Watch all video interviews from the 2010 IAB Annual Conference.
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The Annual IAB Conference is one of those marquee events in the digital media industry where leaders get together to recognize as an industry how far we’ve come, and where we are headed next. In this year’s keynotes there was a good mix of both: Digital leaders like Wenda Millard and Jim Spanfeller were recognized for their contributions as early pioneers of the industry with the first ever Founder’s Awards, and more awards were handed out for service and sales excellence.
In all, the conference opening offered a collective pat on the back to the interactive advertising community for their progress and achievements, especially through the recent downturn. If your company was still left standing after 2009, you deserve to pat yourself on the back as well.
But the focus was clearly on the future, beginning with IAB CEO Randall Rothenberg’s call to action for leadership through service, and followed up by David Moore’s bold predictions for the next phase of online advertising.
Within the categories of new media companies unencumbered by old media business models, there were several bright spots. Tolman Geffs, of The Jordan, Edmiston Group, provided an investment banker’s perspective on the industry and highlighted a renewing trend toward significant growth for a number of categories. One bright spot in particular: online video.
As head of marketing for a company sitting squarely in the online video bright spot, I’m biased. But I share Geffs’ optimism for the space. The biggest rationale for growth comes from the fact that online video spending is still relatively small, and only a very small fraction of total TV spending.
But those TV dollars are shifting, and will increasingly shift to online video because a number of factors that are unfolding such as more premium content becoming available online and consumers spending more time with it, to the point advertisers can now achieve TV like scale in online video.
Another key factor that is driving the shift from TV to online video is the ability to deliver targeted audiences through advanced targeting solutions like the one Tremor Media announced last week. For the most part, digital media is bought and delivered based on impressions, without any accountability for audience delivery. Our targeting solution makes online video more accountable and more like TV because it allows advertisers to plan, buy, and deliver based on audience (just like they do with TV).
No one can deny the inherent differences between TV and online video advertising, such as the ability to offer interactivity and engagement. But by making it easier for advertisers to buy online video like TV – with quality, scale, accountability, and a common metric based on audience vs. impressions, there’s a good chance Tolman Geffs is right when he says that online video will grow FASTER than predicted this year.
