This is not really a column about the Publicis-Omnicom merger -- you've already read enough about that. This is a column about what marketers are already doing that a consolidation like this is hoping to emulate and surpass.

In my consulting work, one question I occasionally receive is "How do you get marketing, sales and account services to work together?" Similarly, "How do you overcome conflict between these different groups?" These questions make me cringe, because there really should be one revenue funnel that aligns key groups responsible for bringing in prospects, converting them into customers and maximizing their profitability. The sooner this misalignment is dealt with, the sooner performance unlocks.

The merger of Publicis and Omnicom is yet another sign that the traditional media and advertising business is being disrupted. When this wave of consolidation is over, there will be just a few major holding companies left. At that point there will be a holding company for each of the top two or three brands in each category (auto, telecom, CPG, beauty, etc.), and then a roiling, vibrant economy of emerging brands, independent agencies and new technologies.

Two aspiring young entrepreneurs sat across from us. College students, fresh-faced and wide-smiled. They told us about their product, their market research, their monetization strategy, their global ambitions. And then we asked if we could see it. "Well, um, not really," they said. "It's just purely functional at the moment. It doesn't look very good." Ah, we said. Had they given any thought to user interface? "Oh, yeah, sure," they said, nodding enthusiastically. "One of our mentors is from an ad agency. He said he could give us some feedback on how it looks when we're ready to pretty it …

I just returned from vacationing in Ogunquit, Maine. It's a beautiful town that I am happy to share with the French Canadians. I would have enjoyed the time here more, except for a truly catastrophic life-changing experience, which pretty much overshadowed the entire vacation. I was running on the beach in the early morning when the worst-case scenario happened -- a fatality of epic proportions. No, not sharks flung onto the beach from a menacing tornado, but something much worse: my iPhone terminally crashed.

I don't listen to much Jimmy Buffett these days, but I remember what it was like to sit in the sun when I was 18, 19 and 20 years old without a care in the world -- taking in his music while the hot sun beat down upon my back. There was a sense of comfort in knowing the future was laid out in front of you, rich with possibilities. The world was your oyster, and idealistically, you could make all the decisions that would affect the way things turned out for you. Of course that one particular song is …

People fail. It can be devastating. However, it's important to remember that people who have never experienced failure most likely haven't taken risks. Their growth is limited. They're not interesting or seasoned.

The ad industry's high water mark is usually seen as the "Mad Men" era, when the startups of the day were service-based agencies. It's estimated that in the early 1970s over 200 ad agencies were founded annually. The more recent epoch in advertising has been marked by the rise of advertising tech. But that playbook is starting to show its age.

"Two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner." "The terrible tyranny of the majority." "The worst form of government, except for all the others." A lot has been said about the ills of democracy, but as the last quote (commonly attributed to Winston Churchill) suggests, we are yet to come up with anything better.

Many in our industry -- me included -- believe that the future of TV will look something like video on the Web, and that the future of online video will look something like TV. However, exactly how those transitions occur will have an enormous impact on who wins, who loses and who ends up with the money.