It’s OVER, the Internet IS Broken

Yes, the Internet is officially broken. No, it is not because of Kim Kardashian and her endowed and enhanced behind on the front of Paper Magazine. Instead, you broke the Internet.

With each and every iOS and Android device you bought, with every app you downloaded, with every cookieless purchase you made via smartphone, you destroyed the Internet as we knew it.

And yet, the headlines still miss, well, the headline. The amazing fact is not how much of the daily activity is mobile, but rather that it’s not ALL mobile yet. While it’s unlikely to expect mobile to account for 100 percent of all traffic or activity, it’s safe to say that the new normal is a mobile-first world where mobile-only is far more realistic than the alternative we had lived with for decades.

And that leads us into 2015 with many challenges in attempting to put Humpty Dumpty back together again.

Funnels to Fractions

Marketers love funnels. Built to show progression toward an outcome, the marathon is now a sprint where more than one click-to-conversion or answer feels slow. How can brands become more responsive and solution-oriented in a world where apps are the new gateway?

The John Cena Conundrum

John Cena, the WWE superstar, is known for his “You can’t see me” finishing move. And that same move may be the end of measurement if more attention is not paid to exactly how brands can get true and accurate measurement from mobile. Will it be the Atlas, people-driven marketing movement, or is there another way to get at how people engage in a mobile world?

CrossFit Storytelling

Over the past few years, the workout phenomenon of rapid repetitions of varying exercises has taken hold. Brands are about to experience the same pain when it comes to how they connect with consumers. Recently at GroupM’s What’s Next event, Emily White of Snapchat said the platform “is really about storytelling.” With Vine, Twitter, and the growing trend toward short-form communication, the way brands will start and, in some cases, make complete connections with consumers will happen in the swipe of a finger. How brands evolve into this and prioritize it will say a lot about their future success.

The Kardashian Breakthrough

No, Kim didn’t break the Internet with a magazine cover, but with an app that’s reportedly generating $43 million a quarter, she’s an example of how celebrity combined with mobile entertainment can break through. How brands associate with and leverage celebrity remains one of the great game changers of the mobile world.

There are no easy answers to where brands find themselves heading into 2015. The Internet is broken, but that’s not the headline.

The headline, like the trend lines say, is it’s a mobile world. Now, which brands will play the part of the King’s Men and put it back together again?

Image via Shutterstock.