Great presentation by Gareth Kay, Director of Digital Strategy at Goodby, Silverstein & Partners that was given at Boulder Digital Works (an event I really wish I could have attended).

During the 2010 SXSW Interactive, Dan Shust from Resource Interactive in Columbus, OH gave a great presentation on “10 cool things that could happen in 2010…or not.”  While all ten are really thought provoking, a few in particular jumped out to me:

• Commerce Atomizes:  I think this one is inevitable as “click to buy” spreads across any and all connections.  Case in point, a new service called Payvment lets you simply add a fully-functional shopping cart to any Facebook Fan Page.  And you have the much hyped success of Dell Outlet on Twitter, selling over $2 million dollars.
• Life is a Game:  I’ve been on the band wagon of why gaming matters for some time now and its now just because gaming as an industry is bigger than music and movies combined.  It is because brands and services can use Game Theory to make experiences better.  For instance, gaming is what makes the Foursquare Mayorship so addictive (and a big part of why they will reach 1MM users faster than Twitter)
• Interactive Products:  This is the last one that I am following very closely.  My entire career has been working in digital for companies that make physical products.  The blending of the physical and digital worlds through interactive products has the potential to flip our industry on its head.  Nike+ is just the first example of what will be many, many more.

Which ones do you think have the greatest chance of coming true this year?  And more importantly, which do you think will have the biggest impact on marketing and brand building in the years to come?

I have to admit, I have been fascinated by the Virtual Good / Social Gaming market lately.  It is something I am going to be thinking / writing about more often in the coming weeks for sure.  In the meantime, here is a great presentation that was recently given at the Virtual Worlds Conference.   Great primer for those new to this space.  [presentation embedded below].

For the past 6 years, Morgan Stanley’s Mary Meeker has been one of the highlights of the Web 2.0 Summit.  Last year was the first time I saw her presentation in person but every year is a must read report / powerpoint.  This year is no exception as Meeker gives an overview of the economy and then dives deep into why the “Mobile Internet is and will be bigger than most think.”  The full PowerPoint is embedded below and filled more valuable nuggets than I could possibly hope to capture in a summary.  Take the time to read this thing all the way through…it is a must look at report for all Brand Marketers.

Mary Meeker’s Internet Presentation 2009