Future Human Visionaries #7 — Michael Stöppler on corporate science fiction

Welcome to Visionaries, a podcast dedicated to futurological thinkers brought to you by Future Human and the V&A. We seek out people who are reimagining innovation in their field, and ask them to apply their intelligence to emerging trends.

Michael Stöppler is an entrepreneur and former academic who is leading the research project ‘Brand Fiction Space’ for the German car company Audi. Brand Fiction Space is an experimental venture that is rethinking the long term future of the company: they are doing this by commissioning some of the world’s leading science fiction authors, including William Gibson, China Mieville and Bruce Sterling, to work with filmmakers to produce films on the evolution of mobility in the 21st century.

How might corporate science fiction shape the strategic planning of modern companies? Stöppler argues that while 20th century urban development and population trends were dominated by the motor car, this trend will likely slow in the 21st century. But can a car marque like Audi truly ‘disentangle’ itself from the product it manufactures? And why should leading corporations seek to mutate themselves when they are already profitable? Presented by Jack Gwilym Roberts.