Lifestyle on Demand?

June 29, 2011 by Daniel.Rosentreter in Branding, Entertainment, Society | 1 Comment

We’re surrounded by it, everyday and everywhere: things we don’t use, bought and left to stand.

Traveling to Dallas a few days ago, I spent hours flying over mile after mile of huge mansions and houses with rooms people rarely or never enter. Walking along my street in Brooklyn, I see cars that sit idle for days and weeks, just waiting to be taken somewhere. And then my favorite: boats. Have you ever wandered around a marina and marveled at those endless rows of beautiful yachts and sailboats? Just as importantly, have you ever wondered when and if the owner actually takes them out into open waters?

The list goes on an on: stereo equipment, televisions, lawn mowers, kitchen gadgets, vacation homes, jewelry, movies, clothing… Racks, boxes and piles of things we own but rarely enjoy.

In the future, this will change. We won’t need to own things in the traditional (and inconvenient) sense anymore. Rather, we’ll pay for items when we need them, in the same model as services like Zipcar, Netflix and Pandora, which give us access to cars, movies and music on an as-needed basis. Taking that idea one step further, companies like AirBnB and Getaround turn consumers into the dealers, letting you make your home or car available to others using social networking technology. You can own things, but you can make money off them too.

That’s really just the beginning. Personally, I hope there comes a day when we won’t have to own anything at all—just pay a monthly fee for our lifestyles and get it all on demand. Cars, appliances, clothes, holidays, dinners out, tickets to shows. There’s no reason to own when you can rent. One day we’ll ask: how do I want to live this year? Subscribe for the “fashion conscious, middle-aged, conservative executive with a family of four” or even the “edgy, artistic, single hipster” bundle and live large!

One thing the celebs have that you DON’T want!

January 21, 2011 by Jack Arrowsmith in Branding, Society | 1 Comment

Today is the 21^st of January, so now we’re well into the first month of the New Year. For many a new year signals potential, excitement, progression and opportunity, but not for some.

For millions of people in Africa, this gift of hope that comes with the start of a new year is stripped away from them by Malaria. With the very recent news that George Clooney is recovering from his second bout of the deadly disease, I feel it poignant to reiterate the extremity of this disease, its devastating impact, and take a very unashamed opportunity to promote the great work of Malaria No More, with its aim of ending malaria deaths in Africa by 2015.

‘Malaria is an infectious blood disease caused by a parasite that is transmitted from one human to another by the bite of infected Anopheles mosquitoes’ (http://www.malarianomore.org/malaria). If the devastation of malaria on Africa isn’t clear enough, allow me to help – I know how much everyone loves facts and figures, so let me give you some…

A child dies every 45 seconds of malaria in Africa.
Up to one third of all children who die before their fifth birthday die of malaria
Malaria costs Africa over £8 billion a year in lost economic output
In Africa, it is estimated that up to 200,000 newborns die each year as a result of malaria in pregnancy and malaria can cause anaemia and death for pregnant women

…Clearer now?

At FutureBrand we are wholly committed in the fight against malaria and strive to support MalariaNoMore, in our partnership with them to help achieve their goal of ending deaths caused by Malaria by 2015. We truly want to end fatalities caused by this disease that plagues Africa and other parts of the world.

Here is some more malaria info:

There are 270,000,000 annual cases of malaria worldwide
Over 2000 UK holiday makers a year return with malaria
91% of all malaria deaths occur in Africa

I could go on…

…so I will…

In 2009 an estimated 781,000 people died from malaria
85% of malaria victims are young, African, children
Malaria causes flu like symptoms and if left untreated can lead to coma and even death

Malaria is an indiscriminate disease, it makes no distinction between creed, colour or status, as shown with the recent high profile cases of those who have contacted malaria; Didier Drogba, Cheryl Cole, Jeremy Piven, Anderson Cooper and George Clooney (for the second time), not to mention the less recent but still high profile cases of Presidents Washington, Monroe, Jackson, Lincoln, Grant, Garfield, Roosevelt and Kennedy!

These famous names, like those in Africa (and any of us) can contract the disease, but they have access to the right medical care at the right time (especially the more recent cases). This “proper” medical care can “turn the most lethal condition in Africa [into] a bad 10 days instead of a death sentence”, said George Clooney, speaking of his recent fight with the disease he contracted for the second time after his recent political trip to Sudan. The problem is that millions of people who contract the disease do not have access to this medical care and these preventative tools. It is up to all of us to do everything we can to help MalariaNoMore’s cause!

There is some good news however. Thanks to MalariaNoMore, its partners and other institutions efforts, things are changing for the better.

9 African countries have reduced malaria deaths by more than 50%
In 11 African countries, childhood mosquito net use has increased tenfold in the past decade
MalariaNoMore has distributed 2.6 million mosquito nets in 13 African countries to cover over 5,000,000 people

With MalriaNoMore’s affiliation to many high profile individuals and organisations, and with their extraordinary and innovative efforts, progress is being made and awareness is increasing. We need to continue to increase this progress and awareness. FutureBrand is thrilled to be an official partner with MalariaNoMore Worldwide and is committed to helping eradicate death from Malaria by 2015.

Malaria is preventable and treatable with the use of simple tools such as mosquito nets, safe indoor spraying and effective medicines. So many people are coming up with new ways to tackle this disease (just ask Bill Gates!); be one of them!

For me there are three key words; Educate (yourself), Help (others) and Donate (to MNM).

Clooney’s got it, Cheryl had it, Drogba had it…you don’t want it!

To find out more about MalariaNoMore, malaria and what you can do, visit:

http://malarianomore.org.uk/ http://malarianomore.org/ http://www.futurebrand.com/about/we-care/

To see George Clooney speak about his experience with malaria, tune in to ‘Piers Morgan Tonight’ on CNN, 21/01/11. US: 9pm ET/6pm PT and UK: 8pm GMT

Branding in 2011 – what’s on the horizon?

January 4, 2011 by Chris Nurko in Branding, Business, Technology | 2 Comments

In 2010, the year of austerity for most consumers in North America and Europe, companies took note of a shift in what and how branding is perceived and managed as part of marketing and business strategy.

First of all, Corporate Reputation Management was front of mind as BP tried to salvage its reputation on the back of their Deepwater Horizon disaster and truly live up to ‘beyond petroleum’ as their mantra. The brand will recover, and the PR agency should be rebuked for their inability to control or limit the brand reputation damage – however, a cautionary tale emerges as the 21^st century asks new questions of corporate vision, strategy and transparency. Look out for 2011 to be a year for Energy companies to re-define their longer-term strategies (especially in CSR) and community relations. In a fossil fuel dependent world, innovation should now be rightly focussed on clean energy and zero impact technology. Which, nicely segues onto Toyota – no doubt 2009’s winner for their development of Hybrid fuel technology only to suffer a basic product quality control as some of their car brake systems proved faulty and deadly. The result, a product recall and embarrassing PR disaster in the US which saw their reputation put on the line. Like BP, the failure to implement a disaster ‘control’ plan proved that Branding and PR/image management go hand-in-hand. Again, the brand will recover but a return to some of the core values of safety and consumer advocacy and service would be well advised.

Second of all, Consumer advocacy and Brand service failure response is the second issue for us to keep in mind as we leave 2010 behind. Think Icelandic Volcanic Ash in May and end of year winter storms in Europe and the US and the Brands which failed to deliver come to mind. In Europe it was governments and their respective Air Safety and Transport Authorities who ‘closed’ the skies combined with the Airport authorities of cities in the UK, France, Germany and Benelux. Not to mention, airlines who in various ways either complicated traveller’s lives or failed to deliver basic legal requirements for customer service. BA and EasyJet were two of the ‘poster children’ of the year on this account, with BA locked in a bitter union dispute as well. Coming out on top, many of the Middle Eastern carriers, Asian carriers and package holiday firms who seemed to grasp the meaning of service far quicker and more comprehensively than those who were more ‘bottom line’ and short term focussed. Also, the real winners – brands that emerged using social media and technology to help stranded travellers find transport, accommodation, share information and/or contact loved ones. If the old system breaks down, the new system emerges far stronger – a system based on real-time conversation, information, arm-chair advocates, twitterers and Facebook ‘friends’. Kudos to those companies who were proactive and responsive (Thomson, Thomas Cook, American Express, Emirates, Singapore Airlines, Skype, hotels.com, and other .com sites that managed to work efficiently and digitally to help travellers). Shame on you BA, BAA, Air France, Eurostar, Easyjet – from my personal experience – I hope you have learned a lesson or two.

Third, despite the banking crisis of confidence, a lesson from 2010 and for 2011 is the ability for brands to be ‘in tune’ with consumers and offer better ‘value’ in the form of pricing, bundling of goods and services and or good old fashioned discounting. As the end of the ‘luxury’ and ‘upscaling’ of consumer tastes approaches, one sees a newfound consumer confidence emerging to do less outsourcing of services and/or products and more ‘in home’ DIY multi-tasking. This means it is a more competitive marketplace for goods and services and just like restaurants that fail to make the grade, many brands may disappear if they are unable to meet changing consumer demand, tastes and affordability. Combined with on-line consumer advocacy, the ‘winners’ will be those that are able to translate consumer transactional data into meaningful activation and relationship marketing. Shopper insight research says that on-line marketing is alive and well with the increasing popularity of Smart Phone and iPhone apps which make it easier to find, compare, negotiate and actually buy goods and services. If your brand doesn’t have an ‘app’ in 2011 consumers will be less able to connect and consume – and, with social media abuzz with either crowd sourced ideas, competitions or consumer advocacy posts, no amount of old fashioned advertising or marketing will save the brand.

So, goodbye 2010 and hello MMXI (2011) – when the watch words will be Corporate Reputation Management, Consumer Advocacy and Involvement, Foresight that links to Innovation and ‘Apps’ that connect real people and data to brand decision-making.

A city of the future rises in the desert – Masdar

October 25, 2010 by Chris Nurko in Design, Innovation, Society, Technology | 1 Comment

In Abu Dhabi rising out of the desert like a hi-tech oasis is the sustainable city of the future. Designed by Foster & Partners is the city of Masdar. I say sustainable, because it is the first purpose built city of the 21^st century designed to harness the natural elements of sun and wind, mix modern construction techniques and traditional construction methods plus attempt to place sustainable and renewable energy at the heart of a carbon-neutral city. And, guess what it is working and people want to live there.

Norman Foster took on the challenge when posed with the brief in 2007, which was to build a city for the future which blended aesthetics with purpose. It is based on old Arab settlements found in Yemen and in Syria, inspiring the methods and craftsmanship for construction while also observing the age old methods of how to keep a city in the desert cool, functional and both a place of residence and commerce. 90 percent of Masdar’s energy is to be derived from solar power, and by building the city on a raised platform it is hoped that it will be cooler via wind power and funnel techniques to harness the desert breezes which blow across Abu Dhabi. In doing so, the city is expected to offer shade and respite from the Arabian sun. The city is raised on a 23 foot high base and is one mile long on each of four sides. The city is actually a labyrinth of pedestrian walkways and sheltered streets completely free of combustion engine cars (they are banned) but a fleet of driverless electric transport ‘cars’ operate silently and remote controlled on mono-rail like systems connecting the ‘quarters’ of the community. Even Foster has called it an ‘Arabic Disneyland’ with all the service support features out of sight, yet seamlessly offering a pseudo-utopian living and working/shopping environment. The city is 20 miles outside of Abu Dhabi and in a country of wealth and oil, it is a 21^st century innovation unlike anywhere else in the world. It will not be fully complete until spring 2011, however it is already attracting attention due to the use of environmental planning and light-sensitive technologies, integrated digital design elements and a very community oriented approach to urban space planning. If you haven’t heard of Masdar before, you will..it is as exciting as Brasilia was when it was built, and in stark contrast to the Palm or World islands and peninsula up the coast in Dubai – the focus on green and sustainable construction, purpose and community places this project at the forefront for future oriented urban planning and environmental branding.

Future Minds

October 11, 2010 by Chris Nurko in Business, Entertainment, Innovation, Society | Leave a comment

Richard Watson’s latest book, Future Minds (how the digital age is changing our minds, why this matters and what we can do about it?) is a great thought-provoking piece of contemporary cultural analysis. From his investigation of what and how ‘screen-agers’ see and interact with the world through to the 10 ways to ‘breed’ an idea – Richard has managed to clearly and concisely identify a few of the key forces which are re-shaping the way we think and live as consumers. The way in which the digital world is forcing a re-think about creativity is a hot topic at the moment, and Richard weighs in with some astute observations – namely, don’t give up on analogue creativity if you want original and differentiated solutions to problems. However, it is the power of fusing the two together which truly yields results. His views on Open Source innovation are ‘spot on’ and his link between breakthrough thinking and ‘spaces and places’ is excellent. I found the non-scientific approach to ‘where does the best thinking get done?’ enlightening and amusing…for me, on the beach watching waves would be my preferred place and stimulus.

Have a read…it is a must have book for futurologists and branding pundits.

ISBN-13: 978-1857885491

The Future of the NORC’s…Happiness and the Potato!

September 27, 2010 by Chris Nurko in Innovation, Society, Technology | 1 Comment

Reading through this week’s issue of the New Scientist (25 Sept 2010) I was struck by several interesting articles and wondered if they were in some way related?

First of all, the book review section featured a review of two books about ‘the future’ (a topic I am quite keen on…obviously!)

One – The World in 2050 by Laurence Smith introduced me, for the first time to the term NORC. NORC is an acronym for ‘Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities’, which the author refers to as the ‘northern rim countries’ above the 45^th parallel. Countries such as Canada, Russia, Sweden/Finland/Norway, Iceland and Greenland (Denmark) make up a group of countries which Smith believes will grow in direct proportion and opposing reason to the population growth of the BRIC nations. Why? Because they offer the exact opposite of the BRIC economic and population growth: the NORC’s offer stability, clean and abundant natural resources on land and sea plus space which will allow for community expansion. The ability to work remotely and sustain year-round enviro-friendly and energy efficient communities means these regions can attract an ageing and wealthier populations northward to communities of higher standards of living and quality of life. This is in direct contrast to what he describes as the seething, over-populated, hot and dirty city metropolis centres of Latin America, Africa and the Indian Subcontinent. Smith cites the arctic’s warming and the discovery of natural resources at the northern regions as offering new opportunities for settlement, tourism and popular migration. As opposed to nations with out-of-control population growth with limited advanced economic viability, the author makes a case for how technology, education, medical advances and energy advances allow for the more advanced nations of the northern hemisphere to take advantage of global warming by creating vibrant new communities (or NORCs). Thus, there is new and future growth hope for cities like Trondheim, Murmansk, Juneau, Churchill, and Oulu. In his book, Smith also writes of placing an ‘investment’ bet on industries which will subsequently benefit from this shift northward and ageing populations of wealthy baby boomers and Gen X’ers who will drive this new growth and ‘northern’ economic investment and migration.

Two – The review section compares this book with another, 2030, Technology that will change the World! by the authors Van Santen, Khoe and Vermeer. In this book, unlike Smith’s – the authors account for ‘game changing’ events and technology disruptions which will force a re-think of the future paradigms around energy, population, agriculture and industry. They cite examples in which different scenarios for the future of cities and populations will be shaped by the role of nanotechnology, innovation and new science discoveries thus changing what we hold today as a limit, obstacle or impediment to growth.

Now what struck me as interesting was that in the same issue was an article on the ‘future of happiness’. What is happiness, where are people happiest and what are the ways to safeguard or pursue a ‘happier’ quality of life? The whole concept of ‘feeling good’ and being ‘future positive’ is something that seems to be hard wired into most marketing and branding messages. It also is a fundamental goal and objective for individuals, for employers, for manufacturers of products and services as well as an ‘end game’ for government to create sustainable quality of life and living conditions for people and their communities. And, it is also what good and successful ‘brands’ should provide for their consumers or advocates. When it comes to locations, studies of ‘the happiest’ places on earth to live, work or visit are often compiled and ranked. We include this as a key indicator for elements of our FutureBrand Country Brand Index. The article makes a point of linking ‘happiness’ with better performance in education and job satisfaction. A correlation between creativity and feeling positive is also examined and related to the ability to problem solve. In the article, the ‘happy and positive’ locations are identified as the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Iceland, Nordic countries, the UK and Eire, most of Western Europe (except for Portugal, Italy, Greece and the Balkans), Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Argentina, Columbia, and Central America (except Belize and El Salvador)! Ok…NOT EXACTLY the NORC’s…but close! And, the correlation between a ‘place’ which supports a positive frame of mind, quality of life and creative approach to career or education is deemed to be both valuable and measureable.

In the 2008 ‘happiness’ survey, the top country turned out to be Denmark (and the lowest was Zimbabwe!) with a European heavy list making a strong statement about social, political and economic development and stability as being a strong indicator of citizen ‘happiness’ (The US was number 16 in the study). Similarly, in the world’s most competitive countries list published by the World Economic Forum posts Switzerland in the top position (with Sweden and Singapore at number 2 and 3 respectively). Again, it begs the question that the New Scientist article elaborates on – does a ‘happiness score’ correlate to life satisfaction and this in turn leads to greater productivity or competitiveness for a nation’s citizens and their economic value? What I found most interesting was a caution about consumerism. Meaning, that the mere fact or ability to ‘buy more’ (of branded goods and services) was not deemed to be as successful at making someone ‘happy’ as spending money on social activities or exciting new experiences (The Journal of Positive Psychology, vol 4, p511 study)!

And the last random piece of this puzzle, in the same New Scientist issue was about a ‘future potato’ which was being engineered in India to produce more protein per spud than an ordinary tuber. The potato is a hearty plant which is associated with not only being an excellent food source and dietary supplement, but critical to helping to feed and sustain the growing world population. A vegetable which through its’ introduction has helped to fuel population growth, immigration and sustainable agriculture throughout history. The growing importance of the potato for food sustenance in Africa, China and India is evidence of its importance, and the potential ‘new’ genetically modified potato offers potential for not only new and greater consumption, but to be able to be grown in new climates (e.g. the arctic!). OK – so, maybe it is not immediately obvious how these three different bits of information relate. BUT, I offer you this…potatoes (along with ice cream) are a food which make you happy. This is evidenced by global sales of French Fries, and the demand for potatoes rising in global diets and culinary trends. And, according to CatererSearch.com – French Fries and potato-based side dishes are increasing in sales across the US and Europe. More interestingly, when you look at where sales are increasing and where potato consumption is highest…Ireland (of course!), Russia, the US/Canada and W Europe/Scandinavia. Aha! QED – potato sales/consumption, NORC country trends and happiness are indeed all related!!

(* ok – I admit it is not that scientific, but hey…perhaps the New Scientist is letting us connect the dots on our own!?)

A crush of civilization in our pockets

September 20, 2010 by Andrea Corno in Branding, Business, Design, Innovation, Marketing, Technology | Leave a comment

The other day on a restaurant table I saw an iPhone, a BlackBerry and a G2. They are supposed to ‘communicate’ to each other but, as soon as the latest comScore and Gartner reports appeared, the conversation turned into a philosophical war that has a lot to do with branding.

: same same but different

It’s not simply a matter of competence; it looks more like the screen of a ‘Civilization’ battle war, with different kinds of armies fighting for the possession of the territory.

Less than four years ago, commander in chief Steve Jobs made the strongest breakthrough in the mobile phone industry with a wonderfully designed keyboard-less internet machine that could fit into your pocket. The first reaction of somebody in the business community was “500 dollars? Fully subsidized? With a plan? I said that is the most expensive phone in the world. And it doesn’t appeal to business customers because it doesn’t have a keyboard. Which makes it not a very good email machine.“ (a bottle of Argentinean Malbec for he/she who guesses the author of this visionary statement without using Google) … “it may sell very well …”. Well, it did. Not simply a well designed technological tool, easy to use but also a better designed business model; leveraging on the million of iPods already in our pockets, iTunes opened the doors of an interesting revenue stream for application programmers and content producers worldwide.

A wonderfully designed army with a huge cash flow to finance innovation, but an army with very strict rules and just one single device that allows you to do a lot of things but prevents you from doing some others. A device that was isolated from the rest of Apple’s world until the launch of the iPad (that is now trying to connect as a bridge to the rest of their world) and the use of MobileMe to generate a sort of private cloud.

At the same time, Google was working to create the Open Handset Alliance (OHA) and launched some months later something much more complex but with huge potential. Not a phone, not even an operating system, it was a philosophy. Android was born as a framework plus 10 million dollars for programmers that wanted to contribute developing the platform. Empathy with the conversation starters of the web, leveraging on what BigG developed in the latest 10 years, the control of the cloud. Opening a GPhone, it’s like connecting the dots backwards, you understand that Google docs, Picasa, Gmail, Maps and an advertising model based on search and geo-localization, were thought to allow you control of your world with very low computing power in your pocket. It’s not just an excellent technology, it’s also an open and free system driven by the business idea of sharing revenues with hardware producers, application developers, service providers.

No surprise for the people that know well the deepest culture of the Internet that it’s selling very well.

An army with a strong possession of the cloud, open to everybody, with a huge price stretching and an advertising based revenue stream.

RIM was the first mover and keeps maintaining its Polar Star in business and corporate clients. As a telephone it works really well, long lasting battery, very flexible to connect to any kind of network. As a brand it represents a business status but it’s still easier for RIM to sell 5000 BlackBerry’s to a corporation than to conquer the heart of a teenager or to develop a network of programmers for it’s applications. BB users simply love it and are the least open to switch.

An army more focused in protecting its very profitable niche market than in conquering other territories.

While iPhone, BB and G2 were discussing, something started to move into my pocket shouting, “I’m still the market leader!”. Mr Nokia, forgotten in the pocket, with it’s symbian based operating system. It has been my first brand of mobile phone, my first WAP connection on a 7110 that made me feel like Neo in Matrix, the always present backup on the bottom of the suitcase, it does not need care and it simply works. N-Series brought Nokia to an excellent level of Smartphones but seemed not to have understood that Mobile world cannot generate empathy if it does not connect emotionally with the internet community. Not a generic set of partnerships, you need direct connection. It’s much more difficult if you try to outsource the bonding connection to Yahoo or some other pure internet player. They are now re-organizing and they have been keeping our pockets warn for the last two decades.

The largest army, that recently changed commander in chief, lot to do with the bonding but also huge knowledge of emerging markets.

“Can I join the conversation?” said a device with two huge suitcases. “No, you KIN’t “ started laughing mr. iPhone that loves to cheat with Mr. Microsoft.

It has always been kind of difficult for them to really be ‘loved’ by their customers. And you really need to love a brand that lives in your pocket, that has your friends & family pictures in it, that connects you to your physical and virtual world anywhere and anytime. Same happened with MSN several times, with Zune, with the cloud in general and lately with KIN.

The suitcases of a business model based on device-installed applications are full of very interesting things but seems to be to heavy in order to allow the army to move fluently in a fast changing market. Let’s wait for Windows Mobile 7 and see what happens. Part of the success is deeply connected to the empathy that Live will be able to generate.

While looking at the crush of civilization, I’m sitting in the middle of an under-exploited market. I’m in a Latin American capital, were the monthly salary of a waiter is less then the cost of each of the three devices on the table. Looking at the lands that still have to be conquered, thinking of Latin America, Africa and a great part of Asia, where billions of less than 50 US$ phones are sold, I try to guess who will expand faster in these markets selling low-end Smartphones and still make money from other revenue-streams.

My guess is that in emerging markets it will be a battle between two armies: Nokia with Symbian and OHA with Android. Most likely they will find some Asian army on the battle floor, there are interesting things happening there.

Microsoft has some potential to enter this competition but with a completely different branding proposition.

RIM and Apple will continue to grow strong in the first world but in emerging markets they will apply just to a few business customers and elites.

I have told you mine, now, what is your guess? Who is going to win in emerging markets in the next 3/5 years?

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