Today's guest is Mitch Joel, author of "Ctrl Alt Delete" and host of "Six pixels of separation". Mitch is past chair of the Canadian Marketing Association, a lifetime member, and self-confessed 'biggest fan of the CMA'.

John Wiltshire talks to Mitch about key trends that will unfurl in 2022. Here's some of what they touch on:

• Omni-channel transcends retail (2:23)

"I think retail provides a very good analogy for all businesses. If you went to something like an Apple Store, suddenly it wasn't experiential, it was very transactional. They were taking my temperature, giving me a mask of their own, not letting me touch things; things were hermetically sealed in saran wrap. And what these retailers realized is they needed to create better experiences online. Omni-channel really means seamless - it's the ability to move from digital to physical, seamlessly, where it feels very connected. And I believe through this pandemic, which I call an era of forced innovation, that every size retailer really figured out how to be truly omni-channel by default. And it transcended retail to hit every industry, whether banking, telco, or agency services."

• Trend toward 'brand services'. (10:42)

Why people buy experiences, not things and services are the new experience. During the pandemic, many people got a pet and Walmart experienced a massive uptick in people buying pet food, toys, and accessories. They used this information to expand their services.

• Relationship between 'skepticism' and 'influencers' (14:28)

This idea that an influencer is the new publisher and the new gateway to media can be a dangerous place to go. We need to look no further than the Joe Rogan story for a current example.

• Balance of decentralization and regulation in the next version of the internet (20:03)

The parallels between being one of the earliest agencies who were all about social media and democratization of content when it was a safe thing for brands to buy another TV spot - and where we are now with web3 and the NFT world. Mitch's take is we're dealing with complex technology that's going to take some time to mature, to a level of sophistication and credibility that's needed for mainstream adoption in marketing and beyond, and that won't happen in 2022.

• Yes - mobile is still first! (26:04)

With everyone online via tablets and phones post pandemic, marketers really need to develop a mobile first mentality. Mitch encourages brands to look in the mirror and ask, "Are we mobile first? Because the customer is, and right now, the vast majority of us are not."

For more on decoding NFTs, how to look back at your first 2 months post-pandemic as a roadmap for business, and what the great compression really is 🎧 take a listen to Mitch Joel's conversation with CMA's own John Wiltshire.