For the the first 10 years or so (1996+) we had Internet 1.0 which was all about digital and internet innovation that created many new businesses who took business from the traditional offline and brick/mortar world (e.g. Amazon, eBay, PayPal, eHarmony, etc).

The last 7 years or so (2006+) Web2.0 has been focused a lot on digital innovation creating new products and companies that are very much of the online/virtual worlds. On a pure product sense companies like Dropbox, streaming services like Netflix and Spotify and many others.

In addition we’ve seen the evolution and increase of human engagement through social networks like Facebook, twitter, Foursquare etc and many companies have come and gone (more have gone than stayed - Friendster anyone?).

[[quote:We are going to see innovation that creates and grabs back market share, customers and revenues for offline like business..., pos:right]]

The next paradigm is going to have a very interesting impact on one particular area - the traditional offline and brick/mortar world. If I had a crystal ball I will predict - we are going to see innovation that creates and grabs back market share, customers and revenues for offline like business (or new ones ) and for brands who rely heavily on brick/mortar customer engagement. Now with mobile expanding the internet truly to the masses (all 6BN+ people), the social graphs and some clever innovation by brick and mortar business, we will see new (that bring together offline+digital) or existing companies who will leverage the next paradigm. A good example is Cleverbug using the Facebook social graph to revitalize the greeting card business ($27BN market), more clever than most - maybe the new name for these businesses and paradigm is Clever 3.0! Remember where you heard it first.

We are also seeing platforms and tools evolving for brands and companies who exist in the brick/mortar world that are creating a level playing field again and potentially allow a land grab back - companies like ShopKick, BestBuzz, Square and new offerings from Google Local/Places and Facebook’s new to be released Social/Local Graph Search.

To track this new world follow hashtags like #SoLoMo #mobile #innovation #Clever3.0 or check in from time to time on tweets from me @VirtualCMO.