Through auto.ilse.nl it is now possible to find all cars offered through Dutch magazines Autotrack, AutoTelegraaf, AutoTrader, AutoKopen and AutoScout. Marktplaats.nl and Speurders.nl are negotiated with. The reviews accompanying the search results come from car magazine Autoweek (em, Dutch). In the evolution of coaching brands in 2007 completeness is the most important factor: for example, give me all information on cars. The consumer likes to have one website with a complete overview, irrespective if you are talking about printers, insurance, jobs, internet providers, or cars. In a next step, extension to related categories will be more important. Starting next year we will see those developments.

Related trends

• Coaching brands

New York Times with MyTimes make it possible not only to personalize the New York Times, but even to add external sources. Thus news coaching brands further develop. Now we personalize content. Later New York Times look over our shoulder to see what we find interesting. First, they will look at how long you watch a web page, based on the time between clicks, later they will use eye-tracking (are you really looking at the content, or are you distracted by a banner or a phone call, or are you not at your computer any more), and even later NY Times will 'read' the emotions off your face. Brands will get better and better in selecting text, audio or video content we are interested in. This however goes step by step.

Through HealthVault consumers can maintain their medical records online, and get access to medical knowledge and health suppliers. Patients, people who are ill, can connect drivers like diabetes and pulse meters, and thus get better advise. HealthVault, an initiative of Microsoft, is very careful when it comes to privacy. The electronic health records that patients and their families can share with doctors is completely secured and decoded (em, Dutch). Thus health coaching brands come to life. Now as an initiative of a software company. In the future health coaching brands will especially employ people who 'breathe health'. This is a small step in that direction.

News site eKudos now offers the possibility to register a network of contacts who share your interest in news. This way, you quickly and easily keep each other informed of news that absolutely deserves attention (dc, Dutch). Brands more and more use personal relationships to be able to serve you on a more personal basis. At the moment many brands start their own services to maintain your social network, later they will connect to social coaching brands, or their archetypes from 2007: social networks. The result is that in the end we will have one central spot for maintaining our contacts, and we will select brands which may use our contact list. This development is a side step which in the end will work out fine.

BMW now has a car which determines its own optimal directions, and keeps them, as part of a training for drivers. This is based on satellites. We earlier saw a BMW parking itself, a BMW driving into a garage by itself , and a Volkswagen which moves by itself (fc, Dutch).

Cars have become so cool that we almost forgot the basis need it fulfills: to get from A to B. It is just a way to fulfill the need of the free human, the human eternally looking for freedom of movement, freedom to go wherever he wants, and independence. In the future we will only have to whisper to our mobility coaching brand, and we are taken from point A to point B. Through all means available at that moment. Our own car, a bike, a metro, airplane or bedjak: nothing is excluded. And in the (very) long run we will only have to sit down, while the mobility coaching brand takes us where we want to go. The development we see here seems to be revolutionary, but before the wheel will completely disappear from the car, it will be 2050.

Chinese civilians show the practice of child slaves through American video sharing site YouTube.This English video, named 'Child slaves, Shanxi China' is placed by somebody using the name daughterofchina. From a western point of view, it is horrible to see what happens (vc).

Nowadays, Fair Trade is a popular principle. Naomi Klein's book 'No Logo' from 2000 initiated this. Just before that, the term 'company behind the brands' had come up. Companies experience a brand coming out: they operate more open and transparent. English videos will make the western consumer more aware of the welfare of people who produce their products at the other side of the world. People who after all also just want to live a happy life, like we all want. In a next step, personal environment brands will show us at the purchase how something has been produced. In the end this will lead to a more balanced world in which richness, welfare and happiness is for everyone. This however will take at least a (couple of) generation(s). It is a long process which unfortunately will take lots of victims first.

Related trends

• Brand coming out

Through Japanese Megane Top you can fit glasses with your mobile phone (ab). Now glasses, in the future all kinds of clothes. If you then see somebody wearing a jacket, shoes, or skirt you really like, you just point your mobile phone at it. Your fashion coaching brand then appears, who estimates if these clothes will look good on you, asks what color you would like, gives advice about combining these clothes with your existing ones, can say if you can get it somewhere in the neighborhood, and can directly reserve it for you, or order it and have it delivered at your doorstep if you like. This development is part of that.

Social network MySpace makes it possible to call somebody directly from a profile page, through telephone service Skype (cz). Social coaching brands - MySpace could develop to be such a brand - facilitate mutual contact. Asynchronously by leaving text, voice or image messages in 'boxes' or on 'pages'. Or synchronously through text, voice or image by chatting or calling. If a company can't deliver a certain type of service itself, it will be purchases, which in this case happens with Skype. In the end MySpace will probably want to be in control of the communication between its users. Now its own messenger competes with the chat possibilities in Skype. That will only be a matter of time.

Treinvizier shows trains, metros, and intercity trains real-time on the map (only in firefox now)(mb, Dutch). We imitate the real world as detailed as possible, and make sure that every change is visible. It was already possible to see planes, traffic information, and metro and tram stations, and now the moving trains have been added. Wherever the information comes from, mobility coaching brands will help us to get from A to B as fast, safe, or cheap as possible. For that to happen all information has to be available, and we're getting one step closer to that situation every time.

Through HeySpread consumers can now upload their videos, and have them distributed over all big video sites in one click (thanks steven). Ever since people started using services from other people, since they started consuming, everything has been about convenience, about delegating to others the things they can do faster, better, or cheaper. In 2007 this means: everything you can buy brought together on one website: all cars, all jobs, or all holidays. And if you want to offer something yourself, then you do it all over the web. That is convenience in 2007. This brand anticipates that. This development illustrates the development of home entertainment coaching brands: brands which always and anywhere give us access to all content that has ever been made.

Online travel agency HolidayCheck shows the trend in changes in appreciation of accommodation. This way, a place which has always been valued highly but which is slowly deteriorating, can see its appreciation go down. The amount of reviews is still limited, but that is a matter of time. Due to these kinds of analysis travel coaching brands get more value (Holiday Check has the potential to grow into being such a brand), and transaction brands, providers of (local) services and products, will be more and more pressured to deliver top products and services. This real-time trend analysis contributes to that.

Through Training with the Stars every (Dutch) runner, biker, or fitness enthusiast can now get their own personal coach on their MP3 player. The training is accompanied by encouragements and tips from Dutch top athletes Mascha Dolman, Leontien van Moorsel and Gianni Romme, as well as music keeping up the pace. Athletes can keep their log through the site. After registration they can directly download their first MP3 (ts). Thus new brands show how they take on the role of personal coach. In the future also for purchase advice for products, for special training weeks, or for nutritional advice. This way personal sports brands slowly develop.

If you plan a route through Google Maps, you can now easily customize it by dragging and dropping points. See the video below for a demo (sc, Dutch). Thus brands start communicating more and more intuitively. By using visual elements instead of text. In the future we will be able to say: "I think I would like to drive along the coast", after which the "nicest route along the coast" is suggested, you will be able to see the views, and read what others liked about this route. This is another step in that direction.

Anyone who installs the (beta) software of Tazti will receive brands on command. By simply yelling 'Go Amazon', 'Go Flickr' or 'Go Diggs' behind your PC screen you'll immediately be shown the brand page. Other commands are also possible. It's not always perfect and the amount of brands that's recognized is minimal, but it shows nicely where we're headed. Soon we'll have all our brands at our beck and call. And with all millions of brands in the world our contact coaching brand will know exactly which brand we mean. Just like we only recognize one Nataly, even though there are undoubtedly more than one. 'Call Nataly' will be enough for our contact coaching brand. Once we're in contact with our chosen brand the dialogue will continue happily, just like we would with people. And this can happen on every possible screen, especially our cell phone. Tatzi could grow into a contact coaching brand that will always support us.

Mier3000 (Ant 3000) is a new little brand that nestles in your Windows Live Messenger (formerly MSN Messenger) contact list, and that searches the (Dutch) national telephone guide and yellow pages for you. When you add mier3000@live.nl to your contact list, you can directly start asking questions. The dialogue is still simple, although it already can answer questions like 'I'm looking for', 'I want the phone number of', and even 'gimme a pizza place' results in a list of hits. In Messenger's right screen (the activity screen) the results then appear on a map. Anybody who registers gets a personal ant. People can even nominate their ant to be the work-ant of the month.

Thus the dialogue further develops. Any human being, any brand and any other organization: we will only (literally) have to call their names and we are directly connected to them. Through speech (and image) with a real person, through a website or through an artificial brand agent. Ant then can become our personal secretary, a virtual coaching brand instance of our social coaching brand. This is a small step in that direction.

Dutch realtor ERA organizes several Open House Tours a year. On that (Satur)day, people can see houses without an appointment. Starting this year, they can search for houses on the internet, and then download the addresses of their interest in their TomTom navigation system (em, Dutch). This way the dialogue with our home coaching brands also spread over several displays. In the future our home coaching brand will always be with us, and will help us to find great houses, to get the living comfort we like, to design the house the way we like it. Now we still need to download things, later just saying 'that's a great house' will be sufficient to get the home coaching brand going. Then we will photograph the house with our mobile phone, get a video presentation on TV, and get an interactive presentation in 3D through the PC. Everything connects to each other. The mobility coaching brand, TomTom in this case, will then make sure we get to our destination without a hassle.