A Brave New World

It really is great to know that there are at least a few people out there who read these articles and take the time to comment. Someone once said “It is a sign of mediocrity when you demonstrate gratitude with moderation.”

So let me enthusiastically thank you all most profusely before I continue.

A reader called me to remind me that some time ago I had written an article predicting the future as I envisaged it, but asked if I had come across a Flash movie (yes Flash does have many applications) which portrayed the future in a more disquieting way? He also recalled that I had talked about search engines using artificial intelligence and would I see what he was referring to as a simple story or did it indeed forecast another Brave New World or Orwell’s 1984?

He was referring to a Flash movie called Epic 2014. You can find it by typing that into Google. It is a very simple but imaginative production by Robin Sloan and Matt Thompson. They were students at the Poynter Institute for Media Studies when the concept occurred to them. It is a fairly simple production as far as graphics and presentation is concerned. What is fascinating is their view of the future with 2004 being the year when everything began.

EPIC 2014 , a Flash movie based on the ideas conceived during a weekend on a popular sea side beach, has been seen by upwards of a million people on the Web. It's been screened at big conferences of journalists, marketers, librarians and even on TV in a few places. Rupert Murdoch watched it. The concept has been taken to heart by some notable thinkers and to the best of my knowledge, at least one university here has introduced it to their business degree classes.

Before you decide to scrap this article let me say that what made it particularly noteworthy was the news breaking over the past few weeks, which provides chilling accuracy to the script of this small, eight-minute presentation. It also raises some interesting marketing and business structuring requirements if we are indeed going to experience the world as these two young men suggest.

I do not want to pre-empt the startling punch line of the movie but the underlying closing issue is that we will all be profiled and computers will serve us according to each personal profile. Besides the corporate news in financial papers, which gives their production this sooth saying quality, is something I started to deliberately watch on Amzon.com.

Remember my article about 20Q.net called if Search Engines Could Read My Mind. Now, I look for certain publications on Amazon and to date have not taken too much notice of the little block at the bottom of my search results. This reads something like: “The last ten people who purchased this publication also ordered …” and then follows a list of ten or so titles of other publications or whatever is appropriate.

That makes sense if you are searching for a book. Other book titles may provide an equally good read in like vein. In my case the issue was more refined. You see, one of my hobbies involves sheet music. Invariably what I am looking for is not “main stream” or currently popular manuscripts. This then makes the block of suggestions intriguing to say the least.

What was fascinating was that when I checked my bookshelf, at least 5 or 6 of the recommended titles were already there. The sheet music produced a similar result. Yet there is no way in my mind that Waltzing Matilda could possibly sound like Mary Had A Little Lamb to make the point somewhat crudely. And yet once again some of the suggested titles were already in my collection.

Profiling at its’ best was at work. So what has all this got to do with our business and the web? Profiling is no more than gathering sufficient data to allow us to generalise about the interests, incomes, choice of furniture, cars, holidays and so on. We have all seen it in various questionnaires over the years. It is only now becoming apparent in a different guise when experienced on the web.

Perhaps you too are profiling your clients just as we used to do when managing a large resort. Possibly you are also doing it quite unconsciously. One of the most accurate indicators was a person’s postcode. We very quickly learnt that certain holiday packages or specials appealed to people who came from similar areas. Not surprising, but a very effective marketing tool we used quite extensively. Advertise just in those areas for similar deals rather than blast expensive advertisements all over the place and – bingo – another full house.

So it really is not so astonishing that my profile on Amazon was so accurate. After all, it is reasonable to assume that a handful of people, out of the 6400 odd million who populate our planet, would have similar interests to mine. The Amazon computer had enough date to make a reasonable guess about the results I was chasing.

So what is the point? Internet marketing, once more. My little example is but small proof that the movie I have been prattling on about carries some valid clues to what we should consider now in our efforts to drive and grow our enterprises. The conclusion the plot reaches is that there is no escaping the power of the web, particularly so if we make our web sites interactive.

The technology is certainly to hand and the implementation of interactive web sites is relatively simple. It only takes our determination to drive our business further using innovative and effective techniques.

I suggest that you spend the 8 minutes that the presentation takes to get a taste of what the future in web-based marketing may well prove to be. I do not necessarily agree with the final outcome proposed by the authors but certainly accept that some aspects will form the underling state we will experience. What is being talked about is viral marketing – a term I dislike intensely- which has been proposed by many marketing gurus in recent years. Not only proposed but employed by many major companies.

I am sure there will be many of you who will start to think about ways to implement what is on offer to make your business more profitable. So perhaps it is not too soon to join the next Brave New World.