-- Taking into consideration that from the 6.7 billion people in the world, 4 billion actually have a mobile phone, Nokia Research Center is constantly examining human behavior and experience regarding mobile devices. (Nokia sells approximately i billion phones per year and owns the 40% of the mobile phone global market.) Research teams are "hanging out" (usually for a period of two weeks) with communities all over the world, living with them, understanding their environment, examining their habits, behaviors and needs when using a mobile device. Coming closer with local people and comprehend attitudes and behaviors gives Nokia a better understanding of what people need. The places where the most research is being done are described by Jan Chipchase, the principal researcher at the Nokia Research Center, as "in between places", countries and cities in process of development. For Nokia, the uncertainty of the future is actually an opportunity for new, better things. By penetrating in actual communities and living with them they get the "full picture" of what people need. In addition, in order for designers to design for the future they need to assume what the future will be like. So, for brands to survive in the future, they will have to understand what people really need.
-- "Project M", a movement that started in the Rhode Island School of Design, recruits designers from various disciplines in a commitment for design for good causes. "Talent used for good". The creation of a dynamic collective of creative thinkers aims to break the conceptual bias and orthodox patterns of corporate thinking and design. The radical approach of "letting loose" unleashed creativity (described by the Project "M" people as "ThinkWrong") may lead to revolutionary ideas. Again, through working with communities, the designers can discover what the public really needs in terms of design and branding.
-- At a discuss panel called "Urban Arts", engineers, art educators and designers presented their initiative of creating education and activity centers in the cities they live in. Taking into consideration facts and assets that the communities already had they formed small institutions in order to educate people and make them progress. For example, in a community with many children, artists can collaborate in the creation of a creative activities center. Another example is the initiative taken by Clay Rockefeller in Providence, Rhode Island. His project is called "Steel Yard". It is based in an actual, old steel yard and it "offers arts and technical training programs designed to increase opportunities for cultural and artistic expression, career-orientated training and small business incubation." All the projects were about making a community recognize what they have and work on it. We witness a tendency for designers and artists to act as mentors. Can the above become applied to branding? Instead of "brand as trendsetter" can we move to a new branding vision called "brand as mentor"?
-- Emily Pilloton is the founder of Project H, "a charitable organization that supports, creates and delivers life-improving humanitarian product design solutions."
-- An intersting aspect of Teddy Cruz's speech (focusing on the formation, social issues and impacts of suburban communities in the US borders with Mexico) was the contrasts between the unit and a system. When mentioning the need for sustainable waste, he used the example of the used tires from San Diego, that are used as a building material in poor communities in neighboring Tijuana. The creation of systems from units used in design. What can the definition of a future "brand system" be, and what units would form it?
- Emerging Future Lab founder and new market strategist Nitti Bahn, focuses on "the bottom of the social pyramid", (developing countries and poorer communities) in order to provide groundbreaking solutions that would help new ventures and services.
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