IAB Engage 2006: The story of the day

The story of the internet marketing conference of 2006 as it happened.

Tuesday, 14 November 2006

At the Internet Advertising Bureau’s second annual conference IAB Engage 2006 at the London BFI IMAX, a widescreen vision for the future of internet marketing was presented. Following a cinematic introduction, IAB CEO Guy Phillipson took to the stage to welcome our first keynote speaker, Terry Semel, Chairman and Chief Executive officer of Yahoo! Inc.

In the first presentation of the day, Terry Semel, stated that the “actual growth potential for advertising online is being understated.” He believes that with the inclusion of video, mobile, social media and ipTV the medium will continue to grow at healthy rate over the next few years.



The running theme of Semel’s presentation was integration. Beginning by stating “This is the time to stop talking about new media and old media,” Semel highlighted the importance of thinking holistically about the entire package of how marketers communicate with their audience. He also said that the PC is no longer the epicenter of internet communications as he advised the consideration of the mobile device convergence.

Video was identified by Semel as a key driver in the growth of internet advertising. He said that in the next year or two: “Video will become a major factor on the internet, it will become ever present.”

As could have been predicted web 2.0 was a major focus of the day. Semel believes we should think of the next generation of internet use in more human terms. “I know we talk about web 2.0, but it’s about people to people; a lot more sharing.” As internet audiences continue to become the publishers, even earning money through advertising revenue, Semel urged the IAB Engage 2006 audience to think; “What is the best way to satisfy the users needs.”


The next keynote speaker, John Hegarty, chairman and worldwide creative director of BBH, took to the stage before lunch to outline his new model to succeed in digital creative. Picking up on Semel's point about rethinking the way the industry works, Hegarty believes that advertising agencies need to change the way they operate. They need to respect the user and focus on content within a new culture of "do and learn".

Before leading us through his 'ten lessons of engagement', Hegarty said that understanding the media and the public’s relationship with it is a fundamental part of the creative positioning of advertising: “The big question for the digital creative community is do we really, as yet, understand how people are consuming this new media and are we really creating brand building work? We may have a lot of information, but how much understanding do we have?”

Within Hegarty's new model of making the "net work" he highlighted the importance of irreverence in marketing. From now on the advertising will have to be the draw, not the editorial: “This presents agencies with a unique challenge: They have to think of themselves as content providers. That’s a different world… Most advertising operates under the conventional culture of Learn and Do. I think we’re now in a culture of Do and Learn.”

In a speech that continually referenced the importance of creating advertising with meaning and value, Hegarty highlighted the importance of consistency. "More than ever with so much available and so much to consume, consistency will be the winner. The task obviously is to make it engaging, meaningful and feed back into the long term brand values."

Hegarty also criticized the reliance on humour for creating viral uplift. Stating that the internet is “not a gag medium”, he reaffirmed the importance of creating meaningful social currency that adds value, saying; “just because someone passes it on, doesn’t necessarily mean its of value.”

Straight after the break for lunch, IAB Chairman, Richard Eyre gave a deliberately provacative speech. He urged marketers who have not yet reacted to the "seismic shift" in consumers' media habits, to review the pace and the depth of their engagement with online media. He urged them to, "not be content with a shuffle forward."


Richard introduced one of the conference's main draws, James Murdoch, chief executive of BSkyB, who picked up on the IAB chairman's strong stance. Murdoch issued a warning to traditional media owners to "adapt" and "stay relevant to consumers". He also said that internet technology was moving faster than the marketing industry and it needed to catch up.

Like Terry Semel earlier on in the day, the subject of integration was also an important feature of Murdoch's presentation; both the integration of portable devices within the media landscape and the integration of what has been traditionally separated as old and new media. He criticised those advertisers who have yet to fully embrace online in their communications strategies, and who treat the internet as "separate and distinct”. Murdoch said: "Are advertisers really grasping the opportunity? The answer is no...The internet is treated as separate, and this ignores the real revolution that is approaching."








Murdoch's speech highlighted the “connectedness of all media” as an essential consideration for marketers and media owners in the new media landscape, stating that it is not enough to change the mix, rather it is necessary to adopt an integrated and combined multi-faceted approach to content provision.

Talking about the effect online has on businesses today, he said: “We’re at the tip of the iceberg as the virtual world and real world intermingle and overlap in surprising ways." Murdoch stressed that the real winners will be those who supply the “best content with most innovative ways of delivering it.”

Making reference to Sky’s commitment to 100% coverage amongst consumers, and targeting them with ‘smart’, targeted TV and advertising, Murdoch argued that to succeed, media companies need to understand customers as individuals. Furthermore rather than looking at each media in isolation - such as TV, press and outdoor - it is more important to look at the one single view of the consumer.

Reuters Chairman Niall FitzGerald took to the stage to herald the return of 'the conversation.' As he explained, the internet allows marketers to restart the one to one conversations with their consumer that was lost in the advent of mass communication. Whilst he urged marketers not to ignore what they have learnt in the past he invited them to be "hugely excited" about the possibilities of online. He sees the internet as the catalyst for the end of the push dominated advertising model; by "mixing the best of the old with the excitement of the new" the internet will enable the advertsing industry to flourish.

However when pressed further in the question and answer session he issued a challenge to agencies to push their clients further to embrace the internet and a truly integrated approach to their communications.

FitzGerald was keen to re-emphasise that creativity is everything. He cited the innovative Dove 'Real Beauty' campaign as an example of a great idea that actually drove three times more traffic on YouTube than during the 2006 Superbowl.