I just ran across a short film called Epic 2014. This short flash piece was made by Robin Sloan and Matt Thompson for the Museum of Media History in 2004. The movie its self takes place in of course the year 2014. Charting the Internet's history, the evolving mediascape, and how traditional news was affected by the growth in online news, EPIC 2014 offers an interesting perspective into what a future of consumer empowerment might look like. While some parts of the film seem far fetched (Google and Amazon merge to from "Googlezon", and the creation of "Google grid"), the principles behind the piece are not that far off from the progressions we will continue to see in proliferated media consumption. There is also an updated film called 2015. This covers many other new media variables (podcasting/GPS etc.) that are/will affect our world as we know it.
It's been over a year since Adam Curry was quoted saying that “in five years, 50% of the media content consumed by consumers will be produced by consumers.” This is an amazing statistic, and an alarming one at that, especially if you have a big media concern. The reality is that right now, Google is unstopable, they are swallowing up new media tool companies at an unprecendented rate of one aquisition every two or three days. I just read today that Rupert Murdoch is trying to buy The Wall Street Journal. What about Microsoft's purchase of aQuantive, Google's Feedburner acquisition. This modern day Gold Rush will only continue to accelerate until we consumers are left with platform of integrated and consolidated media tools. Side note: there was a great article concerning Google in the Times this morning: Inside the black box. Being the epidemy of the anti-brand, we should at some point start seeing government intervention into Google's empire, I just don't see how this can continue for much longer. As a marketer, my career as well as yours could be at stake. The internet is commoditizing the 4 P's. Consumer's know what to buy, where to buy it, and how much to pay for it. A paradigm shift in the philosophies and practives of marketing and communication will have to take place. As a brand, you have very little control over your own message. If new media is about consumer empowerment, then new marketing needs to be about participation. Companies should come out from behind their brand guises and join this participation age. In this day and age, for marketers it doesn't have to be about creation. You don't have to start the conversation, you just need to join one that's already there. Even though EPIC 2014 and EPIC 2015 might be "fictional", the inevitable will happen and the film's underlying message to big media is inherent.
