one of the most interesting pages in

8/14/2019 One of the Most Interesting Pages In

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The Undead

One of the most interesting pages in FutureBrand’s latest trend

presentation,FutureNow

, is called ‘Things that are supposed to bedead.’ http://www.futurebrand.com/think/articles/future-now/

Futurists often fail to see that much in real life is cyclical. Too often,when spotters pronounce on trends, they miss the counter trends. Truth is, the obvious must usually be balanced with the obverse.

The FutureNow list includes all kinds things - economic, social andentertainment – that were supposedly going the way of the dinosaursbut which remind me of Mark Twain’s quote “the reports of my deathhave been greatly exaggerated.”

Some examples: everyone’s aware of the forecast imminent demise of Newspapers, Magazines and Books. Yet many who understand theexperiential power of brands and products are sceptical about this.

The physicality of the printed page, the sensory experience (the smellof freshly cut leaves), portability (yes, many enjoy reading in the bath),and the fact that there’s a counter trend in the popularity of reading byyounger demographics, all indicate that death is not imminent. Thefact that reading a newspaper and tearing out interesting snippets, orflipping through a book as a welcome relief from staring at a screen,also mitigates this prediction.

There’s life in the old printing press yet.

Other rather lively things that appear on the death list include,Society (predicted by Maggie Thatcher) and Religion.

But the rise in the political power of the religious Right in the West,think Tony Blair, George W Bush, Kevin Rudd and Tony Abbott, istestament against this (an ecumenical service is still the way Canberrabegins parliamentary blood sports). A recent Neilson survey showed68% of Australians believe in God. In the US, it’s over 90%.

Then there’s the growth of non-traditional religion in the West,everything from James Lovelock’s pantheistic concept of Gaia (theplanet as a single, self regulating organism as seen recently in Avatar’s Pandora), to the growth of spiritualism and paranormal belief (more Australians believe in angels, heaven and ESP than in Darwin’s Theory of Evolution).

In the workplace, Physical Meetings are another threatened speciesaccording to some futurists, but if you’ve ever presented a creative



concept over video conference technology, you’ll know that the subtlenon verbal communications and linkages that are lost are actually thevery ones that make the difference.

Then there’s Francis Fukayama, who (in)famously announced thedeath of History just a few years back; however, one or two eventssince then have made him look pretty foolish. And, of course, the lastrites were once read over the Apple brand back in the days when thecompany was practically bankrupt and they kicked Steve Jobs out of his job. Happily, he came back.

There’s a lesson here for futurists. Beware of resurrections. The secondcoming is often a more powerful presence than the original.

Online and phone banking was meant to kill Physical Bank branches. There are now more bricks and mortar branches in the US than 10years ago and, locally, one bank is trumpeting the placement of 600

new bank managers onsite.

Musical Theatre was declared dead and buried years ago as hokeyand deeply uncool. Then came the likes of Mamma Mia, We Will Rock You, Shout! and, of course, the nine lives of Cats.

The end of Inflation has been predicted by economic seers; yet foodinflation, energy inflation, general inflation and stagflation (last seen inthe US in the 1970s) are all coming to a wallet near you, warnsFutureNow.

The Cold War was purportedly put to rest by Ronald Reagan (himself

someone who was thought dead until, in an impressive comeback role,he was installed as President), yet once again there’s now a chill in theair between the US and Russia, and the US and China. Americandefence spending has increased 40% since 2001 (if you include thecost of Iraq and Afghanistan, spending has increased 70%).

Everything moves in cycles.

Even Bicylces, which were written off as in terminal decline in themodern world. Yet now we have a worldwide Sustainability movementand peddlers are rounding every street corner, creating a boom in

lycra.

Proof, once again, there’s no such thing as tired and declining markets, just tired and declining marketers.

Well done, FutureNow.

Long may you live.

one of the most interesting pages in

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