Sunrise, day one, year 2000

Communication World, Dec, 1995 by Naseem Javed

Life will revolve around multimedia images that will absorb the total mind and the total body with every sensory perception, and then flood them with imaginary illusions.

This purportedly immobile, stationary society will spend time in a visual interaction with everything that each individual mind desires, with their bodies strapped into strange modular contraptions like an astronaut. Brands will be more global than ever, as will be the businesses and the workers, with people working electronically in several countries around the globe in the same afternoon. The number of powerful global megabrands will increase along with the number of flags and the number of nations. Flourishing democracies will have unique global branding and identities.

The imagination will have power, visual image will become the new bond of society, as the information will flow at warp speed.

Conclusion . . . (As if such a thing were possible anymore. . .) In the very near future, things will not be cut and dried, black or white, big or small. Rather, they will be mildly cut and dry, soft shades of greys and off-white, biggish and smallish. Maybe, like factorial geometry, we may create a factorial society, wherein everything will shape itself into its true form: like three-dimensional rainbows, an exploding universe in color, where people may well start searching for new gods all over again. In branding, this new society could well gobble up single global icons like a bowl of cereal, every single minute, and a small number of elite global brands will dominate the entire world. Governments, institutions, businesses - even a single individual - will not be able to hide anything. The accessibility and the accountability of every single action will be in everybody's view. This will necessarily bring reforms. In commerce, businesses will only survive as global players. Microsoft could appear like a small pioneering giant of this period. Media moguls will control the multi-faceted, multi-dimensional services provided to sophisticated customers on a multi-national basis. Living in color on this earth will be fun. Now, maybe, the Martians will finally become interested in visiting this big blue marble.

So what should you do?

Look around and see. If you are not a multi-skilled, multi-talented, multi-national type of a personality with complex interests, eccentric hobbies, wild imagination and a very keen interest in the future, then perhaps you should just sit back down in your computer-designed rocking chair and open up an old-fashioned book. But don't forget your blue suit. After all, this earth is large enough to allow us all to co-exist in our different time zones and the different societies of our Century.

[TABULAR DATA OMITTED]

Naseem Javed is president, ABC Namebank International, New York and Toronto.