So the January Sales are over, the Superbowl is won, and we are well into 2014.  It has been interesting to watch as many consumer facing companies and retailers are making the switch from traditional mechanisms to connect with today’s consumers, to utilizing technology and new avenues  to better inform and connect with potential customers.

The key word in the future is communication - but not one way communication (telling the audience what is good for them), but two way communication (having a dialogue - or rather a perceived dialogue - with the audience).  The shift from monologue to dialogue is a huge challenge for many of our larger consumer facing corporates, but one which they must address if they wish to remain relevant to today's consumers.  Consumers world wide are switching off generalised ads - except maybe for the Superbowl where it takes 4 hours to play 1 hour of a game making the ads more attractive than the football.  They want personalised, relevant communication that they perceive is for them.

The mechanisms to foster and encourage dialogue are there - it just requires organisations to embrace the technology, join the conversations and start personalising the messages.