As we approach one of the most significant product launches of Microsoft’s history, it’s important to take a close look at how much the world has changed around us, and how this new technology provides incredible new potential for the advertising industry in bringing brands to life for consumers.  Building on a broad, rich platform of compelling devices and services and united by a common, modern user experience, the stage has been set to provide an incredible canvas from which to enable the industry’s creative talents and assets to shine.  Our collective challenge now is simply whether we can position ourselves to make the most of all it has to offer.

In order to understand just how far we can take the opportunity this new era brings, we need to take some time to understand just how different the digital world has become.  The world wide web has evolved dramatically, moving well beyond a collection of pages of information, incorporating people and places, to become the “web of the world” - a digital representation of the entirety of the world around us.   Our future lies now in tapping into that digital reality to make our real world experiences come alive.

Many developments in technology have lead us to this point, but within all of these, there are a handful of key transformative technological trends that make all this possible:

  • Mobile technology provides us with a personal window into the digital world, enabling us to bring the best of the digital world to bear wherever we are to help us make the most of our experiences.
  • The move to apps ensures that as consumers, we maintain the context of what we are actually doing, bringing the best of the experience to life.
  • Big data is a topic that is already well understood by the advertising industry, but its growing use places further strain on the fragile relationship of trust that exists between brands and consumers.  We need to understand this balance and make sure that this relationship not only maintains, but strengthens.
  • The rise of Natural, personal interfaces further positions incredible new ways of how we as consumers can unlock all the potential that technology has to offer.

Incredibly, our challenge is now much less about the tools and platforms we have available to us, and is instead much more about the extent of our own imagination and creativity in how we can use them to bring brands to life.   Our new platform provides the canvas that brings consumers to the brink of an incredible new place where the boundaries between the digital and analogue worlds are blurred more than ever.  We want to work with all of you to bring your talent, passion and creativity to make it come to life.