It looks like 2010 is going to be the year when ‘digital’ stops being seen as an optional channel for communications activity and starts becoming an integrated, inescapable part of any communications campaign.

Because the internet is not simply about websites, facebook campaigns or emails, it’s about the framework within which we are increasingly living our lives.  When was the last time you called Directory Enquiries?  Popped a photo in the post to a friend?  Looked something up in an encyclopaedia? 

But I bet you use the internet for the majority of your news and weather, arranging nights out, keeping in touch with friends and family, planning and booking travel…the list goes on.  The internet is now such a fundamental part of our everyday lives that to ignore digital channels (and by digital I mean to include gaming, mobile services and so on) in any communications campaign would be negligent – because they have simply become part of how we live our lives.

In the Digital Natives, entering adulthood right now, we are seeing the first generation to grow up with the internet and global communication as a fundamental part of their everyday lives.  They’re used to being on control and doing things across multiple platforms and expect brands to participate in two-way communication with them on their own terms.

It seems inevitable that as older Digital Immigrants continue to embrace connected communication, anyone who sees The Internet as merely a communications channel like radio or TV will be left behind.  The world has changed – so must we.

posted by gemmaT