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In a recent study by the market research firm YouGov, and commissioned by RightNow Technologies, it was determined that 1 in 5 web purchases were abandoned before they paid, according to the survey.

Reasons given for abandonment, by respondents, were mostly due to the inability to ship and deliver on-time. Retailers need to look at how their shopping channels are adapting to the new world of online retailing, which requires that consumers interact with products by providing online ‘in-store’ styled experiences. Brand experiences are vital when shopping online. Everything short of holding the product in hand reinforce the probability of purchase.

Brand-experience is the future of marketing. The internet is now the center of the universe and brands must be capable of being found and experienced online. How will you do that? Premier Studios specializes in brand-experience marketing, fusing strategy, technology, and creativity.

By now, everyone has heard of, if not read, the book Wikinomics. Oh you haven’t? What planet have you been on? Hello? Social media? Web 2.0? Ring a bell?

For those of you that have been listening you might know by now there is a follow-up book in the works (behind schedule is more like it). Dan Tapscott and Anthony Williams are calling it ‘Wikinomics Playbook’. You guessed it, it is being authored Wiki-style. It only made sense for them to take advantage of the very medium they successfully brought to the forefront of conversation. Okay, they shouldn’t get all the credit but deservedly are acknowledged leaders in the conversation.

What I found interesting in this process was that they may have made a significant contribution without yet knowing the impact. I call it ‘Rule Number 5′. If you go to the web site where they originally laid out the premise of the new book and rules for participation. You will find the following rule set for collaborators…

There are only 5 actual rules on Wikinomics, the rest are just guidelines.

1. Don’t infringe copyright. Contribute only copyright-free material.
2. Respect other community members. Just follow the golden rule.
3. Wikinomics uses the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License 2.5e (CC-BY-NC-SA). Everything you contribute must be compatible with that license.
4. Expect that anyone may edit anything.
5. Acknowledge the ultimate authority of the Wikinomics primary authors: Don Tapscott and Anthony Williams.

As I regularly discuss the social wiki model with customers, I have recognized a single misconception that is almost always shared by everyone, “what if we don’t like the outcome, can we change it?” Web 2.0 requires courage. And some will say that if you are not willing to totally expose yourself you should not participate. However, reality is that in boardrooms across America business leaders are trying to limit exposure while taking advantage of the new model.

Enter ‘Rule Number 5′… Sure, come join in the conversation, participate, collaborate, contribute… but at the end of the day ‘Rule Number 5′! Acknowledge the ultimate authority of the primary authors! Fair enough?

It’s one thing to engage everyday consumers in the process, it’s another to engage those who make their income from intellectual property (authors, publishers, artists, etc.). So how do we control it? Rule Number 5.

While most people today are talking about Web 2.0, the reality is that Web 3.0 is approaching quickly.

Web 2.0 will be short-lived mainly due to the idea itself. Web 2.0 was an effort to introduce the idea that the internet is ever-changing and developing and we need to pay attention.

The truth is that we will continue to find new and more interesting ways to utilize the web. Those companies who choose to lead the curve will win the most.  Procter and Gamble’s CMO, Jim Stengel, declared the end of “telling and selling”.   Current assessments are that the majority of marketing budgets will shift to ‘digital’ or ‘online’ by 2010.   Microsoft’s Mich Matthews describes Microsofts new marketing strategy, “the era of customer participation”, as moving from ‘informing, persuading, and reminding’ to ‘demonstrating, involving, and empowering’.

So what’s your five year plan?