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CHUCK SULLIVAN: It's always difficult to predict what's
going to happen going forward.
For years we said that this is the year of mobile, and it
wasn't, and it wasn't, and it wasn't.
And now it's here.
So there's always a risk saying what's going to happen,
but as I look forward, over the next three to four years,
I see a couple of things happening.
I see global convergence really occurring.
And in the past it was OK to have brands that were
distinctly different in different regions.
Or to have websites that were distinctly different in
different regions.
Going forward, that's not going to be possible for
successful companies, both from an overall marketing
standpoint and from an efficiency standpoint.
It just won't pass muster.
The second thing I really see is a degree of channel
convergence as we have never seen it before.
And we're already starting to see television and internet
linked together.
We're starting to see people picking up a hard copy of a
newspaper, and then reading the rest of the newspaper at
work on their iPad.
The channel convergence that I think we're going to see,
coming forward, is going to be unlike anything we've seen
before because of the exponential growth in
technology.
And I think finally the last piece is that--
and this is not new, but it is increasingly important--
is the importance of brand distinction.
So for many, many, many companies during the very
difficult and lean years, everything was about cutting
costs, being the most efficient possible.
And for many companies that had storied brand, that meant
they diluted the value, or the perception, of their brand.
So having brands that stand on their own, and having brands
that really stand for something in different swim
lanes, is going to become increasingly important.