Brand Name Future - Innovate By Day

Brand Name Future - Innovate By Day:

As part of a continuing series, we’ll be creating speculative anecdotes that examine the future of social media marketing.

In our present-day society where social media is fast becoming integrated with daily life, it’s not hard to believe that one day, we’ll see services like Twitter and Facebook transcend the machines that currently deliver them. Whether it’s the little black brick we call the smartphone vanishing into the ether to be replaced by new handhelds, or “wearables” that take over and meld seamlessly into our clothes, it’s highly likely that the future will offer us all new ways to more organically communicate via these services.We’re already seeing the proliferation of wearables, be it in smartwatches, exercise straps, gesture bands, etc. Branding is just one step behind, but with technological exoskeletons being developed by the military and the fact you can tweet from your car now, we’re well on our way.

I’d like to peer into that future for a moment, and I invite you to join me.

• • •

Photo by Markus Spiske – Attribution License

Meet Ibrahim: 35, married, and denizen of the urban core.

Ibrahim lives in our future, a far-off place some thirty years from now. While the world is still waiting on flying cars, the energy revolution has taken hold with electric and solar dominant in virtually every market. We’re well on our way to solving the problems of Climate Change, sugar content in food has been lowered tremendously, and everyone does yoga.

Everyone also has an incredible, digitally-harnessed social life. The term “social media” has sunk into the background of our language. When people talk about social media, it’s in a historical context, about a time when you required little black boxes that lit up to communicate with one another.

Ibrahim lives in a world where the boxes have disappeared and communication is utterly unobstructed

Today, he’s at the store, shopping for new sneakers. A salesperson named Sarah helps him out. He wants to buy a pair of Nike-branded cross trainers, emblazoned with their unwavering red checkmark. The sneaker hasn’t changed much in thirty years, though the styling is far more modern and it’s crafted from better, more resilient materials. It’s still made in China, but that means something different to Ibrahim. Now, “Made in China” is a sign that the labourers are well-paid, and that the shoe is of an especially high quality.

On the rear of the shoe is a fabric panel with the Nike check. It changes suddenly as he picks the shoe up, displaying the price: $499.99. Ouch.

He’s about to put it down when Sarah, helpful as always, tells him that the shoe can also be put on “subscription”. That puts a smile on Ibrahim’s face. For just $99.99 down, he can walk out with the shoes today and pay off his tab of $9.99 a month. The only catch – if you can call it that, is that the shoes will display various advertisements via advanced fiber-optics, digital carrier waves and something else that has no easy comparison to present-day technology, while on subscription. Ibrahim asks her for a pair in his size.

While Sarah runs off to retrieve his pair, Ibrahim reviews the shoe’s features. They integrate with his Apple-branded sports jacket, letting him “Brainwave” while he runs. What’s Brainwave? It’s a new thing the folks who brought us Twitter 3.0 invented: A small piece of plastic you clip behind your ear that picks up electrical patterns in your brain, letting you “wave” out your thoughts and “hear” what others wave. It’s complicated, but everyone gets it once they try it out. Brainwave’s been picking up everywhere, and its API has figured into just about every other service available. It occurs to Ibrahim that he hasn’t seen a shoe in two years without Brainwave-integration.

Sarah comes back with the box and Ibrahim tries on the shoes. A quick walk up and down the aisle and he’s happy. To start the subscription, he Brainwaves “Just bought the new @Nike SourceRun at Athlete’s Planet. #WaveWhileYouRun”. Like magic, the price on the shoes converts down to $99.99, paid remotely by digital wallet. He’ll “hear” the receipt later and file it away in his wardrobe at home – in case anything happens.

Ibrahim leaves the store happy in his new Nikes, his old runners have already been recycled into upholstery materials via the in-store program. His good mood is reinforced by a rapid influx of replies to his wave, congratulating him on picking a great shoe. As he steps out into the street, his new Nikes display a brand-integrated video featuring a wasabi-infused sport drink. Ibrahim barely notices. Then the indicator on his cuff lights up, telling him he has a new text from his wife. The preview only reads “… you should have bought Reeboks. I can’t believe you don’t support open source clothing”.

This is the future that Ibrahim lives in.

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Brand Name Future - Innovate By Day:



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