In the beginning there was Web 1.0. Producers created websites, consumers looked them up through portals and advertisers bought display space.
Then came Web 2.0. Consumers started driving content, people linked up through social networking sites and marketers began losing control of what happened onscreen.
Any second now, there will be Web 3.0. In all likelihood it will search for meaning, it will perform tasks on our behalf and cater to ever more niche groups. The digital will become personal and marketers will have to shift from pitching to a captive mass audience to multitudes of markets of one.
But the internet is just one of many digital platforms companies have to increasingly contend with to put buyers in touch with their products.
In their book DigiMarketing - The Essential Guide to New Media & Digital Marketing, Kent Wertime and Ian Fenwick look at emerging trends in the various digital forms, from signage to mobile phones and games, and explain how marketers can come to terms with them.
It can all be a bit bewildering though. Sure, even the most rusted-on traditional media cheerleader can adapt to the blog or embrace the product placement potential of the Nintendo Wii, but can you stand out in a sea of search results just by buying a Google Adword, and how do you stay relevant in a world where 'consumers are faster than companies'?
