Your company's digital future is still open, if you capture it first

Lesson for leaders

You can control your digital future if your know where you’re going, and know how to reach it first. But if you don’t know, someone else will own your future and you.

Fortunately, the digital future is obvious. We are all migrating to a digital Earth. Everyone and everything will be in one digital room together, all the time. Soon everyone will grow more capable and powerful than they are in the physical world.

Only one question counts. Can you grow far enough and fast enough to own your digital future? Because if you can’t, someone else will capture the digital future where you will have to live and do business. On their roadmap, your company will either work for them or you’ll be out of business.

But you’re lucky if you’re a publisher. It’s in your DNA to be fast, smart, and outcompete others every single day. Reach for your roots and your predecessors will regale you with how they created their publishing empire using their day’s best technology. They’ll expect no less from you.

In the 21st century, it’s time to become an exponential growth publisher. This Media 2025 series is how to capture—and own—the digital future of media, publishing, and advertising. It’s your roadmap to your digital future.

Just remember: if you don’t know where you’re going you can’t get there. Don’t miss knowing. Don’t be slow. Don’t lose.

Where are you going?

The big surprise: Global digital transformation will converge life, work, business, entertainment, and everything. Tech will grow pervasive, and merge the physical and digital worlds.

Of all the options, a digital Earth will win because it will make every person the most powerful. But you will not win control of your future without a fight. Everyone will want to be king of this mountain.

Digital Convergence Wars are coming. Winner-take-all will become “winner eats everything,” with always-on platforms and ecosystems. Tomorrow’s few apex leaders will emerge from digital Darwinism.

Welcome to your digital future. You will return to the early days when your publishing company first began and your competitors hawked tabloids and broadsheets on every corner. A daily war everywhere.

Publishers: fast-forward to the digital future

For well over a century, publishing’s role has been to discover, create, and distribute each day’s key stories, to add the thinking everyone talks about throughout society. Publishing winners lead by communicating what is happening, what to know, and what it means.

In the 21st Century, publishers can expand this to a two-way, always on people-first publishing platform that is continuously connected with everyone—to deliver prosperity, protection, and greatness every minute, embedded in every online interaction.

Publishing’s unique leadership opportunity is still available: Become the first mover that leads the publishing industry first, and then scales to help lead the world.

While the tech industry sees Digital Convergence coming, it is early for them to realize how much this global transformation will change them.

The planetary value of a Publishing Platform will become obvious as we steadily grow “platform thinking.” First it will consume tech’s devices, apps, advertising, entertainment, commerce. Then it will empower every person to achieve above their full potential.

Publishing can be the platform that makes the world see that tech works for people, not the other way around.

This people-first publishing platform can enable high quality life and work on a digital Earth, across the world’s winner-eat-everything digital Economy.

How much time do you have?

The big surprise: The coming digital infrastructure will last for decades, with a few long-term winners and many losers.

Now is the time to start developing your leadership—before a smart digital competitor consumes your role. To prepare, this Media 2025 Roadmap will help you capture your industry, then scale to help lead a digital Earth.

Hands-on user experience services will be crucial. If you create value at every touchpoint, you will accelerate both your growth and leadership.

Timing is everything. First movers will win. If you’re too late, you lose.