Conventional businesses have been trying to make sense of the net for a while now, with varying results. The other side of the spectrum is of course net-centric business expanding into the ‘real-world’. And I couldn’t agree more with Gregor Rohrig/Gregoogle who points out that Google is positioning to lead the pack in an immanent charge for physical retail real-estate, very interesting indeed.

I don’t expect to see intelligent marketing, in the coridors of Rosebank Mall just yet, in other words ads formulated and displayed based on stock levels of various shops in their proximity – simply because I suspect most businesses around here don’t have automated stock level monitoring systems (let alone pervasive B.I.). Isn’t it wonderfull when you phone to check the availability of some product and get asked to hold-on while someone goes and checks on the shelves or in the storeroom? – of course only to discover they checked the wrong product the thing you so badly want is in fact sold-out.

Where supposedly ‘on-line’ businesses have the advantage I think lies in their familiarity with the business of networking, a la Mr O’Reilly’s ‘the network becomes the platform’, or in other words; networking becomes the battlefield – the point of 2.0.

We should see exponential growth and innovation in brokerage type marketing networks even here in South Africa from e.g. EasyInfo, CallNet, Ananzi and others?(Who do you think?) – If they get with the program, (i.e. strategic performance-based multi network affiliate marketing) maybe they should keep an eye on serious players in this arena like Peapod (One of our customers at Forge.

(Ps. we’re about to re-design the forge websites, the new C.I. rocks.)