As economies continue to recover from the GFC, the latest indicators and analysis are showing spikes in online consumer spending, online advertising and increased profitability for digital businesses. The full effect of the credit crunch is still unravelling but we know it accelerated the shift to an increasingly digital and technology enabled world.

Recently, at ad:tech Singapore, where the audience numbers were up, and the vibe was buzzing, you got a real sense of the energy that is in this market, and the opportunities (by which I mean dollars) that are available to those who play wisely.

We know that the credit crunch / GFC created a stronger interest in businesses that did ‘more with less’ (the e-boom again, but this time substantiated). And there is a massive demand for mobile, agile, goods & services. And the consumer expectations on media are for ever more timely, relevant, accessible, and can I say free, ad-free, information.

From what I can see this has led to a focus on data, analysis and application; a renewed interest in e-commerce; exploring mobile opportunities with real commitment; and striving to achieve real brand centricity online. These are themes and topics that we’ll be looking at throughout the ad:tech Breakfast Briefings, the ad:tech 2011 program and the iMedia Brand Summit.

The key learnings from the ad:tech CONFERENCE this year were all around the bigger picture: moving away from the individual campaign, the silo-ed platform or channel, the single data source & measurement tool, the isolated digital marketer. It was clear that digital marketing is now gaining more of the recognition, reaction & respect that it deserves and has earned. And, crucially there was little talk of ‘where the industry is heading’, and more on what a strong, opportunistic position it’s in right now.

With non-stop case studies from leading agencies and major brands, delegates were left with no doubt that the advertising industry is benefiting from the commercial opportunities created by new and existing technology. And the cases studies and presentations also showed that technology is also being leveraged successfully for brand growth, customer engagement and valuable consumer dialogue.

So, once again the ad:tech CONFERENCE was the showcase for the industry latest and greatest. We look forward to seeing where the next 12 months takes us and continuing to bring you relevant, timely, critical information through the ad:tech breakfast briefings and next year’s program.

You can see full details of the 2010 program here.
You can see the full list of 2010 speakers here.

ad:tech 2010 was a record breaking year with over 2,200 visitors across both days making the event the number one place to meet anyone in the Australian and New Zealand digital marketing industry. Attendees benefited from a busy & engaging Expo floor, highly informative & motivating content at the FREE Keynotes, Expo Seminar Theatre & Breakfast Briefings, and insights & experiences from the leading minds in digital media on the ad:tech CONFERENCE.

Day One Keynotes

Attendees were inspired by the global vision of Unilever’s VP, Global Communications Planning, Babs Rangaiah. In the same week Babs was also nominated in the ‘Media Professional of the Year’ category for the Festival of Media Awards further cementing his position as one of the world’s preeminent marketers.

Later that day the CEO Panel Debate delivered some of the most quoted one-liners from the event as three financial services executives bared all about their belief and investment in digital marketing:

Twitter

Grobler: “it’s wonderful instantaneous free research”

“@gerdschenkel | It’s engagement ahead of the issue that makes social media effective “

“It’s much better to be 10 seconds of someone’s life on their platform of choice than force them onto your website” - Schenkel

Wendt talking about “oh so over it” tweet from @westpac

Day Two Keynotes

Presenting a broad view of where the industry is heading Sean Finnegan, Chief Digital Officer, Starcom MediaVest Group kicked off day 2 leaving delegates keen to know how to capitalise on the new digital landscape.

Neil Hudspeth, Head of Digital Strategy APAC & Japan thoroughly engaged the afternoon audience as he shared the real details and mechanisations of HP’s current and future digital strategy. On, and off line, the discussion was about how to return to the office and manage to implement everything that had been learnt from the presentation:

Twitter:

“HP Case is the most complex and integrated beautifully executed case I’ve seen so far on ad:tech”

The topic of audience measurement has been hotly debated for many years. Whether it be the debate about how accurately a media property can measure its reach, how many people in Australia REALLY use the internet or how many people were touched by the message of a campaign. For equally as long, the evangelists of online marketing have sung the praises of the medium because it is so measureable. The challenge is that although as a medium, it is infinitely more measurable than any other medium, there is no consistency in that measurement. No common currency on which the media can be bought and sold and no universally agreed standard for counting eyeballs.

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I spoke with Yvette Mayer, National Digital Director, Starcom about the role of digital strategy. Here’s a video of our chat:

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