“Things will make possible a world in which we can be in instant contact wherever we may be.
Where we can contact our friends anywhere on earth, even if we don’t know their actual physical location. It will be possible in that age, possibly 50 years from now, for a man to conduct his business from Tahiti or Bali just as well as he could from London”. (Sir Arthur C. Clarke -1945)
Arthur C. Clarke’s words are no longer a futuristic prophecy, but an uncanny reality most of us take for granted. For those that have experienced living in a world before the Internet, email, and mobile-phone know too well that now nothing is an impossible dream.
It’s already a given that companies of today, large and small, need to be accessible twenty-four-seven if they are to succeed and grow profitably - They should never appear unplugged from real-time, regardless of their physical timezone. I’m sad to say, the days of locking the office door on a Friday night, and returning fresh and rested on a Monday morning are over. Companies and their products need to be accessible every second of the day, and night, if they want to turn a profit and be competitive.
Imagine having a physical business that never closes? In the virtual world this is something which isn’t too difficult to imagine and is being defined by new rules as technology and cultural attitudes adjust to change. The importance of culture and technology should never be understated, they should be thought of as one, and equally important.
The virtual world we are living in is embracing more areas of our lives - Shopping, education, storage systems and relationships. Its difficult to assess the relationship between technology and culture when culture is so imbedded in technology.
The dilemma we now face is that technology is advancing faster than culture is changing - If companies are reaching around the world to new markets at the speed of an internet connection, then culture is an important component that shouldn’t be overlooked. In fact, the impact of culture, and its significance on the future of marketing, beyond twenty-twenty is a consideration all companies need to make.
As we approach 2020, we can see a global feeding-frenzy as large companies are eating-up smaller companies all over the planet - Exploitation still exists as foreign currency, exchange rates and social classes make a business venture too good to believe and very tempting.
Financial performance is absolutely critical now, as it was many years ago. The game of International trade looks easy and exciting - but the paths are awash with failures.
The evolutionary curve of marketing for the future considers both culture and technology. The geographical boundaries that Sir Arthur C.Clarke talked about in 1945 are in fact a reality and no longer a wild view of the future.
To find out more how technology can improve your marketing performance take at look at Marketing Resource Management (MRM) and tools that can help you keep pace with the changing marketing environment.