(19)
Discussing
the future
matters
About the project
Illustration from: Empathetic Commuting
Why
Kontrapunkt is a brand experience agency. Through futures thinking, we support brands in broadening the perceived space of opportunities and create long-lasting brand strategies that go beyond current trends — purpose-driven strategies that cut through the noise and are truly meaningful.
Our take
The future doesn’t just happen. It is shaped by the actions we make in the present. And this particularly goes for strong and purpose-driven brands that naturally engage with the future by setting an agenda. Through future foresight, we support brands in broadening the perceived space of opportunities and create long-lasting brand strategies that go beyond current trends — strategies that are truly meaningful. The pressing challenges of today urge us to go well beyond business-as-usual and explore alternatives.
Systematically engaging with the future has the ability to make visible such alternatives in times where they are desperately needed. And discussing such alternatives shouldn’t be left to the elite — it concerns us all. That’s why this page is open-access.
The methodology
Looking into the future is an at once messy and meticulous process. To tame the untabale, we structure our process around the these 5 steps: Scoping, Scanning, Sensing, Seeing and Strategizing.
Before embarking into the unknown, the process commances with defining the scope of the research. In particular, which domains are we looking into. Which are the one’s directly related to the field of inquiry at hand, which ones might indirectly influence it? Once set, data sources to be utilized are mapped out — ranging from chatting with peers and experts, observing behaviour on the streets, turning to scientific publications and, of course, making use of the internet.
Next is a deep dive into what we call signals — early indicators for developments that, if extrapolated, might entail change. Anything can serve as a signal, ranging from new behaviours, technologies, political events, ecological developments or economic manifestations. The key is to be curious enough to spot them.
What commences the scanning for signals we call sensing. It’s the process of iteratively making sense of the collected data. By clustering and prioritising, this step is what turns a sea of signals into insights about the future — which we call foresight.
Humans are emotional creatures, and cognition does not only engage the left brain. We firmly believe in the power of making things tangible to be able to comprehend, as well as discuss. This is why we leverage our creative capabilities to make visible the potential futures these foresights might enable. In the format of illustrated stories, we seek to provoke visceral responses, ultimately stimulating discussions of which futures we deem desirable and why.
The foresights are there, what now? What do certain trends mean for your organisation? Which new opportunities might emerge for you to leverage on? And above all, which futures are you aspiring to and how might we seed action in the past to increase it’s likelihood and nurture a desirable future? These and more questions are subject of this phase.