Germany and the World in the Year 2029 - Media, Communication and PR in 25 Years

1 – 6
Media environment and more


1. There are just 2 daily papers: the BILD and the TAZ.

2. Another language reform in Germany allows writing without capital letters as well as a kind of phonetic alphabet. We no longer speak like we write but write like we speak.

3. IC celebrates the 10th anniversary of its Chinese PR-team.

4. In 2028 the Olympic Games were held in Hamburg. Now Hamburg is the “Event Destination” number 1 in Germany. The IC Event Team has grown to a respectable 112 employees.

5. The language of pictures dominates communication: a main part of editorial work is to design and create cartoons. As a result, complex facts and circumstances are now also presented as comics.

6. Consumers cannot comprehend the sheer overwhelming range of products. That’s why now there is the profession of “Info-Scout”, someone who advises each consumer individually – regardless of if its about tooth brushes or washing machines. Several thousand of these service providers have become the top key target group for communication efforts.

7 – 13
Demography and politics have changed completely - As a result nothing is the same


7. Senior citizens 70 and older make up over 70% of the population.
This is also the earliest retirement age.
The term senior citizen has been refined:
the so-called PRE-senior cititzens start from the age of 70,
SEMI-senior citizens from the age of 85,
and REAL-senior citizens from the age of 100.

8. Founded in 2018, the political party S.A.S. (Senior Citizens After Seventy) has a comfortable 2/3 majority in Parliament.

9. Senior Communication Advisor of the S.A.S. is the PRE-Senior citizen Jürgen Klimke. He has now been in the German Bundestag for 27 years, albeit the first 20 years for the CDU, which he left frustrated by their old-fashioned obsession with youth.

10. The second strongest fraction now has become the UIP (United Immigrants Party). They are known mainly for their popular multicultural events, which clever marketers use for product launches.

11. Typical German party products from the past millennium such as grill sausages and alcopops are especially popular in 2029.

12. Bad news for smokers: Cigarettes are only available on the black market for 150 Euros a pack.

13. The Singles Party founded in 2006 a rather loose union of Fun Singles, Female Panic Singles, Male Frustrated Singles and Part-Time Singles quietly disbands. Because of excessive individualism of the members they were unable to agree on dates for party conventions.

14 – 18
Internet / Postal Service / PR

14. In the year 2029 the internet will not be usable: Viruses have paralyzed large portions of the Web. SPAM mail is used to advertise anti-virus programs in the still functioning areas. Ron Sommer, the former head of Deutsche Post who has returned to the manager business explains: “ For the purpose of balanced customer relations, the customer can now not only save the trip to the post office, but the postal service can now also save the trip to the customer."

15. After closing all offices the postal service also has decided to give up postmen. "To have a well-balanced customer relationship", Ron Sommer said: "The customers do not need to go to the post-office anymore, and the post does not need to deliver letters either."

16. As a result, PR agencies deliver their press releases themselves – and do this mainly on foot or by bike.

17. To prevent a press release from getting lost in the flood of direct mail advertisements, the contents are read to the recipient while enjoying a nice bottle of wine.

18. This leads to an unparalleled job-boom in the PR industry. Unemployment is no longer a problem in Germany.

19
Renewable Energies


19. Wind power plants no longer desecrate the landscape. With a height of only 3 m they achieve the same output as the wind turbines of 25 years ago.
IC has produced the musical “The answer my friend is blowing in the wind” as the core promotion for the European Wind Energy Association and walked off with a communication prize for it.

20 – 22
USA / $ / EU / EUR


20. The US Dollar is worth 0.25 EURO. The President of the US Federal Reserve Bank Greenspan (now 103) proposes combining the EURO and US-Dollar to the GLOBO.

21. EU President Joschka Fischer (81) declines the offer and in return proposes that the USA join the EURO Zone.

22. US President Bill Gates accepts under the condition that the new Microsoft program Windows 29 becomes the official software of the EURO Zone. The EU agrees.

23 – 25
Retirement

23. More and more Germans move their retirement residence to the Black Sea. The reason: Only in Eastern Europe they can make ends meet with their German pensions. Germans who live in Eastern European countries for longer than a year automatically receive the local citizenship.

24. In the meantime IC has opened an office in Crimea in order to publish a weekly in German.
The medium is supported by a massive print campaign by Russian, Ukrainian and Moldavian food and fashion chains that have lovingly taken on the German senior citizens target group.

25. The Russians primarily take care of the PRE-senior citizens, the Ukrainians take care of the SEMI-senior citizens, and the Moldavians take care of the REAL-senior citizens.