• by Dan Beltramo , October 3, 2011

The future of media is Mobile, Social, Local, and Video (or "Mosolodeo") in that order of importance. (Being Italian, I like the way "Mosolodeo" sounds, kind of like a Puccini opera.) Let's address those topics in reverse order such that I may build to a crescendo of sorts. I would also note that I am far from the first person to conjoin two or more of these key trends.

Video is not new, but there are some powerful factors driving its continuous rise since it knocked the radio out of the living room. First of all, bandwidth has achieved levels all over the civilized world such that it can support video on every desk and many phones / mobile devices. Secondly, video has the greatest emotive quality of any form of media. Thirdly, video is where the advertising money is and most media is supported by advertising dollars.

The most powerful form of communication has always been word-of-mouth, and Social media is like word-of-mouth on steroids. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and various other social media platforms have increased the efficiency of personal communication to a degree that makes email seem quaint. Now people can establish and maintain relationships, identify experts, share ideas with incredible speed and ease. The really great media companies of the future spend much less time filtering and peddling information and much more time facilitating meritocratic influence.

Of all four of these trends, local is the least developed; so, I feel a little out on a limb calling it the second most important trend. I also think what is considered local in an era where people can video chat in real team halfway around the world from each other and order products online fully expecting them to be at their doorstep before they have time to walk to town is open for debate. However, people, at a base level, tend to care far more about ther immediate environment and needs than about anything else. Take Maslow's hierarchy of needs, for instance. You're well up the pyramid before local is not a key factor: Physiological Needs (perfectly local); Safety (mostly local); Love/Belonging (mostly local); Esteem (partly local); Self Actualization (partly, if not mostly local). For all that was said about Social media driving the Arab Spring, much of that upheaval was driven by local needs, sentiments, and people.

Why is Mobile the most important trend in media? Because it is a key driver of all of the other three trends. With 3G and 4G networks and the proliferation of smart phones and tablets, video consumptions is going mobile. Roughly half of Facebook and Twitter's traffic is generated and consumed via mobile applications. And lastly, mobile devices are about as local as you can get - often knowing more about your immediate environment than you do and providing you with numerous ways to connect to that environment.

Dan Beltramo is CEO of Vizu, the leading provider of real time online brand ad effectiveness analytics. Visit Vizu at www.brandlift.com.