Ad:Tech: 'The media will be the Internet'

An Ad:Tech panel headlined “Online Advertising Industry’s Definitive Advertising Playbook,” was full of surprises this afternoon. The conference program promised “This session will be the one that launches the Internet on its next wave of untrammeled growth”: 

Where’s the “go-to-guide” that will give practitioners confidence in using interactive media? With participation of leading marketers, agencies, and publishers, The Advertising Research Foundation (ARF) has produced the definitive response—The Online Advertising Playbook—released to the public for the first time at this ad:tech session. Receive the first copies from the authors and learn from a panel of leading contributors.

Well, where is the promised “go-to-guide”? Still in production.

And where is the star “leading contributor” promised featured panelist, Tim Armstrong, VP Advertising Sales, Google? “In court all week.”

Nevertheless, the available panel of visionaries envisioned on, led by indefatigable Ridgway “Taddy” H. Hall, Chief Strategy Officer, The Advertising Research Foundation. 

Giovanni Fabris, VP, International Media Director, McDonald's International, offered an uplifting interactive take.

For Fabris, the Internet is ultimately not a particular “media,” but a virtual space where all nature of multimedia may be delivered. Fabris put forth that it would be theoretically possible for a brand to cease using “traditional” media because the Internet becomes “the media,” by delivering any and all information and entertainment.

So, “The media will be the Internet,” someday. For now, interactive complements, and integrates with, traditional media, Fabris concluded.

Tom Lynch, VP, Marketing Integration, ING, wants its advertising agencies to look to the Internet as a “leading medium,” but not from a “spend” perspective. Lynch believes interactive’s inherent qualities inspire forward thinking marketing philosophies for all media spends: 

An audience is made of segments, it is not a “mass,”
Narrative and engagement are the focus,
Clutter is meant to be broken through,
Continuous marketplace feedback. 

For Clark Kokich, President, Avenue A, Razorfish, the Internet is not solely an advertising medium. Interactive is a customer focused, multi-purpose digital channel: 

Branding,
Research,
Sales,
CRM… 

Kokich looks to the Internet as a vehicle for architecting holistic ecosystems designed to bring relevant and engaging communications to individual customers based on their unique relationships with brands.

Kokich noted, however, that while such a vision is doable, the “will to do it” does not always equal the power of technology.

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