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

I was reading about online usage habits the other day and as they were giving percentages about various age groups, they got to the reality of our our teens and those in their early twenties.

The facts can’t even be expressed in percentages anymore.  Because there is a whole generation that is entering the workplace or on the cusp of doing so where every waking moment is spent in front of some kind of electronic device – be it a smart phone, computer, or video game.

While many of us did not grow up in a time where we had a cell phone tethered to our belts, a whole generation is growing up where texting, surfing the web on a mobile device, communicating through facebook and Youtube is the entertainment channel of choice.  It is a natural part of their lives and they are taking this behavior and expectation for how information moves and is shared into the workplace.

The bottom line – we have a generation that is growing up with all things digital being a way of life. That way of life will naturally influence the landscape of business even more so than it already is today.  Pretty amazing, exciting and incredible. We think this is an awesome time. For us it means we have to continue to pay careful attention to the information design process, integration of social channels and continue to grow our  mobile platforms capabilities — if we want to succeed at reaching them in ways they can appreciate.

We have so much passion for this business – the web and all digital communications. And this new generation is only fueling our passion as we see continued growth and prosperity online and through wireless platforms. And this passion is further fueled by our understanding of how to engage them, not just shift the way we market to them. Engagement and interactive (two-way) reciprocal communications is so much more meaningful for both sides.

In many ways, having a 15 year old daughter – and a pretty wired 0ne at that – is a great asset for being in this business. I get to see firsthand the proliferation of how the internet, mobile and social networks play such a large role in their lives and it is a continuous reminder of how we need to stay in tune with the realities of a digital generation.