The only way to own the future is to invent it: Vahid Mehrinfar

The only way to own the future is to invent it, said the Brand Futurist Vahid Mehrinfar at the Impact One-on-One at the Tollygunge Club in Kolkata yesterday.

by exchange4media Staff
Published: May 3, 2005 7:29 AM | 1 min read

The only way to own the future is to invent it: Vahid Mehrinfar

The only way to own the future is to invent it, said the Brand Futurist Vahid Mehrinfar at the Impact One-on-One at Tollygunge Club in Kolkata yesterday.

According to Vahid, while successful brand building is about past-present-future, the focus needs to be more on the possibilities of the future than on the past or present trends. Hence benchtrends rather than benchmarks should be the watchword for brand marketers.

Unlike traditional brand communication, his approach seeks to bridge the subjective-objective divide that so often emerges. His concept of 'Brand Archeitecture' straddles the consumer expectations of invariably looking for more on the one hand, and the commercial orientation of marketing communications on the other.

He said that instead of seeking opportunities, futuristic brands need to show responsibility towards the expectations and aspirations of the community at large and that perception should drive performance rather than the expected other way around.

He shared the example of how the ruler of Dubai envisioned a certain future in the 1970s and has indeed realised it subsequently because he went about creating a perception to that effect. After all, future is a place that has not been messed up yet, was his telling last words.