In keeping with the trend of ‘snackable content’ IAB SA CEO, Josephine Buys, gives us lightning speed highlights of the common themes and quotes from the recent IABMIXX held in New York.
The 2016 IABMIXX, themed ‘Advertising’s new world order’ saw marketers, advertising executives, publishers, and ad technologists come together to share insights about the reinvention of media, platforms, creative, and business models. In his opening address (see video below), IAB President Randall Rothenberg (who will open the IAB SA’s Digital Summit on 2 March 2017) acknowledged consumers’ demand for more original, personal and provocative experiences. Consumers are now in control, and they are rejecting experiences that don’t meet their desires.
Presentations, town hall and fireside discussions with myriad luminary speakers over two days saw the customer remaining firmly at the centre of our marketing efforts. The overriding message of authenticity and resonance in the continued age of storytelling is considered critical at this pivotal point in our industry.
Mobile
• The mobile revolution has begun.
• In app mobile video is the fastest trend in digital today.
• Social is mobile and social’s dominant consumption is on mobile – every media company should move beyond digital first to mobile first.
• Mobile is visual; the written word is no longer enough – if we become mobile first, we must become visual first. The screen is a new canvas with visuals taking priority over the written word.
• Mobile is live; the potential for live media is going to be the biggest disruption since the dawn of the internet!
• Mobile is personal; in a mobile first world, we are closer to consumers more than ever before and a place on their home screen means a spot next to their most important personal information.
Convergence
• Deliver experiences that harness the convergence of the digital and physical worlds.
• Pokémon Go (the fastest adoption rate and highest grossing app in history) proves people want an expression of the precise moment we are living in – look for ways to re-enchant the places people go!
Influencers and social
• Consider the social influencer network – reach is no longer defined by visitors to your site.
• Influencers, bloggers and celebs are media now as they have their own channels.
• Social is a barometer of whether the world cares or not!
Agency
• Best work is often a singular vision from a collaborative environment.
• Cannes introduced a digital craft category this year focusing on digital campaign execution and UX rather than the creative idea itself.
• Be digital led but not digitally limited.
• Sometimes really great content happens to be advertising.
Publisher
• Header bidding is a vehicle for yield and scale.
• Just because you can deliver an ad, doesn’t mean you have to!
• It’s time for high quality stories vs avalanche of less quality content – ‘muffin-top journalism’!
• Transformation is not a moment in time – it’s an operating model.
• We’re heading for a world where advertisers are going to want to pay less and less each year and there is going to be less to serve.
AdTech
• IBM’s Watson Ad – AI powered digital ads to answer consumer questions, now adds to the maxim right message, right person, right time – right MINDSET!
• Cognitive learning will be the next big disrupter in next two-to-three years – the cognification of things will usher the next great chapter in manufacturing, communications and marketing as products and processes continue to make themselves smarter with AI.
• With more users on the top four messaging apps than social apps, chat bots are the next frontier of AI.
• Better targeting needs to be balanced with data security.
• Time spent is becoming a major metric.
• Metrics and magic. Science and art.
• We can re-establish consumers’ trust by leveraging technology across the consumer journey.
• Advanced data and tech allows us to reach them at the exact right moment of their consumer journey.
• Layered audience data can combine to create precise segmentation.
• It’s time for the new kid on the block – second party data – to come into the ecosystem.
• Beacon technology can target messages more effectively but changes purpose, evolving to combine messaging and enhancing the customer experience.
Podcast
• On demand audio – feels like word of mouth, whispered in the ear of a highly engaged listener with a strong emotional connection.
• Being chosen and downloaded for intentional listening = greater trust.
• This uncluttered advertising channel will have explosive growth over the next decade.
The state of digital marketing
• Marketing needs to be at the speed of now.
• It’s not about the screen or the device; it’s about the context.
• Brands can reinvent by being digitally led, channel and tactic agnostic.
• By 2020 winning brands are going to get to the space reserved for personal stuff.
• John Lassiter’s quote “Art challenges tech – tech inspires art” reaffirms that collaboration is critical.
• At the end of every ad experience is a user; consider the format, consider the context, consider the delivery.
• Content and distribution are inextricable.
• Take risks in today’s customer-centric, mobile-first world.
• Cisco estimates that 50 billion devices will be connected by 2020.
• This is a tipping point, the industry has an opportunity to drive our medium in an effective way – consumers are voting with their tech and their feet.
• Focus on the user and all else will follow.
