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Up Next: A Post-Digital World

Forbes Magazine, 11/25/09

Abstract:

Digital is so yesterday.

It will soon be 20 years since the advent of commercially available digital services such as America Online, multimedia, mobile phones and widespread use of personal computers.

The American household went digital long before marketers embraced technology and the Internet. Now, as companies struggle to get their "digital strategies" in order, they will be surprised to discover consumers have moved on to the "post-digital" age.

In this time, digital tools and services are blended with analog ways of life. In other words, consumers want the real and the virtual to co-mingle in a seamless way. Marketing success in this age will mean companies must combine and leverage the full spectrum of marketing levers online and off. Communities should exist online--and be enabled in the real world.

Today, companies such as Apple and Best Buy are great examples of marketing in a post-digital way. Apple's success combines the simplicity, elegance and innovation of its "I-suite" of products and services with the experiential "wow" of the Apple Store, where visitors are physically enveloped by the brand, can try Apple products and interact with the denizens of its "genius bar." This symbiosis between the real and the virtual, including making an appointment online to get customer support at the local store, is a significant reason for Apple's success.

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