There are tons of consultants (including myself) selling branding services around the world. Most tend to say (not including myself) that branding is complexed. A quick search on Google image search reveals tons of models. What if we look beyond those models and all those advices that often lead to heavy brand manuals that no one wants?

What is the core of great branding? Here’s my five cents:

1. Clarity

What are you about? Make sure that is clear to your audience either straight up or over time.

Carl Lagerfeldt and Lady Gaga knows great branding!

Clarity is about teaching your potential fans about what you are about and sticking to it. That doesn’t necessarily mean doing the same thing over and over. Stay exotic!

2. Consistency

Whatever you are, make sure you keep doing it over time.

Porsche knows great branding!

Great brands can be found quickly but can only be built over time. People argue Google is one of the most quickly built brands in the world. I beg to differ. It’s one of the most quickly globally acknowledged brands in the world but that doesn’t mean it’s a strong brand. Say Google out of some strange reason went bankrupt today. I don’t think there’s any value in the brand in 5 years time outside the business of search. Porsche on the other side – that’s been built over the last century – would stand the tests of time.

3. Excellence

And whatever you do. Deliver your brand values with excellence in EVERY part of the customer journey. (I’ve written a longer post on this before) If your brand values are quality – deliver the highest possible quality.

Apple knows great branding!

If your brand values are the opposite (say like Rent-A-Wreck) – deliver the opposite with the highest possible passion. It’s not about everyone being top notch quality in terms of design – it’s about being true to your brand and deliver that truth in the best possible way you can.

3 things. Get going!

I am at Bromma airport in Sweden on my way to speak in Gothenburg tomorrow. As I’m sitting in the lounge surfing the web I suddenly found myself reading the copy of what in my opinion is one of the most inspiring texts in the world. The think different campaign by Apple in 1997.

To some people it’s an ad. To me – it’s the stuff changes are made of.

Here’s to the crazy ones.

The misfits.
The rebels.
The troublemakers.
The round pegs in the square holes.

The ones who see things differently.
They’re not fond of rules.
And they have no respect for the status quo.

You can praise them, disagree with them, quote them,
disbelieve them, glorify or vilify them.
About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them.
Because they change things.

They invent.    They imagine.    They heal.
They explore.    They create.    They inspire.
They push the human race forward.

Maybe they have to be crazy.

How else can you stare at an empty canvas and see a work of art?
Or sit in silence and hear a song that’s never been written?
Or gaze at a red planet and see a laboratory on wheels?

We make tools for these kinds of people.

While some see them as the crazy ones,
we see genius.

Because the people who are crazy enough to think
they can change the world, are the ones who do.

Yesterday I wrote a blog post about SAAB. It obviously created some sort of attention since I almost had a new unique visitor record. Among the commenters were official SAAB representatives, positive even though I had quite a strong tone in my post. Another commenter, a bit surprising, was David Holecek, Interactive Marketing Manager at Volvo Cars. In his comment he wrote – “Sticking my neck out a bit, it would be interesting if you would do a similar exercise on our volvocars.com site (or rather volvocars.se, as we do not have all the shopping tools on our international site). We may be asking for a potentially harsh treatment , but feedback is always important.”

I was planning to do a video on the Volvo site as well, but due to kids at home I’ve not gotten the possibility to record something yet. It’s just to noisy! But, David, I decided to give you some feedback anyway.

I only walked through the XC60 part of the site since I’m more or less looking at buying exactly that kind of car right now. (Probably the new BWM X3, but I do like the XC60)

It’s sort of two-faced but here we go.

1. You’ve done your lesson when it comes to usability. Most things work the way they should part from minor things when I’ve already chosen a car and then have to re-choose it once I wanna testdrive for example. I like that I can have a PDF mailed with my built car.
2. The ‘closed’ interface forces me to navigate to much. Create less pages with more content instead. People don’t care about scrolling if they’ve come to the right place. Especially not in iPads and iPhones.
3. Drop the http://www.volvocars.com/se/all-cars/volvo-xc60/Pages/default.aspx link structure and implement a more SEO friendly structure and taxonomy.
4. I’d implement a lot more links between the sections. Such as moving people from the ‘What XC60 should I choose’ into the configuration tool for example.
5. It’s all built in Flash. That sucks from several known reasons.

How Volvo Cars look on the fastest growing internet platform in the world…not good.

And probably lots of more things. But…time…kids…

What if it looked like Apples website?

So, how should it look then? That’s of course a big thing to give feedback on and it would take some time, on the other hand, it’s sort of interesting to have a look at Apple, then swap all the content for Volvo Car content and see what happen. Hmm, why not try it? Said and done. I sat down for an hour and overlaid Apples Macbook Air section with XC60 content just to see what would happen. Here’s the result.

XC60 First page in an Apple Costume.

I’ve more or less just swapped content except for some copy that I quickly wrote to convey the right feeling. Don’t mind the top nav, it’s just there to get that Volvo feeling into the site. Click here to get the full view

Note. The design above is only produced for teaching purposes. Not to be used commercially

Volvo XC60 – The Design in an Apple Costume (excuse the mega long image)

By building the entire design experience, with designer videos, galleries and more, into one single page, you’ll award the visitor by letting him explore everything about the design without having to open new pages. You’ll also ensure that every link to the new Volvo XC60 design section delivers the exact same experience. You’ll have seconds to get people to stay, dont waste them on endles menus. Click here to get the full view.

Note. The design above is only produced for teaching purposes. Not to be used commercially

So, with that said (or designed…copied… in an hour). I think the Volvo Cars site features some sweet content and nice functionalites, but I’d repackage them into HTML5 based websites, lesser menu options and a bolder feeling to it. Obviously I’d spend more time than this to really work out how it should look in the future. Cars are beautiful objects made to be used by people so their sites should be too.

Thanks David for reaching out and I hope I’ve give you something to think about!

I am not applying for a new job as a CEO or Marketing Director, but if I did that would be my headline and I would run the brand I’d work for based on the insights that follow.

Steve! Bring it on!

Ok, so you’re s marketing director or even a CEO struggling to beat the he’ll out of your competition? Well, you are not alone. That’s more or less what all brands want, but why then are there so few that actually make a mark that can stand the tests of time?

Here are 14 pointers on how to get your brand charging into the future.

0.1. Before you read anything else. If your product or service doesn’t stand the competition. Get back to the drawing board and make sure it does. Then continue to Nr 1.

It’s really quite easy. Apple started their brand journey by making sure they had kick ass products.

1. Great branding is not about sticking to graphical guidelines, it’s about sticking to values and beliefs

I think I’ve written about it before. But years ago (1999) I found myself working with Nike after having called them to talk Framfab into a pitch. In one of the first meetings I attended I of course asked for Nike’s visual guidelines. One guy from Nike looked at me and said: “Just don’t touch the logo”. I repeated myself and clarified that I wondered about fonts and colorings. The guy again: “Don’t touch the logo, that’s all”.

How does Nike keep it together then? With great people of course. They act as gatekeepers of the brand. It’s in their spine like I’ve written about before.

2. Do things larger than life

Anish Kapoor knows how to make things larger than life!

Don’t be shy! Whatever you do, don’t expect that people wanna see everyday life things. We wanna get carried along and dream. The way you shape your products and services, your communication and advertising defines the way forward. Have a look at great brands. They go for the max.

3. You can never do wrong if you do different

The biggest reason for most brands not becoming true Superbrands is rationality and not believing in their potential. Take risks. Make mistakes. Turn yourselves into fools. All these things will undoubtedly lead you forward and suddenly you’ll know how to ride the horse that kicks high and outraces the competition.

4. Don’t be smart.

I’ve met far to many companies that tend to think communication and advertising is a all about calculation, analysis and smart things. Of course there are media channels where you should aim for super straight forward messages such as Adwords for example. But in most cases you should aim to create an impact. Make sure people see you and react. Any emotional reaction is better than any rational understanding.

5. Work with the best people, not the best agency

Choosing to work with an agency is not the way to go about it. No agency in the world builds a strong brand. People however, they can build you the brand you want. Either someone within your organization or someone on the consulting side. What they need is the power to change. Usually this power cannot be given to someone, it can only be earned. I’ve had the privilege of working with some of the greatest brands in the world and let me tell you, the people there they either give you power to change by briefing your right and letting strange but powerful ideas through or they steer you with hands of steel. One thing they don’t do is summon big meetings where ideas are being torn apart.

6. Take control of every piece of communication

As a CEO or Marketing Director you’ve gotta own your brand. Day one at work (if you’re an employee) you’ve gotta adopt that brand, build it into your spine and decide to become the best brand in the world. Don’t look at your competition, instead decide how you intend to shape a brand the world has never seen. Every brand has the potential to become a Superbrand. It’s only up to yourselves!

7. Piss people off

Don’t be sloppy. Everything matters. Be a pain in the ass. Take control. Demand greatness. Don’t settle for less. Apple, Nike, Porsche, American Express, Sony, Starbucks etc, these brands we not build by people who said ‘This will do’ These brands were built by people who said ‘We can do better!’

8. Constantly innovate your communication activities

Whenever you’re planning a new communication activity, live by the rule “Creativity is the opposite of routine”. You constantly have to break out of your mold. What makes your client stay put is of course consistency, but It doesn’t have to mean your tactical executions have to stay the same. As long as your activities are on brand and you stick a strong logo to it, you’ll see that people tend to stay with you.

People will stay your fans as long as you treat them this way. The second you start treating them as a mass, as consumers, as numbers in a marketing plan – they’re gone!

9. Your brand equity is measured on the numbers of WOWs, not the media spend

It’s not money (ok a little bit is always good to have) that buys you new customers. It’s the numbers of WOW that does. Only by WOWing people with your products, services and your communication will you gain effects that have a positive impact on your brand.

(Ok, I know that we’re living in Sweden and you believe we don’t wanna stand out. But that does not include you not standing out. We love brands that stand out from the mold cause we dream of doing it ourselves. Brands are built on dreams!)

10. Never base your ideas on history. Base them on the future.

If it’s been done, do something else. That’s the strategy of great brands.

11. Surprises that ends with a smile builds relations

It’s like falling in love. People wanna smile. Smile is what fuels relations and relations is what you’re after. Put smiles on peoples faces and you’ll end up branding their brain. And hey, don’t forget to keep em´smiling!

12. Great ideas communication comes cheap if you let them

Some of the greatest people I’ve worked with have all said they would work for free as long as they get to shine. Most marketing directors focus 90% of their relations with creatives on telling them what they can’t do. Do the opposite – spend 90% of your time telling your creatives you want more.

13. Everything matters!

All in all. Like in every sport you’ve gotta set your mind on winning. People will keep on telling you about the best competitors out there and your answer should always be “I’ll beat the shit out of them” – Managing brands isn’t different. It’s about being the best and beat the hell out of the competition, in everything you do!

14. Set your goals high. Really high. No, I mean reeeealy high!

The title was intended to tease you of course. But then again I’m 100% honest with you. If I’d run a company I would aim to become the best brand in the world, not the best brand in Sweden, Europe or USA. The world, that’s where I’d aim. I can’t see why I’d go for anything less?

Finally, if you’re preparing to write a comment telling that I can’t beat Steve Jobs, forget it! I know I can!

Those are the words said by Phil Schiller, Senior Vice President World Wide Product Marketing over at Apple when speaking about the new Apple iPad. It pretty much sums up what I thing after having followed the keynote given by Steve Jobs today.

The new iPad is a game-changer and I need one now! (you too!)

This last year, 2009 has been a blast in many ways. Almost every day I’ve received interesting news from friends, other bloggers and my RSS feeds. Even thought we’ve seen one of the most severe economical downturns this year it seems advertising, communication and technology has been the business to be in.

Brands seem to have learned from the history and brand spend has rather gone up than down for a lot of brands. We’ve also seen Twitter and Facebook continue to grown faster than anything else on the planet and social media and open technologies has prospered due to that fact. The iPhone has continued to grow and Android is picking up it’s pace. Google has released lots of new cool products even though the Wave didn’t really become the clean double over head a lot of us expected.

Most brands have been looking for one-offs and as I look back at the 2009 Cannes Lions winners it strikes me that I can’t really remember one single campaign that stood out and changed the world of advertising. We’re slowly moving away from bought space to earned space, this is most certainly the reason why my brain plays these tricks with me.

I’m not gonna spend more of this post summing up 2009. Other people, papers, bloggers and personalities has done a great job doing this already. Instead let’s move on to 2010.

Click for a larger image

Here are the Brand and communication predictions for 2010 by Johan Ronnestam

REAL

This is more of a change in how we live, consume, work, advertise and communicate. We will of course use all technology available to become more real but we will strive to make things more realistic, true and touchable. As technology, much thanks to notepads, the iPhone and other portable technologies, becomes a part of our everyday life we will in 2010 look for inspiration in the nature and in life.

Brands will think twice about making up false stories about their brands. Product developers cannot trust advertising to sell their products cause transparency will bring you down. When you launch products or services in 2010 you better provide a true and real value – only then will you prosper.

The more we learn to search and compare products online the less room for multiple copies. We will search for the true branch leader and we will find it. Globalization and ease of localization means we’ll choose the best service or product not the locally produced one.

Open Source Win More Ground

Swapping content management systems from proprietary to open source is becoming socially acceptable among IT professionals. And why wouldn’t it. It’s usually better, more cost effective and more up to date.

Creative Commons have extended their program with Science Commons and CC Learn. We’ve already seen sites like Facebook and New York Times being built upon open source code and databases. Still companies seem reluctant to switch to code being written by a community rather than a company. But when the White House switched to Drupal I think we saw the start of a tsunami.

In 2010 Open Source will prosper and hopefully ever after! Sharing is the way forward!

Cloud Computing Will Spread Like Thunder

Most of you probably already got a large part of your digital life in the cloud. Think about it. All those images you’ve put on Facebook or better yet Flickr. That’s the cloud.

Earlier this year we saw the city of Los Angeles switch to Google Apps. There’s probably tons of more examples that I don’t know of but this is definitely one of the first and largest government adoptions of Googles cloud based Microsoft Office competitor.

Evernote, my personal favorite cloud based notebook, reached 2 million users the other day. Another cloud based service that reached 2 million users earlier this year is Dropbox. I’ve been syncing my files with this little sweetie since 2008. Wired, Mashable, MacWorld and PC Mag have all shouted out loud for this wonderful tool. When they launched their iPhone app this summer they completed my home office.

Practically everyone I know working with digital communication uses cloud based tools like Google Apps, Evernote and Dropbox. Once the mainstream users understand that these tools solve every problem a home user and small company has with backup, sync and office we’ll see people moving into the cloud like skydivers free falling from 15000 feet.

Management Consultants Moving Forward Into The Digital Space

If you’re working within digital advertising or communication you might have heard the rumors. Management Consultants like McKinsey and Accenture have put together digital swat teams who’s primary task is to conquer the business from digital agencies like RGA, AKQA, LBI etc.

Clients all over the world have grown tired listening to traditional digital agencies (yep, they’ve become traditional now) who’s employees aren’t senior enough to consider what good the digital world can do for their business. On top of that I’d say that not even 1% of the worlds traditional advertising agencies knows what they’re talking about when the talk future communication but they still got the Marketing Directors by the balls.

This is where the grey suits sees an opportunity. These guys got the CEO’s and Board Members by the ball and that’s worth more than marketing directors and advertising men & women. Will they do a good job? Some might but lots of them still look at the digital world as a single business area. Internet transforms business not distribute them!

Left somewhere in the middle you’ll have the digital agencies of today. They’re not good enough on communication, they don’t understand business processes and the web is about to shift from front-end to back-end.

Web TV Strikes With Full Force

We’ve only seen the beginning of Internet TV. In 2009 most established networks truly made themselves available online and HULU impressed us all by growing faster than you can say disruption. Personally I was privileged to given the assignment to draw up the strategy and design one of Swedens major TV channels, Kanal 5, web TV presence.

As the year passed we slowly saw iPhone apps being approved that let us consume TV however we want whenever we want. In 2010 however we’ll see the next stage. That’s when the TV manufacturers, just like Samsung already has done, start placing network connections into their screens. Suddenly Internet TV will move into our living room again. In the wake of that we’ll see fantastic mashups and recommendation sites that allows us to actually consume internet TV together. Today it’s to much of an ego product. After all, if we have access to everything from everywhere, who get’s to decide what we should look at tonight?

The downside is obvious. People will spend more time again in the sofa. That leads to stupidity. Stupidity leads to lack of innovation. Lack of innovation leads nowhere.

The happy ones are of course the traditional advertisers since the will start filling those internet TV episodes with advertising. The only problem is they cannot get paid what they want yet so we’ll have to live with tons of more ad breaks.

Twitter Spreads Beyond Early Adopters

This wonderful social networking ‘tool’ is loved by more than 18 million people today. And yet we’re all early adopters. One of the main problem is if course who the hell do you explain such a stupid tool as Twitter to someone? They have to try for themselves. It strikes me that none of my childhood friends that I regularly meet still today have used Twitter. Heck, most of them haven’t even started using Facebook. (did I mention their in the finance business).

But just like Facebook this microblog network will spread beyond early adopters and it’s all about invitations. So far Twitter hasn’t bothered to much about making you invite people. Once the make it simple for us users to invite more people as our followers/friends we’ll see Twitter spread like wildfire. Dare I say 100 million people on Twitter once 2010 is over?

Back End Computing Is The New Front End

Business moving their business online calls for enterprise resource planning software integration. And since those guys from the management side of the internet will start telling brands what to do we can definitely expect more complex websites in terms of how they’re built and integrated into the heart of businesses.

In 2010 we’ll see more companies like SnapLogic solving this by providing middleware. We’ll see less digital agencies earning the trust to build these kind of sites. Building a brand presence in 2010 will be about connecting data not creating cool interfaces.

An Augmented World

Layar, Wikitude, Sekai Camera, Twittaround, Avatars augmented promotion toys, Google Goggles, Mini Print Ads and much more.

Many were the augmented initiatives that started to spread via mobile apps and online campaign sites. So far however we’ve only seen the start of it all. As more people start using these technologies we’ll see widespread uses of augmented technology in 2010. It’s actually so obvious so I thought of not including it. Some of you might say it happened in 2009 but to me we’ve only seen the start of it all.

Apple Launch Their Tablet (iSlate?)

I’ve written about this before. But the amount of rumors circulating the web right now is quite enough to say that something must come soon. Not much more to say than if the rumors turn out to be true then I’ll change my media consumption pattern forever in 2010.

3D Printing Get Noticed By The Masses

During this last year I’ve done more than 50 speaking appearances. I often speak about democratization of technology, content and distribution. One part of that section usually is about 3D printing. You heard it right – 3D printing.

Stuff printed at Shapeways by gifted students The Royal High School of Edinburgh

3D printing is a technology that still is a little bit to expensive to be used at home but the awareness of it will surely spread in 2010. As more people become aware about this we’ll see more innovation. Say 2012. That’s when you’ll download Lego from Pirate Bay.

Mobile Handset Explosion Based On Interests

Android is being spread into more handsets every week. Inside that Open Source platform sits the app store that allows you to basically build whatever apps you like. Cost of technology is falling fast. Platforms like Bugbase and Arduino shows technology is no longer exclusive to large multinational corporations.

In 2010 I think, and hope, that we’ll see the first mobile phone brands that focus on segments. Surf brands, sailing brands, wildlife and so on. The opportunities are fantastic for any strong brand with a tribal-like fan base that would die to get their hands on a mobile hand set that positions themselves alongside their ‘star’.

In 2010 a brand, maybe Nike, will build a phone filled with sweet free apps based on the Android platform.

We’ll Form Social Clusters

Some say Facebook might reach 1 billion users in 2010. What that means for digital branding and communication is hard to say. But one effect of us all moving online is overflow of social information. I love my friends online but when you get swarmed with too much content you start to think about clustering. I’ll keep my snowboarding friends in my snowboarding community. I’ll keep my close friends on Facebook. I’ll keep my social media/communication friends on Twitter. Like that we’ll suddenly see people creating social clusters and brands will have a VERY hard time penetrating those clusters.

Personal recommendations will be higher valued than ever and sadly we’ll also see protectionism much like the one already happening when the early social networkers seem pissed about the fact that other people find these tools.

In 2010 we’ll build walls around our social networks. The days of sharing outside our true followers/friends might be over. I sure hope not! But I’m not optimistic.

A New Global Car Brand Focused On Alternative Fuel

I know. This one might sound pretty stupid. But think again. It’s perfect timing for someone with money, ideas and a great industrial network to launch a brand focused solely on cars driven by alternative fuels. The traditional car brands have spent the last 70 years on perfecting fossil fuel driven cars. Their engines are state of the art and it would be practically impossible for you to compete with that industry…unless…all that competence suddenly isn’t worth jack shit.

Today if you’ve got the right connections you can shop all the technology you want on the market. That engine can be replaced with a huge battery. Wind tunnels are digital. You find 10 industrial designers worth the money on every car mechanic. And the world is craving for innovation. This could of course be done by Tata or any of the Chinese car manufacturers. But I think there’s tons of advantages to start ‘clean’. Please let us drive something new in 2010!

Swedens First Digital Election

And to put this post to an end. In Sweden we have our election coming up in 2010. Damn – the net will be swarmed with Barack Obama wannabees. And I’m not sure they will benefit from it. One tip to all you political parties – read my first prediction – STAY REAL!

Well. Then there’s really nothing left for me but to wish you all a HAPPY NEW YEAR! See you in 2010!

The Mobile Revolution. Have you heard that one before. Well, just when it’s about to happen thanks to the iPhone and the Android OS I’d like to launch a thought about the next revolution – ‘The Revolution of the Screens’.

A couple of month back I got my Amazon Kindle. I blogged about the Microsoft Courier interface earlier this year. Others and me keep buzzing about what the Apple Tablet will be like, if there will ever be one (of course it will). Google launched their Chrome OS just over a week ago. Last week I read that the new Barnes & Noble Nook has sold out for the Holidays this year. And a couple of days ago I blogged about the New York Times Skimmer interface.

The Nook – Barnes & Nobles answer to Amazon Kindle

People and companies keep talking about how we all will move our behavior and communication onto the mobile when in fact my firm belief is that in 2010 we’ll see the start of ‘The Revolution of the Screens’ more screens coming out and people will definitely not use one device but instead multiple devices.

Here are 10 reasons why we will see a screen revolution in 2010:

1. The Cloud is expanding

Personally I’ve moved my entire computer into the cloud. The worlds best service, Dropbox, has totally reinvented my way to work. I’m accessing my files via 4 different computers and my iPhone. My notes are best read via Evernote. Millions of people have switched to Google Apps. Companies are looking into cloud computing.

There’s simply no reason to not connect ourselves to the net. Storing data on our own discs with the risk of loosing it is not a solution in the long run.

As more people are moving their work to cloud based services we simply do not need one computer or one mobile. Instead we’ll gladly access our favorite content using screens that are optimized for that type of content.

2. The Google Chrome OS is the first OS that cannot be installed

The new Google Chrome OS

This week we saw the first official glimpses of the new Google Chrome OS. It’s a neat little thing more or less erases what the conventional OS are doing. Your computer is working with no interference directly against your hardware. This makes things faster, more stable and secure. The downside is you’ll have to order a computer with the OS installed on delivery and you cannot change afterward.

Googles ambition is to work against the cloud and thereby being able to access your files from anywhere anyhow. In the long run Google Chrome OS will change peoples perception on how, why and where we access certain information.

3. The cost of producing your own technology is dropping fast

Bugbase – Lego for Geeks

If we go back a couple of years you basically had to be a Fortune 500 in order to produce any kind of hardware that potentially could spread among the masses. Screens were pretty shitty. Processors were to expensive and building an OS demanded hard and long work. But as we’ll see screens produced for a single reason, say reading a book, the devices doesn’t have to have a complex OS and the interface only have to serve a single purpose.

Now prices are falling and the technology is being accessible for anyone with geeky fingers. Bugbase and Arduino are the best examples of this right now. Suddenly any company with brains can product mobile technology.

4. User interfaces has started to move from OS centric to User Centric

The Microsoft Courier Interface

If you’re in a meeting chatting away about new business, a screen in front of you might be the one thing that won’t get that signature on the final line. I’d the first one in line when someone launches something that is digital, communicates with the cloud and is perfectly suitable for taking notes – with a pen! This is exactly what the Microsoft Courier interface looks like.

Together with services like Dropbox that syncs between Microsoft, Linux and Apple environments the actuall gadget is no longer the problem. I can sit in that meeting, take my notes on a Notepad then once I’m in the office I’ll bring them up on my stationary computer and finalize the edit of them on my Macbook. The screens and the interface should of course be optimized for each and every purpose!

5. I’d rather read a book on my Amazon Kindle

Only days after establishing a reader behavior on my Kindle I’ve realized I’d never go back to reading books or longer texts on a computer. We all know that the paper industry are pretty darn happy about the fact that people print digital documents. Screens changes all this. Once I get a document today I just mail it to my Kindle. I grab a cup of coffee and there I am, back to reading old style only this time the fonts are composed out of zeros and one’s.

6. The media industry slowly get it but when they do they’ll create screens

Glossy magazine screens. Morning paper screens. Cooking book screens. Learning screens. Notebook screens. In 2010 we’ll see them flying out of companies business development departments like birds out of a birds nest. It’s obvious that the media industry needs to grab us by the balls and try to lock us in again – and the screens will be their weapon!

7. The subscription model will spread outside telecoms

If you buy a mobile phone in most parts of the world you pay next to nothing for the phone since it’s the usage of the phone that brings the cash to the cow. This will be the way with screens. It would be so simple for the newspaper industry to create a big format screen suitable for reading newspapers. Then offer it for free with a 24 or 36 month subscription that automatically renews every year after.

The only question is – will we see an Apple Tablet that lets us buy newspapers, glossy mags and more from iTunes before the media industry get it? I hope so!

8. The ‘App Store’ business model works fine in any business

Apple has sold more than 2 billion applications through their app store. 33% of all the book sales on Amazon.com passes through the Amazon Kindle. I wrote a piece a while back about how the car industry can innovate their business using screens and apps.

Another interesting beacon leading us in this direction is the new App Studio from HP. Basically HP has already installed one of these ‘screens’ on their latest printer. Then you, me or any other company can build an app that the HP users can install. And bam, you’ve got a set of killer apps. For example USA Today let’s you print articles and Google Maps guides you in the right direction. Get your but over there and have a look – it really makes you get it.

The HP App store. Apps for your printer

9. Screens create structural bindings

Buy your books in one place – and one place only!

Remember that old 4 P. Product, Place, Positioning and Promotion. Well, once you’ve but a screen in the hands of a consumer you can stop worrying about 3 of these. Your store is in the hands your the consumer. You back up their products, you help them to find new ones, you develop a behavior that makes switching screen harder and harder as every day passes.

If we look at companies like Amazon or HP. Meaning the brands that does not turn to the screens in order to save a business model but instead create a new one. For these brands screens create strong structural bindings. I mean, why would I go anywhere else than Amazon to buy a book as long as I got my Kindle. Once I’ve create a nice set up of applications on my HP printer then I will have a hard time switching brands once I’m looking to upgrade that tree eater of mine.

10. Cause it makes sense

In the end it’s all about usability. It’s obvious we need different screens for different purposes. And as the price of technology falls, cloud computing spreads while connectivity is everywhere there’s simply no reason to have one screen.

A couple of hours ago the New York Times launched an update of the skimmer interface I wrote about earlier this year. It’s an alternative way to browser their online magazine. They call it The Times Skimmer. The new interface let’s you navigate between different sections of their paper by only using the arrows on your keyboard. The GUI also lets you switch fast between articles and once you’re done reading one you can easily move on to the next.

Times Skimmer features the following seven display options:

• Stories displayed in a grid
• Content displayed based on editorial ranked feeds
• Headlines displayed in a list
• Content presented in the classic typeface Helvetica
• Content displayed against a black background
• Headlines and brief summaries displayed in a wrap-around format
• Headlines, bylines and brief summaries displayed in a design similar to word magnets for refrigerators

After I’ve been spending a couple of minutes with this updated interface I’m struck by what now seems obvious. Isn’t this interface perfectly adapted to be read of a 16:9 touch screen. Of course it resizes as you scale your browser, but that only means it will support a rotation.

Is The New York Times preparing for an Apple Tablet or maybe a reading device of their own?

Every time Apple has launched a new gadget they’ve made sure they gained some support by a selection of leading brands already tuned into their new shit. Well, in that case – could the Skimmer interface from The Times be exactly such a partner. If so…will we finally see an Apple Tablet in the near future?

Well. I’m sure about one thing. I’ll get my hands on one asap!

Update!

It seems more mags than The Times are preparing. I spotted this one this morning yesterday on YouTube. It’s Sports Illustrated’s version of a tablet prepared digital mag.

Last week I got hold of this presentation held by Mary Meeker, Managing Director Morgan Stanley at the Web 2.0 Summit San Francisco. It’s one of the more important time stamps I’ve seen the last couple of years. This one was created two days before Apple reported on their second quarter – beating the rest of the competitors with a 28 % better revenue.

It’s clear things are moving faster than ever. According to this presentation iPhone and iTouch is the “Fastest Hardware Usage Growth in History” (slide 38)

On slide 2 Mary outline important Internet trends. Ouf ot eight bullets three leave me (and they should leave you too) with somewhat of a nervous laughter.

1. Mobile usage is and will be bigger than most think.
3. Next generation platforms (social networking + mobile) driving unprecendeted change in communications and commerce
8. Mobile-related share shifts will create / destroy material shareholder wealth.

Conclusion: If you’re working at Nokia, SonyEricsson or another big as dinosaur – you’ve better start doing something creative to get away from that Meteor!
MS Economy Internet Trends 102009 FINAL

When so many others has done the job already. Go visit them in english or swedish.

This morning I’m reading an article in Svenska Dagbladet about the mobile applications of tomorrow. It talks about the Swedish Mobile Life project supported by Sony Ericsson, Microsoft, Telia among others.

About the same time I’m watching this video below where The Mentalists play a cover on the song Kids by MGMT on their iPhones and iPod Touches, using only apps downloaded from the Apple App Store. Apps used Ocarina, Retro Synth, miniSynth, DigiDrummer Lite.

Isn’t there something familiar with the techno set up? Here’s the for ever cult band Kraftwerk performing The Model in German TV

So, the question is, should Mobile Life focus on building their own applications of the future or provide an open applications platform of the future? To me the answer is quite obvious.

ps. Isn’t this quite a good marketing gig for The Mentalists by the way. 474,271 viewings on this YouTube video in 3 weeks.

The new Apple iMedia? (isn’t it strange that Apples iTunes interface is made for exactly a 10″ screen)

All over the net people are buzzing about what will come from Apple the next WWDC event in June. Reports says Apple has ordered a bunch of 10” displays that might be used to build a Tablet Mac, HD iTouch or a business iPhone. From these alternatives I think the HD iTouch is the most probable rumor (at least I hope so). However I think we should take it a couple of steps further than people have done so far.

Today I had a little discussion about this subject with Alexander Drewniak and Björn Alberts and I decided to publish my thoughts here as well.

Here is what I would do If I were Steve Jobs.

I would launch a 10” version of the iTouch that has a combination of the iTouch and Apple TV interface inside and call it iMedia.

The new Apple iMedia to be launched at the 2009 WWDC event would include a wireless HDMI plug that made it possible for me to sit at home, using the it to browse Apple TV, my iTunes application, the internet and remotely control my TV.

This way I’d have full access to Apple TV, everything that sits in my iTunes, YouTube, Vimeo, Blip, etc and my regular old TV. Sony, Samsung, Philips and the other old dragons would of course be invited to build remote control widgets for their respective TV screens, DVD, Bluerays etc.

The iMedia has all the features from the iPhone except the actual phone functionality. I’d include the same kind of SDK that the iPhone got and since the iMedia had wireless internet, people could build social networking apps, games I could play on the TV and everything else you can (and can not) think of.

The GPS would of course let you browse popular channels and content within your geographical area. The gyro would let you control car games on your TV with the remote control as a steering wheel. Quiz games would be the ‘shit’ on this one!

Another feature would be the camera. This beauty would include not one, but two cameras – one on each side. This way you could use it for iChat, Skype, MSN camera or record things to put online live on sites like Bambuser or Ustream.

Of course once I left home I could bring my iMedia with me and use it anywhere however I wanted.

Result?

The Apple iMedia would disrupt the use of a TV the same way the Ipod once helped disrupt the music industry. On top of that you would challenge the home entertainment system market and the gaming consoles. It would change our TV behavior forever and truly bring Internet to our living rooms. Consuming entertainment & media at home would never be the same again.

June – stay tune!