By Mitch Joel, president of Montreal-based digital marketing agency Twist Image and the blogger/podcaster behind Six Pixels of Separation
The arrival of mobile. Canada is finally on the cusp of getting the Jesus Phone, I mean, iPhone. Devices like the iPhone and the BlackBerry Bold are going to make laptops and computers look like horses and buggies on the freeway. The lines will blur between mobile and web…we’ll all just be connected. This will move us toward a new world of true location-based services, payment by mobile and the availability of everything and anything right there in your pocket.
Burn the browser. Using tools like Adobe Air (which gives you full-screen, web-enabled applications without using a browser) to create applications makes perfect sense: why do we need a software tool (with all its current limitations) to go online? Imagine a world where everything on your desktop has full multimedia functionality and is live and online – with no additional software, browser hiccups or standards. Pretty cool.
Virtual worlds. After we all hopped on the Facebook and Twitter bandwagon this year (which, for the record, is all good), Second Life now seems so passé. But the concept of virtual worlds is not dead…not by a long shot. There will be a huge migration to 3D environments that enable us to move through areas, connect with others and have a truly immersive perspective – think about it: no more flat text and still images – literally giving you (and the people you connect with) a ‘feel’ for where you are. Don’t believe me? Just watch your kids on Webkinz or Club Penguin.
Jump to:
The big three marketing trends spied in Cannes
Brand evolution: scalpel, not butter knife
Legacy media in a cyber-obsessed world
Marketing with purpose, media with meaning
The advertising businesses really need
PR is the new digital; culture is the new new media
