Two Coming Changes
It’s not often we get to post about two major changes in marketing before they happen, but in this case, the crystal ball is clear enough to look forward a bit.
And before you groan and say, “Holy moly, not another change!” Relax. Only one of these things changes everything. And it changes it for the better.
Change 1: 3D in the Browser
Say what you will about virtual worlds, but one of the huge things holding back widespread adoption of them is simple: they require a hefty download.
That’s right—if you want to hop on to Second Life, you’ll need to download and install a separate application. And, when you want to log on again, you’ll need to launch the application and wait thirty seconds or so for it to launch. Remember the days before broadband, when you had to launch your internet browser and wait for the modem to connect? Same idea. So it’s no wonder virtual worlds like SL haven’t seen a wider audience.
All that is about to change. The battle of the rich internet application space, from Flash to Silverlight, is about to bring 3D display straight to your standard web browser. Soon, you’ll be able to stroll through worlds like Second Life without the download, and without the wait.
Will this usher in the age of the true 3D internet? Only time will tell, but 3D content creators should rejoice—they’re about to get an entirely new platform to play with.
Change 2: The Battle of the Mobile Giants
If you want a true game-changer, here it is. By this time next year, the marketing media buzz will probably be centered around the new Battle of the Mobile Giants.
I’ve already blogged about the Apple iPhone platform, and what a watershed event that is. What I only touched on is that Google’s Android platform will be even more richly funded, and is backed, well, by the technological might of Google.
Combine two highly capable mobile platforms, each with a sales channel for applications and significant incentives for developers to, well, develop on, and you have the beginnings of the next computing revolution. You can hear Bruce Sterling outline all the devices the mobile phone has already eaten, but the number is only going to increase in coming months.
What’s interesting about this is the true sea change in marketing that it will demand.
“Sea change?” You may be asking. “I don’t like big, scary changes.”
Well, this will be a big, scary change. It’ll be big, because, for the first time, we’ll have enough functionality close at hand to leave the laptop behind. No. Really. And it’ll be scary, because marketing is only beginning to uncover the fundamentals of social media marketing—and marketing in this new mobile space is much, much, much more personal than social media.
Why? Well, if social media is your home, a phone is you.
A phone is something you carry with you all the time. A phone has all your important information on it. A phone is your portal to a world of information. A phone, very soon, will be the single device you need to navigate your life.
So, if people reacted negatively to Facebook introducing Beacon—which, in essence, was like going through your home, noting everything there, and then using the information to try to sell you things—how do you think they’ll react to being marketed to on their phone?
Yeah. There you go.
So, what do you do? Well, if I was a smart marketer, I’d ask myself what my company does that people would consider having as part of themselves.
And then I’d get to developing iPhone and Android applications, ASAP.
