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Company: MZD Advertising (http://www.mzd.com)
Title: Account Supervisor
Ah, the mid 1990’s. The Internet was wild and untamed, like the
Old West. Banner ads. Chat rooms. Overnight billionaires. “You’ve got
mail!”
The Information Superhighway.
It was a total revolution.
And it’s all going to happen again. Well, at least the revolution part.
Cisco Chief Executive John Chambers has predicted that the IT
industry is about to enjoy a second era of productivity which will
mirror the growth spurred by the original Internet revolution in the
mid 90s.
We’re in the midst of the second Internet boom. Web 2.0 is the next
generation of the Internet. Some see it as a kind of
“six-million-dollar” Internet. You know - better, stronger, faster? But
is the Internet really new and different? Or is it us? Maybe we’re a
little more evolved, a little more savvy, a little better at doing the
Internet.
"It is about a wave of collaboration,” explains Chambers. “This will
usher in what I believe will be a generation of productivity that will
change not only how we work, where we work, but the very nature of work
itself."
It’s kind of like we are catching up with technology itself. We have
tamed the beast. Now we are learning how to control it. We are using
the Internet so much more meaningfully, with blogs, social bookmarking,
wikis, podcasts and RSS feeds.
But are these actually new strategies? Or simply new tools? Aren’t we
serving the same objectives? I believe that the answer is, in many
ways, yes. The underlying principles of good advertising apply just as
much to the virtual world, as they do to billboards and commercials.
Consumer behavior. And yes, even brand building. Brand preferences and
loyalties are being cemented more and more on a new wave of technology.
Have you ever received a text message on your mobile phone, promoting a
special offer specifically to you? You will.
Okay, that’s great. But how can our small business world embrace this
new Internet? How can I put it to work for my company? The answer is
simple. It’s the age old axiom – just get involved. Venture into the
Blogosphere. Go beyond your teenager’s MySpace page and really utilize
social networking communities. Begin to realize that these are not a
fad, and they are not just for kids. They are new channels of
opportunity for dynamic human communication. (There’s a reason that
suitors are queuing up to purchase Facebook for around one billion
dollars.)
Web 2.0 allows us to work our respective marketplaces with fine-grain
audience targeting. Don’t just send a postcard. Develop an interactive
e-mail newsletter campaign, offering rich media that is relevant and
interesting. Invest a few minutes in creating a profile on LinkedIn,
Ning or another business-oriented social network. Take what’s there for
you every day – subscribe to RSS feeds that are relevant to your
industry and your community. Look at your website and ask a few
questions: not “How can I use technology?” but rather “How can
technology serve my business? Is a Podcast a good idea? Who would use
it? What about a video magazine? How can I use mobile phone, or
Bluetooth technologies to communicate my brand?
Remember how elementary most web sites looked in the early days? (Check
out the Wayback Machine at www.archive.org for a fun reminder.) As we
became more sophisticated, websites were launched with bells and
whistles, many times at the expense of sound strategy and target market
research? To be fair, our understanding of how people used the Internet
was limited in those early days. We were still trying to get our minds
around the idea of a World Wide Web. We went crazy with links and
designs and message boards and just about everything we could think of
in a flat digital universe.
Today’s Internet is a breath of fresh air.
Not long ago, IT had lost its sizzle, often regarded as more of an
operating expense, than a strategic growth opportunity. For too many,
their website became a utility, technology a necessary evil. "This is
why chief executives are seeing IT as an expense item”, says Chambers.
“If this scenario continued, you would expect IT budgets to remain flat
for the next decade."
Fortunately, this will not likely be the case. Too much is coming. Too much is already here.
Web 2.0. New tools. New ways of connecting. Does this mean that we are
depending more on technology than ever before? Perhaps. But it also
means that the Internet is making us better. Better thinkers. More
creative. More entrepreneurial. More productive. We are becoming less
dependent on what the Internet tells us, gives us. Guided more by our
own contributions, our own voice, our own community.
According to noted Internet and software developer Dion Hinchcliffe,
the most transformational aspect of Web 2.0 will be its element of
collective intelligence. He defines this as “an approach to producing
intellectual content that results from individuals working together
with no centralized authority.” Wow. The most valued aspects of
entrepreneurship combined with the strength of a community.
Hincliffe goes on to say, “It’s self-service instead of being
mediated.” Hmmm. Can it be this simple? Well, consider that many see
Software as a Service (SaaS) to be the coming norm within 1-3 years.
What does that mean? That means that many of us will use software that
actually resides on the web instead of on your computer hard drive or
network.
For those of us who appreciate the rogue spirit of independence, but
still depend on collaborative efforts of a team of our peers … this is
a dream come true. And it’s just beginning. Again.
