Remember 1999?  That rather wonderful moment when the advent of the web made everything possible and shattered the key economic principle that a business needed a revenue model to sustain itself?  And, of course, the promise to all of us that it would deliver fewer working hours, greater information and access to riches.  
 
The future gazing of 1999 confirmed one thing. Predictions are a mugs game and a really special kind of mugs game where technological advancement is driving change so very quickly.
 
Whilst not a prediction in itself, there is one thing that has had a massive impact on the power and reach of the web.  A facilitator that has placed online firmly at the centre of so much of our world today.  That thing is speed.  Without faster connections and processing speeds, consumers would have found something more interesting to do.  And, as we all know, the consumer is not only always right but pretty important in determining the success or otherwise of a brand.  
 
Given how off the mark the 1999 predictions of new economic models were, predicting the future of online from here must be a mugs game.  Technological development hasn’t slowed so who knows what’s round the corner.  What I can be sure of is the ongoing importance of some key facilitators – things will be faster (again), more mobile and much better connected.  Nothing insightful in that per se.  But these facilitators will continue to drive massive change and, as in 1999, the consumer remains at the heart of this.  
 
Speed, mobility and connections will further accelerate a key power shift that has been taking off during the last two years or so.  A shift in power from brands and big organisations to consumers.  And a shift that is accelerating.  A shift that is important and will have an impact on all of us in ways that we cannot even see today.  
 
What this means is that a consumer’s actions as a consumer, rather than as a tiny and rather meaningless constituent of a massive demographic group, are more visible to brands than ever before.  Brands, agencies and publishers who don’t respond to this in a meaningful way will sit back and watch their businesses crumble.  
 
This power shift started with the advent of search, the first significant and popular development that enabled consumers to do what they wanted.  The more recent advent of ‘social networking’ has turbo charged this. Researching, asking questions and increasingly having (a very public) opinion about a product, service offering or experience is really powerful.  Consumers are creating new connections and being heard by other consumers in a way that has never happened before.  The consumer has greater, faster reach than ever before.  And consumers like to listen to other consumers.  They certainly trust them more than brands.
 
Technological development has no doubt provided new ways to empower the consumer but, what digital has really delivered is the ability of brands to see what is being said about them and their competitors. This creates opportunities and threats.  Brands that grasp this will win.   
 
Of course, let’s not forget that consumer behaviour per se is not really changing.  Folks are continuing to do what they’ve done since the dawn of time - have conversations.  What digital advancement has done is enable brands to listen to what is being said and deliver a considered response (as long as they do it quickly!).
 
This shift of power to the consumer isn’t stopping.  So I guess brands had better get used to it – as had their agencies and the publishing community. Broadcast messaging by brands to consumers, whilst never going away, is clearly reducing in importance.  Brands that can develop more conversational, intimate exchanges with customers or potential customers will create opportunities.  And if they can create online social experiences and interactions that are positive and leave consumers smiling, great.  Response rates will have to be quicker and sharper.  And, of course, brands will have to operate very differently when having a conversation in the new world, a world that is not theirs.
 
What does all this represent?  That digital is growing up.  This is great news and a long time coming.  It means we can all start to get out of our silos and stop talking in terms of the new and the special but take a more considered and joined up view of the world.  This will create opportunity and therefore winners and losers.  And one of the clear winners will be the consumer.  We are all consumers so I figure that is a good thing.