Authentic Marketing

CHAPTER 2The Era of Social Consciousness: Where Technology Meets Humanity

The past few decades have been defined by a relentless stream of innovations in technology, many of which have blown in like a bomb cyclone, churning up industries and companies, creating new ones, and destroying others in the process. Never before in history has the cadence of change been so swift or dramatic.

In just a few short decades, technology has evolved from a back-end solution to a ubiquitous element that is as engrained in our lives as the air we breathe. Earlier waves (think mainframes, PCs, client/server computing, the Internet, among others) were primarily about enhancing business productivity and providing information at your fingertips. More recent innovations (social media, IoT, voice recognition, search technology, and the second coming of AI, as examples), however, brought about dramatic new dynamics in communications, connectedness, convenience, personalization, security, and automation. This wave of technology largely focused on individuals, with offerings that made life richer, easier, more convenient, and safer.

When you think about it, it’s astonishing. It wasn’t all that long ago that the idea of carrying a device in your pocket that would enable you to access every kind of information imaginable, take photos, quickly communicate in real time with people anywhere in the world, measure your heart health, and adjust the temperature in your home, would sound more like an episode ...