CHICAGO — New forms of media are constantly emerging for marketers to embrace. At the ad:tech Chicago conference yesterday, a panel discussed the top media innovations and research that will emerge now and tomorrow.
The panel cited theoretical thinking, media planning and accurate measuring tools as the components to making innovations work. Also, privacy was suggested as ceasing to be a problem in the future.
“People shy away from taking chances because of privacy issues,” said Eric Picard, director of Microsoft Digital Advertising Solutions. “Well, that is very much going to change, and I think that as time goes on the kinds of things we will be able to do will change as a result of it.”
The increase in marketing through mobile devices as well as consumers having different expectations will influence the new innovations in media, he said.
Innovations in the works include flexible printable video screens, cheap printable videos, location tracking and neural marketing measurement.
Amanda Richman, senior vice president, group director, strategy development and innovation of Mediavest Worldwide, agreed with Mr. Picard but also said that media innovations lie within the creative aspects.
“The challenge is not only finding good talent in-house, but we have to engage the audience and recognize them as creative talent as well,” she said. “The challenge is less about being ahead and more about activating opportunities.”
Media innovations also can be explored through integration. This consists of bringing all media and creative outlets together to form one entity.
“We have to have one voice,” said Paul Santello, senior vice president, managing director at Carat Fusion. “We can still look big through a small budget.”
Connecting in vertical and relevant environments through the use of gaming, music and pop culture is essential, he said.
Mr. Santello also provided case studies where integrated marketing proved a success. One was done by Schick with its Quattro razor. The company used a Dinohunter interactive computer ad that generated 500,000 downloads in the first months of its launch.
“The lessons that we learned were to start with the consumer insights, collaborate, act as one agency and develop threads of integration that will unify all of our work,” Mr. Santello said. “The costs can be high, but they are worth the price when you are working with such a strong idea.”
