Advertising Week 2012 took place October 1 – 5 in New York City. The annual gathering of talented marketing and communication professionals kicked off with a refreshing new website and app for easy planning, and of course, an A-list roster of speakers, events and performances. If you couldn’t make it to New York, don’t fret. We have the highlights you need to keep you in the loop.
It’s no surprise that technology has become a heavy hitter in the marketing playing field. In response to the ever-evolving knowledge needed to communicate and engage consumers through technology, thought leaders introduced the inspired Advertising Week Experience (AWE) Expo. AWE connected cutting edge technology companies with up and coming startups, streaming the event live through The Huffington Post. Catch up on the presentations here. Former Panasonic CMO and Chief Curator of AWE, Bob Greenberg stated, “With the role of technology now more important as ever, decision-makers need to learn the latest and greatest or perish. AWE is going to take the marketing and advertising space by storm.” Indeed, the vital relationship of technology and creativity was echoed throughout Advertising Week.
Indeed, just as the messaging from Advertising Week reached us through digital communication channels, the message was loud and clear: there is no way around the need for brands to connect through digital channels such as mobile, apps and social media. This presents a learning curve for those still deep in the old school traditions of advertising, yet also an opportunity to take the best from the past and present to understand traditional tactics that can be applied to new media. The takeaway came to be that digital marketing is an integral part of advertising. The following announcements had us a little excited.
Analytics for Tumblr
Tumblr’s new sales chief, Lee Brown, recently stated that more advertising options are on his to do list. The cool micro-blogging platform officially announced that they have appointed Union Metrics as their third-party analytics tool. Tumblr’s new metrics tool tracks how your Tumblr posts perform, as well as keeping track of trends and influencers on the platform. This announcement is a great one for brands on the platform who have been trying to track metrics with other methods, such as feeding them through google analytics. It will be very insightful for brands to have the ability to see how their unique content spreads across the site. The tool is currently in testing with a few select brands, however, a public launch is expected in November.
Facebook Advertising
The standard is to share with you all the frequent updates Facebook makes to it’s advertising products. Well, Ad Week had a treat in store for us, as Facebook released their first-ever commercial. There have been mixed reactions to the ad, but then again, who is better at creating a conversation then Facebook? Watch it here and decide what you think:
AOL to Distribute Original Video Library on YouTube
AOL will be distributing and monetizing their entire original video library on YouTube. Ran Harnevo, SVP of Video, AOL, commented on the deal, “The AOL brand includes an incredible array of premium video content from some of the most highly-trafficked sites on the web, and this deal provides us with a way to expose that content to a vast new audience. AOL and YouTube are two of the biggest names in online video today, which makes this deal an important milestone, not just for us, but for the industry as a whole.” Look for the content to be distributed through 22 channels on YouTube.
Facebook Seminars
Facebook was an Advertising Week sponsor, also putting on some great seminars. Facebook, being the social sharer, also provided live streaming links to watch their presentations in real time. We are always eager to hear from Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg. Watch Charlie Rose interview with Sheryl, as well as other seminars, on Facebook Studio.
When you have a moment, go through and view the talks. They’re quite insightful. The common denominator being that each and every one of them mentions how imperative digital technology has become in advertising. We’re still sharing stories. We’re still connecting brands with people. Technology is simply changing the way we do it.
Post written by Tia Marie Kemp aka @TiaMarieKemp. To learn more from Sociality Squared, become a fan!