The future is faster than you think
“Tell me when are you coming home?”
“This evening”
“Fine. Will you come by tube or by air train?”
“Oh, in the tube.”
From “A Day in the Life of an American Journalist in 2889” / by Jules Verne.
In a book written more than a century ago, Jules Verne sails into the realms of fantasy about the way of life of Western society at the end of the third millennium.
USA 2020 — we see a tube by the Virgin Hyperloop company.
Last year two milestones were noted regarding hyperloop technology: in July, the U.S. government set up a roadmap to regulate the new technology, and in November the Virgin Hyperloop company made its first test drive in a test field in Nevada (in the video). The tube is capable of reaching speeds of over 1000 km/h and will allow the future to travel from NY to LA in 4.5 hours (saving an hour and a half compared to a flight today), and its energy consumption is lower per passenger compared to an electric car.
Back to Europe 2019: Even before the Covid, France has initiated a move to stop domestic flights (and encourage local train travel) to reduce carbon emissions, and with the aviation industry recovering from the Covid pandemic, the debate over banning domestic flights in European countries is heating up again, And the question is who will be the next country to follow France? Austria has already taken similar steps to France and stopped the Vienna-Salzburg line and strengthened train lines in its place, the German candidate for chancellor on behalf of the Green Party is also pushing in that direction, the Spanish government released a project two months ago to zero carbon emissions, and the EU Commission supports the idea.
The one who preceded the political moves in a completely counterintuitive step was the Dutch airline KLM, which launched a campaign back in 2019 calling us to “Fly Responsibly” and encouraged their customers to take a train instead of a flight. Why would an airline fire itself in the foot in such a way and call on its customers to use alternative solutions that would lower its own profitability?!?
KLM has taken a brilliant step of social responsibility, especially towards their future consumers, Generation Z, with a high environmental awareness. Those future consumers look not only at the service or product they purchase but also at the leading values of the company from which they purchase. This is a branding strategic move that will serve the company in the long run (I tried to check whether its impact is already evident in KLM’s financial statements. The campaign came out in June 2019 and created a huge media buzz, and indeed KLM ended 2019 with higher revenues compared to 2018. Obviously, there are more elements that cause an increase in revenue, but it is evident that there is a lot of attention in the report to the field of sustainability and the creation of the campaign, however, due to Covid, the company’s revenue was cut in half in 2020 and we will have to wait patiently to see what the trend is in future reports).
Aviation is not the only industry that will have to take a course that goes against its purely economic interests in order to remain relevant. We have already seen in a previous post that Banana Republic (a fast-fashion company) recently created a second-hand vintage collection.
Prepare for a future where food companies will encourage us to consume more fruits and vegetables at the expense of the processed food they produce, drug companies will encourage us to deal with headaches and reconsider resting before taking an aspirin, and transportation companies will encourage us to walk (a reasonable distance) to reach the desired daily steps goal.
What new +message will your industry need to convey to stay relevant?
* Bonus — Did you recognize the title reference?
