PREDICTIONS FOR 2007!

2007 is going to be a blockbuster year! The definition INTERACTIVE has finally been recognized by all the big players and the reality of it being way too complex a niche for the big guys to fully grasp it right now is setting in. The smaller agencies are emerging because we are flexible enough to make the drastic shifts needed in order to keep up with the emerging technologies and the big guys now need to look to us in order to translate their initiative into what Interactive is really all about.

1. Viral will stop being just a buzz word and will emerge as a full fledged solution. The public is now aware of our desire for them to share everything they see with everyone they know. We no longer have to play tricky games in order to get them to pass things along; we all understand the rules and now its time for everyone to play nicely. Expect to see more breakthrough viral campaigns and Interactive pieces as the backbone of major campaigns.
2. Video, Video, Video. We can’t get enough of it, it’s everywhere and we want more and more of it. Expect to see the smaller shops getting more adept in producing made for web video. It will be embedded in ads, websites, banners, and even in other video. Flashers and After Effecters are now stepping up and creating powerful motion pieces intended to live on the web where many people are looking towards as their main source of video content.
3. Interactive budgets are on the rise, we will no longer be an afterthought. It will be the popularity of the fully immersive interactive experience that will now represent the brand. The motion, the feel, the characters and the animations will live and breathe life into today’s biggest brands and it will be the personalities of the website that will now make people remember why they buy the products and services.
4. Turnaround times. What took 6 months to build will now take 6 weeks to build, the pace of the web is blinding and the larger agencies cannot keep up with that pace just yet. We small guys don’t require the layers to get stuff done.
5. Mobile media. The emergence of more powerful phones, MP3 players and multiple use devices will supply us with yet another platform for visual interaction. Expect to see more initiatives in this realm
6. Beyond the browser. Expect to see more creative interactive solutions that take full advantage of the internet and rich user interface but showing up in places you would never expect.
7. Young Guns! Hybrids will emerge; multi-talented designer/developer/producer/entrepreneurial/salespeople will start stepping into bigger and bigger roles at small and at larger agencies. All us dot-com rejects who waited out the storm will be stepping back into the arena, more mature, more focused and hungrier than ever!

This is just a glimpse as to what is on the horizon, now that all the major brands have accepted the web and its supremacy in the advertising world and have all thrown their chips in we will see some seriously creative and breakthrough projects come out more frequently and the competition will get hot. The ability to produce complex interactive pieces in a short amount of time will be the perfect drug for the impulsive clients who need a quick fix when things aren’t going the way they want. Interactive will be the turn on the dime solution for new and established brands to “quick draw” when they are looking for that knock out punch. Expect addiction like behavior. Websites, micro-sites, interactive banners, videos, downloads, viral, blogs and so on are now toys of the ad industry.

I am personally very exited for 2007 and all of the wonderful new projects that will be launching all throughout the year!

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Coming soon...

Much has transpired, the wheels are turning and a new post is in the works. In the meantime check out my latest article on the FWA