The Battle Rages For Share Of Life

Last week, a friend of mine switched jobs and emailed me his information so we could stay in touch. He reminded me he was only a click away and then provided me with hisFacebook address, Del.icio.us address, his Twitter info, his LinkedIn address, his Blog address, his AIM signin, his Google Talk IM info, his MSN IM info, his address for Yahoo Messenger, his email address and the number to his cell phone. Nowhere to be found, was his office phone number.

Oh yeah. The world is changing.

Maybe it’s just that we’re hearing about all the one-to-one media solutions rather than the one-to-many we’re so used to. But when you look at client spend, there certainly seems to be a shift on to explore other avenues to reach consumers.

Last week, a number of us at the agency explored a site called Social Spark that professes to connect Bloggers and Advertisers, but it’s a lot more than that. You can add friends, email each other, give “props” to one another’s blogs and vote for each other in a good old fashioned “Battle of the Blogs.” Along the way, you can make a little money writing “sponsored blogs” and gain exposure for your own blog, but this is clearly social networking for the highly literate and those who refuse to buy the premise that people don’t read anymore. Interestingly, 90% of the people I’ve been in contact with since joining have at least one Graduate Degree.

Recently, a number of us have also worked to expand our groups on Linked In and have now grown our connections considerably. I’ve reconnected with college friends I haven’t talked to in 20 years. High School friends I haven’t seen in 25. I now know what my friends actually do for a living. And who they do it for. I’m connected to everyone from an entry level copywriter to a former NBA All-Star. Now all I have to figure out is what to do with all that information.

Never in the history of the world have there been so many ways to stay connected and to interact with the people you know. But it doesn’t stop there. Look at Second Life. eHarmony. Match.com. J-Date. Now, not only can you connect with everyone you know 100 different ways – you can connect with people you don’t know. Which begs one question.

Who has time for all this connecting?

Apparently, most of us. In this week’s Ad Age there’s a cover article that has Wall Street analysts predicting a drop in the amount of money invested in this year’s Up Front. Citing a “sputtering economy, credit crisis and looming recession,” they assert advertisers will cut back spending on TV and instead move it to “cheaper and more accountable media venues.” Hello Facebook. Hello MyYearbook.com. Hello every other “new” media solution promising the Holy Grail of interconnection.

Just this morning, Ad Age reported that 2007 Internet Revenue grew 26% to $21.2 Billion surpassing the spending of both Cable and Radio.

Oh yeah, the world is changing. And as it does, we have to be ready to meet consumers where and when they want to meet.

Even if that’s at a virtual coffee shop in the IM corner of a Blackberry.