TRENDSETTERS: Google's Global President, Nikesh Arora, Offers a Vision of Industry in 2020

According to Google's President Global Sales & Business Development, Nikesh Arora, "The Digital Revolution is still just starting." In an address at the recent IAA World Congress, he suggested our interaction with the internet is still at a very early stage and a glimpse of what may be ahead in 10 years will help us better understand how interactivity and personalization will continue to change advertising in the ever-evolving digital space.

Arora estimates that by the year 2020, 80% of the world or 5 billion people will be connected to the web. He also expects the speed of the internet to be 500 times faster than it is today. Mobile connectivity will be everywhere, and given the number of new mobile devices like Kindles and iPads, we'll see 10 billion mobile subscriptions.

"Are we ready for this?" he asked. "The ad industry must adapt." He offered his five bets on how marketing will change over the next decade.

1. Infinite Scale. Brands will be built by the internet. In the past 10 years, internet-driven brands like facebook and Google were built faster than legacy brands like Coca Cola. Given that the internet is the world’s largest communication distribution channel and can address 5 billion or eventually 10 billion people, its infinite scale will move beyond the scope of television, storefronts or even the need to open an office.
2. Relevance and Choice. With 53 zetabytes of data, the internet’s challenge is the potential for too much information. Information is certainly is power; however, how do we find relevance and choice for our consumers? Helping people navigate will become a priority and an opportunity.
3. A Market of One. The Digital Revolution will eventually take us to the individual as a singular target audience. Brand people are not used to interacting with one. This will change. Consumer feedback occurs now every second. The past was about managed interaction; the future is about constant interaction.
4. The Adaptive Web. The internet will be accessible via TV, PC, or mobile device. As a result, the distinction between online and offline will go away. Already, the internet is reflecting how society is taking offline behavior and making it every day online activity. In 5 to 8 years, all content will be digital. This also means that one-third of all advertising will occur in the digital space. A brand manager will follow the journey of a customer’s engagement to the adaptive web, and then augment reality with mobile, for example, via instant retail coupons guided by a phone’s location.
5. Science is Forcing Art to Adapt. Today’s brand feedback is instant; it no longer requires months of research and evaluation. This enables brands to engage in better ways with their consumers, and it suggests that we don’t have to wait to launch a product.

According to Nikesh Arora, the next 10 years promises a borderless world where brands can interact with 5 million people in an instant. Yet we are at the beginning of the Digital Revolution—at the disruptive phases of technology. The only thing to hold us back is our own imaginations.