TrueParallel

For those of you who think you need a crystal ball to see the future, put it away.  The future is living with you. It’s in our schools. It’s entering the workforce.  This is not some emerging technology rather an onslaught of those who know nothing better than technology as a way of life.

You’ve seen those fast moving thumbs that are now a principle means of communication.  Or that smartphone that seems to be permanently attached to every facet of life.  Oh yes and don’t forget “facebooking” a new verb in our digital society today. Point is, there is an onslaught of digitally astute individuals who are growing up with texting, facebooking, mobile web usage, and information discovery that gets its roots from the likes of  “googling”.  This also begs a lot of questions:

• What’s to come of email as we know it today – Will it morph its way into a seamless messaging platform that manages conversations and integrates personal networking capabilities thus making traditional email extinct?
• What about the smart phone – is apple on to something with the ipad? We have not even started to experience all the possibilities that are around the corner in this realm of digital flattening?
• Social networks – yes they are real, and they are alive and kicking.  Is an ecosystem of social networks going to drive idea generation, information dissemination – are social networks the new emergency broadcast system?
• The Home phone and cable TV – IP networks are ever expanding and there are many in a new generation where the home phone and cable TV are just not that important.

We are living in a society today where we have those who remember the yellow pages and those who can’t imagine they existed.  Some of us remember when sending something in large overnight package and then having to set up conference calls with calling cards was the norm.  Explain how that worked to the upcoming digital generation.  How about this – tell a 20 year old that you used to wait in a line to get to a pay phone to make a call. Wait until you see the look on their face. Can you believe that we used to have to find a phone jack to plug our computers just to get connected to the internet?  It was really not so long ago but when you think about it it actually seems like its been centuries.

My point is that today we collaborate and work with a generation that does not know or remember a world without digital technology, immediate information access, social networks, wireless connectivity, online purchasing, and  many strange named digital outlets.  The digitally astute have arrived. They are the managers in our companies; they are the consumers of our products and services.

What’s the lesson to all of this?  If you are not thinking and breathing “digital” and you’re not making your digital strategy the primary driver of brand, communications, sales, service, social media, search, direct marketing and that old thing …. Oh yes…. advertising. etc.– then you may want to take a look around the corner.   All things connect to your digital strategy and rely upon its vast networking power. It is now a natural part life and the way we work, communicate and learn.

Seriously give this some thought –what we learn from the direct interaction from our digital touch points is far greater than what we ever got from mounds of research and the most creative ad in the world.  Embrace a digital world – because there are those that know no other and they are at your doorstep.

Mark Rosenberg