Strategy Magazine What's Next Column Hits It

I just finished reading the October 2005 issue of Strategy Magazine (why the website is still promoting the September 2005 issue is beyond me) and was quite impressed with the commentary by Mary Maddever in her What’s Next Column. The editorial discusses the many insights she has come across at recent conferences and speeches with the crux of it being: “Do things better. Do things differently. Do different things.”
Here’s the portion that really tugged at my heart:
“At the MIC Forum, the crowd of about 400 heard keynoter David Verklin, the New York-based CEO of Carat Americas, identify major trends in media to watch for. The first is the ascendancy of digital as a primary motivator functioning in a DM-style role. Verklin noted Carat had observed that ‘80% of people going into a Hyundai dealership had been online first,’ and predicts that while online creative work is rarely discussed, ‘it will be the center play.’ Prediction #2: ‘Advertising to the interested is the future.’ Verklin says firms will experiment with 100% composition technology, where marketers are looking not at simple CPM numbers but at targeting their bull’s eye. TV commercials will be a portal, the beginning of a process, where the consumer will push a button to get expanded information. Thirdly, Verklin foresees a collision of commerce and cause where marketers will combine their efforts with philanthropy, creating a new, and hybrid medium.”
I like this David Verklin fellow.
All three predications speak volumes to a core philosophy that I try to highlight within this Blog: it’s not about marketing using technology, it’s about figuring out how the technology can make you a better marketer.