The challenge of digital communication- the speed of change

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March 26, 2012

Much has been written and said about the challenges of integrating and developing digital communication and it what it means from a cultural, strategic and creative perspective. It seems pretty clear to me now that one of the greatest challenges is simply keeping up-to-date with the technology from both the perspective of communication product delivery and media.

Just in the past month, we’ve seen Facebook revolutionize its experience for brands with the introduction of Timeline and Apple introduce a new retina display iPad, that’s causing all kinds of chaos for content producers and advertisers.

It seems that simply making the transition and acknowledging the new world is not enough, you’ve got to be ready to have you finger of the pulse and be able to respond to the changing requirements that technology is forcing upon you. No one wants to be left behind and no brand wants to appear dated and behind the times with when they communicate digitally.

Beyond the basics of constantly updated experience from familiar brands and channels, there’s also the ongoing fragmentation of media channels that requires constant checking and understanding. This now appears to have added complexity because we are at the start of fragmentation of social media channels, as we can see with the arrival of Path, Pinterest and the growth of sites like Instagram and dozens of other small emerging entities.

Any agency that believes the tough part was the cultural change and the integration is misguided, the real challenge is keeping up with the technological change and being anticipate it, build for it and stay ahead of it. This means you need team members who constantly read the pulse of change, but more importantly don’t just know what’s going on, they understand how to make everyone else aware and do something about it.