Don Draper and his team of Mad Men lived in a world of controlled brand messages and one-way communications with customers. Fast forward to 2013, and we see today's socially-empowered customer leading the brand conversation and forcing companies to break down internal silos.

We recently asked commentator Michael Kassan, Chairman and CEO of MediaLink, about his views on the ever-changing world of media and advertising. He sees three trends that can't be ignored by today's top marketers:

1. Transparency

“While campaigns are still done in secret, the backdrop is not secret. Transparency is one of the most important changes in marketing in the last decade,” says Kassan. For marketers, this means that transparency is a requirement for engagement and brand-building. A case in point is Apple's need earlier this year to be more transparency about its labor practices after scrutiny of its facilities in China. It could no longer keep its supply chain secret. Brands like Patagonia aim to build a transparent culture from the start.

2. Direct Communication with Customers

“Communicate, communicate and communicate," advises Kassan. "You have the opportunity today as a company and as an individual to have the highest level of direct communication with your customer, with your partners, and with your employees. Utilizing that capability to its fullest is the key to success in business today." 
 

3. The Convergence of the CMO, CIO and CTO

With consumers and employees driving technology adoption and behavior, "we're finding a real intersection of how the CIO and CTO are making more marketing decisions than ever, and CMO is making more technology decisions than ever." This "mash up" and intersection of Madison [advertising], Vine [entertainment], and Valley [technology] “is the most interesting in the last 100 years in advertising.” says Kassan. While advertising and entertainment have worked together for decades, the pairing of technology and advertising is a new phenomenon, the potential of which we're just beginning to see.

Here more from Michael Kassan in our interview below:

By seizing the opportunities presented by these three major trends, you can achieve success beyond anything Don Draper and his crew imagined, and raise the bar for the modern marketer.