No matter how good (or should I say busy?) times are for professionals in the interactive sector, we can never take any status quo in our profession for granted; I believe the old adage "if you snooze, you lose" is applicable here. Change has been constant as we adapt to what's new and gradually leave the Kozmo's and Exite's behind. Inevitably, most, if not all, of the tech-based applications we use today will be obsolete in a few years.



Knowing this (and remembering that most of our established businesses online are less than 10 years old) makes it practically a commandment around ConductSearch.com and similar Internet firms to an eye fixed for new technologies and trends that will change Internet advertising. It stands to reason that if we're not ready to adapt to new innovations online, no matter where they come from, than we might as well close up shop. We have to see change as it happens and make snap decisions on the fly whether to adapt or wait them out (since not everything that comes down the pike is a winner, of course) Staying informed means reading the newsletters, the business section, going to trade shows and talking to professionals.

It's funny, but one of the best ways to stay on top of what's new in the cyber-world is to immerse ourselves into the traditional format of print magazine. Trade rags remain a nice off-page source to eye the latest online. The August 8, 2006 issue of PC Magazine has a 'Top 10 Coolest Technologies that you've Never of' feature inside. I can attest that all 10 are, to one degree or another pretty cool, but one of them, #10, I found particularly intriguing. While practical application of its technology remains far off it may well someday be applied to advertising.

Under the heading 'Viral Fashion' PC Magazine profiled some research from MIT's Media Lab. The project they've dubbed "urbanhermes" integrates OLED technology into clothing, thereby tapping directly into the viral nature of fashion. Unless you're versed in the basic properties of the organic light-emitting diode (OLED) then you'll probably need, like I did, a quick OLED briefing.

In short, OLED is a low energy, high definition coloring technology that is theoretically flexible enough to wear on top of clothing. So, your t-shirt might be solid yellow one day and a Cubs T-shirt the next. The key idea that the Media Lab is focusing on is that digital images can be wirelessly transmitted from garment-to-garment, hence virally. Therefore, if you see some cool OLED clothing on someone else and want to see it on yourself ? you click it on.

The Media Lab tested patches woven into messenger bags that use infrared and Bluetooth to gauge proximity and capture data transmission. The test was simple, just one bag capturing the image of another. Although the OLED shirt is not here yet, the bag could be. Imagine, if you would, a brand of bags with the ability to show case different messages or brands on them. It could be quite a seller ? and not so far into the future that we couldn't talk about it, either.

It's not too soon to ponder in which technologies the power of viral marketing will show itself. Perhaps there will be a time when OLED will be all the rage, among children and teens especially I think, and certain logos or adverts might become instant viral smash hits, the way we see some websites and video clips are splashed across the Internet. While it's currently tough to plan viral success and even more difficult to harness it, the runaway power of a viral hit is undeniable and attractive to any marketer.

The day could come when a young lady sees another in a dress and instead of asking, "where did you get that dress?" she might say, "I'm going to change into that dress...now" by lining up sensors ? we'll know direct viral marketing then like we've never known before. Now...how would we make money from it? Well, that's going to take some pretty big thinking, too.