With many of our consumers growing up in the ‘digital age’ and running most of their everyday lives online, the term ‘digital’ had to start to mean something different to the world of marketing… and it certainly has!

Perhaps the best indication that the marketing business has finally embraced the spirit of the digital age is that it’s doing a lot of work that’s not so… “Digital.” Now I know that this sounds like a bizarre statement, but I will explain.

Agencies and brands are now harnessing the digital mind-set. They’ve taken the shareable, ongoing, interactive, participatory nature of digital and created brand experiences that matter to people in their real, everyday lives.

This is not to suggest that digital doesn’t matter anymore, quite the opposite. Understanding digital strategy, design and technology are not steps that can ever be skipped. The point is that digital underlies everything we do now.

Just look at some of the most compelling brand ideas of the last decade. These have had a digital heart but have manifested themselves in meaningful ways in people’s lives—see Nike+

and Fiat Eco Drive.

Those seeking further reassurance we are in the post-digital era need look no further than arguably two of the best digital campaigns (check the awards) of late: Nike Chalkbot,

and VW Fun Theory.

Both shining examples of digital thinking brought to life in the real world.

Whichever way you look at it, it seems the idea that digital has transcended something experienced from beginning to end via a keyboard and on a screen has finally gripped the mainstream brand world. And I for one am extremely excited about the possibilities this brings to the table.

by Paul Martin - Thursday, 7th October, 2010

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 7th, 2010 at 3:47 pm and is filed under Design, Digital, Experiential, Industry, Marketing, Social Media, Web . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.