Final Thoughts from ad:tech

I’m really pleased I came to ad:tech this year and I want to summarise my impressions from the last few days:

• Our industry is hot. Everyone is talking about interactive/digital being the future of marketing and advertising. This includes big media/publishers, agencies, and the big brands. I’m particularly encouraged by the very bold campaigns being done by major Australian brands such as Qantas, Telstra, and Tourism Australia. These guys are committing big money to the segment and are really interested in doing interesting, integrated campaigns. There is a real appetite for taking risks and pushing the boundaries and this is very encouraging. To hear that banks are spending 10% of their marketing budgets online, is fantastic.
• MySpace is going to be huge in Australiasia as a marketing channel, especially for consumer brands. I haven’t yet worked out the business to business angle, but I think there might be something there for some brands.
  Search marketing is gaining almost mainstream acceptance of being part of the media mix. Unfortunately, this applies to Australia, not New Zealand, where uptake is still way too slow for my liking.
• I think there is a place for rich media video and interactive banners. I have seen some amazing examples of what you can do now and am very inspired. Research shows a mixture of visual ads backed by search marketing makes for a more effective campaign. With easy access to YouTube, MySpace and other major networks, this is easy to implement and the technology for tracking interaction and effectiveness of visual ads is getting better and better.
• 2007 will be the year for branded video content. Start thinking about how you will get consumers to watch a 3 minute branded video online or via Podcast, rather than a 30 second TVC.
• Mobile, which should really be renamed mobility (e.g. not just mobile phones but iPods, PlayStation Portable devices, WiFi) has a place, and the challenge we have is pulling all of this together into a truely integrated experience for consumers where they can interact with the campaign using the device that suits them.
• The talent shortage will continue to be an issue for everyone.
• In game advertising and online virtual world communities like Second Life, will continue to be popular and will create really interesting opportunities for brands to interact with consumers in an entirely different way.
• TV, magazines and newspapers are going to continually get their budgets cannibalised by interactive, especially if you are targeting a young demographic. These guys don’t watch broadcast TV! They download shows from the US a year before network television airs the series. They’re on YouTube, watching videos on their PSP or iPod and spending time in Second Life or online games.

I’m going to put together a presentation with a summary of everything I’ve blogged about this week, if you’re interested in getting this, please let me know.