Advancements in technology have always had a tremendous impact on consumer media consumption. However, due to the Global Economy and a bit of gadget fatigue, we seem to be entering a period of incrementalism in hardware innovation. This is not bad, as it will give time for new technologies to work their way to mainstream and for consumers to evolve their media consumption habits accordingly.   Four technologies, currently in their infancy, will make an impact on consumer media consumption, and in turn, the ways that marketers reach and persuade consumers.

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Changes in media – whether time-shifting, mobile, social and more – create opportunities and challenges. Understanding and staying ahead of the challenges and recognizing and taking advantage of the opportunities has to be a priority for marketers. We’ll leave it to others to address what might be next or how this or that innovation will change everything. At [x+1] we think it’s important to take a step back and ask a larger question: does media still matter?Obviously at one level – as a means for reaching the right audiences with relevant messages – the answer is “yes.” But …

Today a new company Thinaire is placing low cost links to digital content in physical objects such as shelf talkers and magazines. People can just tap their mobile phone to the object and the content appears on their screen and can be shared in the usual ways plus by tapping a friend’s phone whereupon the content leaps phone to phone. This is only one small part of the continuing evolution of all (including in-store) media into digital media. All print media to the extent that they continue to involve printed copies will utilize links like Thinaire’s to become woven seamlessly …

In August, a study was presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association that found homeless people were turning to social media sites because it was the one place where they felt everyone was truly equal and they could interact with others without fear of being judged.It’s that same inclusive opportunity that I, and many of my Latino online media colleagues, saw in the Internet. For us, the Internet afforded an opportunity to participate in the reinvention of media, as equal partners, collaborators and publishers.Online media, by its very name, symbolized the merger of …

How many times have you heard marketers talk about “channels?” My guess is, too many to count. Marketers lose sleep worrying about how to reach their customer across specific channels. They dedicate teams of employees and precious budget dollars to managing these separate entities—social media, email, text, mobile apps … the list is endless these days.But there’s a problem. Customers don’t think in terms of channels. Customers think about how brands are able to deliver value to them at every interaction. So marketers need to think about customers as the single all-important channel of ONE.I’m not …

Online advertising moves fast. One day, a technology is brand new, the next there’s an entire segment of thriving companies doing similar things. Not so long ago RTB was the newest tool, but we’re already seeing greater adoption and the emergence of tools supporting it. The future will see a massive growth in these RTB supplements, particularly in the pre-bid data space. In the world of automated real-time buying, marketers often have little information about the page before their ad appears. They’ve been pushing for a preemptive blocking technology to keep their ads out of sensitive environments, and that’s why …

Remember how media websites looked in 1999? In fact, most still look the same: a scrollable homepage with above-the-fold features and below-the-fold article links; a prominent, central navigation intended to drive more page views; and banner ads up top and on the sides.But the traditional content publisher layout is now being replaced by content streams, grids, and galleries that produce a more social, fluid experience… and take advantage of the fast-growing market for native advertising. Native ads are brand content such as videos, photos, and articles directly integrated into the fabric of a publisher’s site, such as Facebook …

Facebook lost half its market cap because of doubts about the viability of ads as the world goes mobile.  Advertising has its place, where it is non-intrusive, and when it provides valued information relevant to my current context.  But that is unlikely to fully pay for the services consumers want.  Similar problems are at crisis level in newspapers, video, and music. It is time to rethink payment for media in the digital age.  Most users of Facebook, or any media service, would be willing to pay a fee -- if it were commensurate with the value they actually …

Consumers now expect everything to be fast, convenient and rewarding. In fact consumers don’t just expect this, they feel that they are entitled to it. Consumers expect overnight shipping, free returns, the ability to buy online, by phone or in-store and then have the ability to also return that item by whatever medium they choose, by mail or in store, at no cost. And, consumers also expect the highest quality customer service and quick response or resolution to complaints on their medium of choice ranging from traditional phone calls, Facebook, Twitter or whatever happens to be the newest social media …

We've entered an era where the consumer has more control than ever. Disruptive messaging is not as effective - or tolerated - as it once was. So instead of asserting a one-way brand message, marketers are now creating relevant experiences to organically align brands with consumers. These experiences themselves are becoming brand platforms; an energy drink is a lifestyle and a computer company is a content provider. Today, brands represent much more than their product or service.