DEC Editor's Letter: Riding the web wave

We are living in interesting times.

Sure, it's a heavily overstated phrase, if there ever was one. But as the world teeters on the edge of its worst financial crisis in nearly 80 years, we are actually alive at an intriguing time. Will this recession be as bad as the Great Depression of 1930s? That troubling period was preceded by the immense pure greed of the 1920s, and the end of the Great Depression was buffered by World War II.

Simarly the über-consumerism, financial mismanagement and over-consumption in the late 1990s and the start of the 21st century has led to the world recession we are currently in.

As the world sits delicately balanced today, with its only superpower the US still engaged in two dangerous conflicts and global economic markets in a collective heap, we wait to see what happens next.

With a new American president in office, and a history-making one at that, things will certainly change, not only in the US but around the world. Obama has shown his mastering of all things marketing, particularly his acute exploitation of technology, in his rise to power. There exists many lessons for brands and ad agencies in the way Obama harnessed a group of people, adequately identified their needs, hopes and desires, and successfully appealed to them.

It's quite remarkable how one word, "change", became synonymous with Obama's campaign. And it's equally remarkable how the Democratic Party used technology and social media to only create communities, but to empower them.

Therein lies one big difference between the current recession and the Great Depression. Technology, the internet, new media and social networking plays a very important role and is much more powerful than anyone could have possibly fathomed in those days; people are much more connected as global awareness increases.

Now in digital, even more so in the last 15 years, is where the greatest opportunity lies for brands, marketers and agencies. It may be harder than ever to reach large groups of consumers but the digital arena, particularly during the slowdown, offers unparalleled engagement and discourse with the public.

The Obama campaign and the recession should serve as wake-up calls to any naysayers who believe the future is not digital.