Within the last couple months, I have noticed numerous articles that lead me to believe the world of marketing is rapidly changing with the use of various media that are integrated together for a common corporate cause. Using a multi-touch, cross media approach will be the dominant strategy used and integrating social networks into the mix will add a dynamic that can’t be matched by other media. The evidence is everywhere?

January 14^th issue of BtoB Magazine: ?Social Networks starting to click? This article discusses the growth of Web 2.0 usage among marketers and how they are becoming more focused and relevant to a targeted group. With this comes a loss of control over content by the traditional publishers and advertisers. The individual can now comment on a topic/company/product and that thought will be broadcast worldwide in nanoseconds. This scares many, but there is no way to put that ?horse back in the barn?. This will force us all to reflect more on how we present ourselves to the outside world and it will force corporations to rethink how they manage their relationships with their customers. These relationships can be established faster due to the enhanced ability to generate a dialogue between the corporation and the individual.

January 15^th issue of Marketing News Magazine (published by the American Marketing Association): ?2008: The Year Ahead- What to look for in the coming year from social, mobile & experiential marketing? Their focus on social, mobile and experiential is telling. As the communication channels continue to evolve, it will become increasingly important for corporations to consider how they spread their marketing resources around. More channels make for more competition for each channel to prove their value and ability to deliver the message and the revenue opportunities. That will be no small challenge for some of them. The ?mass blast? same message to all is becoming decreasingly a consideration, especially when you layer on top of it the requirement for being able to track results to revenue. Branding is still important, but making more revenue in a down economy is critical to survival. Take my word for it, being a small company we are striving to grow in the difficult environment.

February 15^th issue of Marketing News Magazine: ?On the Map- Location-based marketing targets consumers where they are with what they want?. Another illustration of the requirement for mobile communications and that marketing strategies take into account that consumers will pull their content and that using a pure ?push? marketing strategy may weaken over time. This will also play well into the social networks, with their basis being to have their participants ping into them when they feel motivated to respond, regardless of their location.

March 10^th issue of BtoB magazine: ?New technology, emerging channels hot topics at DMA?. Blogs and podcasts are more than a fad, they are becoming a way of life for marketers and we are all trying to understand how to best monetize them and leverage them for their true power of building relationships with consumers. When you have a member of the IBM team discussing the impact of blogs and podcasts on purchasing decisions, can we say that this way of thinking is entering mainstream marketing disciplines? Inquiring minds want to know.

And lastly, for the purpose of this train of thought, the Boston Globe published an article on March 24^th titled ?Ad networks form to take on big Net firms? that discusses traditional media companies building ad networks that take advantage of the proliferation of blogs and helps their customers purchase ads on them. This move shows that the power of these communication vehicles have been noticed by the more traditional publishers. These new ad networks will identify the specific blogs that are relevant to a topic and then group them for a broader based media buy. Their power to communicate is expanding into the more traditional markets, which this article clearly identifies.

So, what does this all mean, Mr. Wizard? I believe that we are seeing more than a fad in thinking but this shift in resources from mass advertising and stand alone marketing channels will accelerate in the future. Print will still play a part, but it will increasingly become a component in an overall marketing strategy that will use the web for order fulfillment and social networks to enhance brand awareness and customer relationships. Those companies that remain in the Dark Ages in their marketing thoughts will become road kill on the highway of progress. Too many forces are coming into play for us to ignore them and these forces are on a cultural level and not related to only one industry or group of industries. It is becoming a life style decision for consumers, as well as a business decision for the organizations that want to service them. Where are you going to play in the future? Inquiring minds want to know!