls. For brands it will be the art to get onto the list of 'trusted relations'. The coaching brands will be the ones to master this art into the finest details.

Related trends

• Coaching brands

VoicePay introduces a system which makes it possible for brands to recognize consumers by their voices, and have them make transactions. According to VoicePay the system is safe, as it is based on a biometric signal which is very hard to forge. The software analyzes 117 parameters of an individual voice, and builds a personal voice profile based on those parameters. The system can analyze the voice of a customer, irrespective of what the person says, background noises, or temporary voice problems like hoarseness (tc, Dutch). Brands will massively start using these kinds of techniques. They will know directly who they are dealing with, what question is being asked, in what context they have to consider this question, and then be better able to answer the question. The introduction of this product again gets us a step closer to that.

Vodafone starts a Web Relations department, apart from the existing Investor Relations and Public Relations departments, to monitor the web. The new, 6-persons department will actively follow web logs and discussion forums to monitor the public image of the company and its services (em, Dutch). In fact, you could say that Web Relations is the same as 'Stakeholder Relations'. Without a doubt, the department will not just look at what is being said, but also at who says it. Is it a (former) customer, a (former) employee, a (former) stakeholder, a specialist, a technician, or a combination? And then the public comments of this person will be recorded in the HRM, IR, or CRM system. And Vodafone comes with a proper answer for this person. This way the brand develops more openness, and the dialogue about brands between customers becomes more and more transparent. This is another good step in that direction.

The biggest web log service in the Netherlands, Web-log.nl starts to structurally show advertisements on its web logs. For bloggers with a free subscription that is. Paying subscribers keep an advertising-free blog (em). A personal web log is part of the human identity. Unwanted advertising disturbs that identity. It is as if your back, your mobile or your cap is sponsored by a company you can't choose. And if you do want to choose, you will start paying. This will happen on a large scale. First we might need some more extra value (ever-lasting photo and video storage for example) to justify a monthly price. In the end we will more and more pay for all kinds of services, among others web log services. This step is part of that development.

Through RobotReplay brands can record and watch the way consumers move their mouse over their website (dc, Dutch). RobotReplay is an analyzing tool, but this principle uncovers a lot more opportunities. Like in a shop the (good) seller keeps an eye on the consumer's interest (at that moment) and takes advantage of that, brands will now do the same thing online. Earlier, brands did this by looking at what we clicked on, or what we bought. Now they look at how we move our mouse, and later brands will also consider what we say, what we look at, and what our hands reach for. This way the virtual world becomes more and more real, and brands start to understand us better and better.

Microsoft is going to provice language technology Q-go in several European countries. The solution of this Dutch software company will be added to Microsoft Sharepoint Server 2007, which is used by companies internally. Through the Q-go technology users can ask questions in natural language instead of searching through keywords (ic, Dutch). We get better and better in listening to consumers. Q-go takes the lead by understanding all kinds of language constructions, including common spelling errors and synonyms. This is great, as people don't want to search: they want answers to their questions. When Microsoft starts making this technology available for brands worldwide, that will enable brands to listen a little bit better again. This is a small step in that direction.

Amazon has taken over dpreview.com, a leading site about digital photography with excellent reviews of digital cameras. (dc, Dutch). In the future brands will more often unite people. By this take-over, Amazon ties people to itself. The first step will be to integrate the accounts of the two companies. Amazon will make sure you get the product you want. If you write a review, Amazon knows for sure you physically have the product, which makes your review even more valuable. This is a step in that direction.