Industry News

Marketers are finding more value in local, digital environments. According to BIA/Kelsey, advertising revenues from all local interactive and digital will grow 13% in 2012. For this year, top performers will include mobile search (up 77.2%), online video (up 51.6%), and social media (up 26.3%). Additionally, for some media, like newspapers, digital ad revenues will be the only source of growth. The growth in different local media segments will drive an overall increase making digital over 25% of the local ad market.

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Consumers are everywhere in media nowadays. It’s time advertisers catch up. The numbers make it clear that the modern media consumer, aka the digital native, is skipping across media platforms all the time. A recent study conducted by Time Inc. and Innerscope Research showed that digital natives change their media platforms 27 times per hour, while “digital immigrants” (those weaned on traditional media) switch media platforms 17 times per hour.

“It’s a boom-time business,” as stated in a recent LA Times article, which highlights how select agencies are pushing big brands beyond traditional advertising to take brand storytelling online. One agency President, Eric Johnson of Ignited, said it best, “There has been a fundamental shift in behavior that is shaking the underpinnings of the whole media and marketing industry. Everything needs to be digitally connected.” The opportunities are endless and the key is to find the best ways to accelerate this exciting transformation.

A recent Digiday article titled, Why Agencies Will Double Down on Strategy, highlights how agencies are increasing their focus on strategy to help clients gain deeper insights into digital opportunities. According to a study conducted by agency-client relationship experts, RSW/US, 76% of agencies now provide strategic services, up from 59 percent in 2009; however, only 16 percent of marketer clients surveyed, say they make use of them. This indicates that there are still hurdles that need to be overcome.

Mashable released a pretty interesting article last week discussing the work the FBI is conducting to build a database of iris scans throughout the U.S. By 2014, tests will take place that leverage cameras throughout the U.S. to track criminals, fugitives, and suspects through eye scans and report their whereabouts in real time. For everyone who gets skittish about ‘Big Brother,’ I’ll pause for your shudders.

On a recent business trip, I thought about all the current advertising mediums across the industry, and how many media professionals who hold ad budgets are in a state of media confusion. While awaiting my flight, I completed a very informal survey. I counted 93 individuals who were awaiting their plane, only two had newspapers and another five people were just sitting there.

According to AdAge, the nation’s 100 biggest advertisers boosted 2011 total U.S. ad spending by 4.8%. The bump in ad spending is attributed largely to digital media including search, video, and social media. The internet is expected to surpass newspapers this year as the nation’s second-largest advertising medium, behind TV. An interesting piece in this article speaks to the increase in both measured media (display advertising, including display ads on social-media sites) and unmeasured media (paid search, online video and mobile ads). Can you measure the so-called “un-measurable” media?

Robert Hof of Forbes recently published an article titled, “Is the Online Ad Industry Too Obsessed with Technology?” which featured panel discussions from a recent Google online advertising event for advertisers, agencies, and publishers. The panelists included industry experts such as Terry Kawaja, CEO of Luma Partners, Omar Tawokol, CEO of BlueKai, Kurt Unkel, President of the digital ad buying unit of VivaKi, and more. The discussions shed light on how technology can be the answer and the problem for marketers.
In reaction to this piece, we tasked our leadership team to answer the same questions. Continue reading to view their responses…