Have you ever had a recurring nightmare where impending doom approaches without the ability to warn anybody. I live this day after day when I walk into rooms and listen to our industry talk about marketing. The problem is mine, not the industry’s, as I have never been able to adequately articulate what is nagging me.
Well…I just figured it out.
As it pertains to marketing our industry is approaching a massive inflection point… the day when the mobile crowd outweighs the secret handshake crowd. And I am not saying this is a good thing, I am simply saying that it is reality.
We are quickly approaching the day when the generation that can navigate a busy sidewalk while texting will outnumber (both in quantity and as it relates to responsibility) those that hunker down in dark rooms and settle on secret handshakes. And to be very clear, as it stands today, the secret handshake crowd still runs the industry.
The problem is, the secret handshake crowd can’t fathom a world where people would rather send a quick text over taking the time to meet or talk on the phone. My point, these are fundamentally different people. One side will never understand or think like the other. And let’s be clear, we are quickly approaching the day when there will be more mobile people in roles of responsibility than secret handshake people. What happens then?
I will tell you what happens. The way we process and distribute information will change dramatically. Gone are long dissertations, paragraphs, pro-longed marketing decks, voice mail, etc. And all of this this will happen a lot faster than the secret handshake people think it will happen. It is not going to take decades, it will take years, and probably fewer years than any can predict.
If you are part of the secret handshake club, you have a choice. You can continue to shrug off social networks, video, influencer based marketing, digital decks, text based content, etc., or you can make an aggressive pivot and try to catch up. My two cents, those firms that choose not to pivot are in for a world of hurt.
By Kyle Dunn