If you've been following our "The Different Marketing Approach" column you probably already noticed some of our predictions on the future of marketing.

But it's interesting how close that future already is ... it's already happening.

It began with the rise of the internet and then continued when smart companies started publishing their own educational e-zines, while more and more traditional media were establishing their presence on the internet as well.

It's quite easy to conclude that most traditional media today offer much more on the internet than they do through their traditional media channels.

It doesn't end here.

We now also have internet video (news and other video documents) on-demand, internet radio on-demand and much more.

The key word here is "on-demand".

The consumers are getting more and more power, or as Eric Picard puts it on ClickZ:

"What happens when radio and TV signals are sent via wireless IP instead of the current analog and digital broadcast signals? Once that happens, control over how, when, and where media are used and consumed falls squarely into the hands of -- the consumer."

Eric argues that media are becoming nonlinear:

"Look at what's happening with DVRs (define), such as TiVo. The latest estimates are that DVRs will control 80 percent of the market within five years, as cable and satellite companies begin distributing them. All a DVR does is strip linear content out of a broadcast and make it nonlinear. Why continue viewing linear broadcasts when you can simply download content as you want it?"

This was to be expected. Consumers want more control. And they are already receiving it.

But what does that mean for advertisers and ad agencies?

I fear they are not yet prepared for what the future holds in store for them.

We can predict that traditional advertising will die out, not tomorrow, but it eventually will happen as users start practicing even more media consumption control.

Once that happens it might be too late, unless we start preparing today.

The number one thing companies can start doing is building their own information media. Some are already doing it on the internet, but not to the extent that is going to save them from a disaster in the future.

And second, consumers will demand more value, not only from our marketing messages but also from our products and our company as a whole. The shift to quality and customer driven companies will simply have to happen. There will be no other way of surviving.

The connected society is coming ... and it might not be pretty for the unprepared ...