Predictions for the marketing and media industries in 2008

The December/ January issue of Marketing magazine includes predictions for 2008 from an array of industry commentators, including myself.

One of the quotes they took from me was:

Social media shows no sign of slowing down any time soon, with more advertisers looking likely to jump on the Web 2.0 bandwagon in 2008. According to Dawson, a new trend could see a proliferation of smaller, more targeted social networking sites. “The social network landscape will be highly dynamic, and new specialist social networks are likely to do well,” he says. “Open, independent platforms for storing social network information will become a real force in how people use social networks.”

Dawson also forecasts a challenge for Second Life. “ A major competitor for Second Life will emerge, taking advantage of its technical problems.” He also suggest virtual worlds will be used more frequently in work settings.

Some of the other predictions for 2008 I made include:

“Inevitably the marketing industry will consolidate. In just the same way as happened in the accounting industry several years ago, consolidators will actively acquire smaller operators in an attempt to build large businesses. A few will succeed at this, and more will fail.”

“Activity in advertising networks will dominate the online advertising landscape in the US, while specialist ad networks will finally emerge in Australia. These will allow advertisers to easily access a wide variety of online media, breaking the stranglehold on online advertising currently held by the major Australian media players.”

“The ad networks, including Google, Yahoo! and Microsoft, that are best at personalizing advertising content to the reader will gain market share. Creative will increasingly be expected to create multiple variations on content for different audiences.”

“Just a few of the companies that are attempting to establish a “one-stop shop” including online and offline for their clients will be effective. A small but increasing number of major corporates will deliberately go for a “best-of-breed” approach that means they actively manage a network of different suppliers.”

“Outdoor will accelerate its inexorable march from static design to digital, interactive, moving image displays wherever they are allowed. E-paper technologies will begin to be a core display option.”

“The scarcity of truly talented digital marketers will increase, pushing up salaries and industry turnover. However they will still pay for themselves in generating fees and attracting clients.”

“The truly scarce commodity will be people’s attention. News aggregators and online tools that tailor information according to users’ interest and attention profiles will take off.”