IAB Engage: live blog

Here's the full line-up

LIVE BLOG...

1500

Ashley Highfield on now:

He's going to talk about video.

TV programming is rapidly adapting, says Highfield. But lets look forward to what's going to happen in the next five years, he says.

In the UK there were more PCs sold than TVs sold last year, he says. Microsoft is going through a huge shift from a licensing model to advertising.

The first megapixel digital camera appeared in the mid-90s, in 2000 it became mainstream. Looking forward, cameras have built-in projectors.

The rise and rise for the low-end laptop, says Highfield, accounts for something like 20 per cent of all laptop purchases. In three to five years every home will have two or three of these - they will be as ubiquitous as radios.

He's going on to talk about Xbox's Project Natal - this is the technology being developed to make TVs two way. It will be able to detect movements in players and react to them. "Bing it later," says Highfield. "I will make that a verb."

Highfield focused on where the industry is going over the next two to five years. Traditionally Microsoft has focused on helping consumers to connect to their devices but this is changing as move services move into the cloud.

Microsoft and other companies are undergoing fundamental structural change as they move from licensing revenue model to advertising.

1. The low end netbook is already been something of a storm. The idea of receiving your media through traditional means when netbooks become ubiquitous become absurd. Netbooks will become totally dipsoable.

2. Screens will become two way. Microsoft working with xbox natal

3. Eventually the screen will disappear completely. Plastic chips will enable every device your phone your TV will have to conform to clunky batteries and screen. Screens will become totally immersive and content will be all around us.

TV. Already during the week internet consumption al almost as much as TV viewing so why isn't the money following?

For certain content you will find pay models that work but for the most part it will be an ad funded future.

We are still learning how to monetise the long tail of television. Targeted advertising is still in its nascency and is something we are totally committed to.Measurement will help but also creating video inventoary on the web.

Will traditional TV get left by the roadside. I don't think so. Content is going to enter a new golden age. The over net demand for content is increasing. Watching high quality programming is only going to increase.

Whilst TV has to change dramartically the content has an etxtremely rich and monetisable future. Microsoft wants to be a major player in that field.

1440

Matt Brittin, managing director of Google UK, is being introduced by IAB chairman Richard Eyre.

'Making yours a bionic business' is what he's talking about.

Brittin says we can learn from people like Charlieissocoollike - here's his YouTube channel. He's had millions of video views for his songs - one about acne, broadcast from his pad in Bath.

Oops - he was going to his presentation on the internet but can't apparently. A bit of embarrassment for the IAB there.

Powerpoint it is:

He's bringing out some stats: 85 per cent of digital world is outside North America so the web is global, not American, says Brittin. Britian is really digital, he says. We spend three times as much online per head compared to the US.

More people visit the YouTube hompage than watch Strictly Come Dancing, says Brittin. Then he says: "I'm trying not to make this a plug for Google." Hmmm. I'll resume after this Google case study he's blasting through. It's about people searching for dresses online.

Brittin says search does branding and does it efficiently. He says that for Flora, search was ten times more effective than TV whiloe for Ford search was four times more effective than TV.

Fast is better than slow, says Brittin but it's difficult. We need to figure out ways to overcome fear and uncertainty of the new, he says.

We're going to see an explosion in mobile internet usage around the world but not here in Europe, he says. Cloud will also become important. He says that everything will connect like mobile phones and barcodes.

1430

Back from lunch - nice break. A lot of people looking forward to Stephen Fry's chat later on. Before that we have Matt Brittin from Google and Ashley Highfield of Microsoft. Much anticipation about Highfield - he's not been out much since taking over Microsoft UK.

First, it's IAB chairman Richard Eyre.

He's saying that 84 per cent of internet users never click on ads, he says. "Forcing clicks to be the only measure of an ad campaign is wrong and misleading," he says.

He's arguing that online campaigns deliver offline sales. Eyre is proposing to connect brands with consumers that are looking to buy stuff, whether it's cars, holidays or mobile phones.

Eyre is worried about the wealth of online inventory. He says that we're heading down commodity street by going for cheap network buys and that it's not right to assume that digital is simply a direct-response channel.

2010 will be the year of the online brand advertiser, claims Eyre. UKOM will help with this, he says.

Fairly brief from Brittin. He got across some good points on how brands should be using technology though.

1300

Mark Lund, chief executive of the COI, is up next. He is going to talk about Citizen 2.0: how government can interact and engage in the digital age.

First though, it's another Mr Motivator video. This one gets some laughs - that's an improvement.

Here comes Lund:

He opens up by saying that he expected to see a lot of 'Call of Duty' t-shirts here today. Not sure if everyone in digital is necessarily a gamer but it's a light-hearted start before the serious stuff.

"The big societal problems like obesity are all things we directly effect and communications can determine if it becomes an insurmountable problem or can be managed," says Lund.

This is more than about brand health - it is about the health of democracy and the nation and its about saving millions of pounds of taxpayer's money, says Lund.

"Given the scale of these problems why did I leave my comfortable agency job," asks Lund. He says the two things that motivated him were the scale of the challenges and the sheer range of communications channel that COI can and has to use.

This gives a freedom and excitement to communications, which is exciting, he says.

The COI is spending three times as much on digital than in 2006, says Lund. "Our view of digital is being the pivotal media for the future."

He's now getting everyone in the audience to proclaim if they've interacted with government over the last year.

The COI started advertising online in the same year that spawned the Euro and Sponge Bob Squarepants - 1999.

Lund is citing the Phillis Report from 2004 which found that the Civil Service had not yet grasped the potential of modern communications. He's also quoting former Prime Minister Tony Blair who wanted the government to be efficient and trustworthy - these are key to the COI's principles.

Lund explains what the COI is working on:

1. We're auditing through ABCe, all government websites

2. Data: the government has appointed Tim Berners-Lee to build a single point of access that will provide data on crime, hospitals and most importantly: potholes in the road.

3. We're moving from Civil Servant 1.0 to Civil Service 2.0. COI and The Cabinet Office has already written social media guidelines for the civil service.

Challenges: why it's going to be difficult

1. You can't just talk to the young people - you have to deal with every citizen, no matter how difficult to reach.

2. The scale of these challenges. Obesity costs the country £4.2bn a year and smoking costs us £2.4bn. Climate change and drinking costs us billions too. "If we can change people's behaviour, we can be massively more effective. Communication and digital communication will absolutely be at the heart of that."

"Conversations will be important to overcome these," says Lund. Some examples of what the COI is doing include:

thmbnls (thumbnails to you and I) - a series of mobile dramas that cost £250,000 over 22 episodes. Some of the reaction was favourable, some was scathing and got 80,000 interactions, according to Lund.

The other example he uses is the 'royalairforce' YouTube channel. The first time, says Lund, that an unvarnished view of life in the RAF has been made available. It's been fantastically successful, he says.

"This is not just about the campaigns we run it's about changing the way governments and citizens interact. Actually getting involved with the debate when policy being created. This is a huge area when digital can get involved."

"Public engagement on policing, power stations and schools is incredibly expensive. If it's done through digital it's about empowering citizens and letting them into the process of government that hasn't hitherto been possible."

Lund says there is a massive challenge and a massive opportunity. He is urging the digital world to come with him and to lead the way. "London is not only one of the world's leading cities, it is probably the world leader in social media."

The chilling reality is that we face enormous social challenges, concludes Lund. But we now have the social tools to tackle these challenges. "I very much hope that the digital industry will be able to join us in this."

1230

Now we're on to: 'How can press brands keep fit in the digital age?'

On the panel we have: James Bromley, managing director of Mail Online; Carl Lyons, marketing director at Bauer Media; Bill Swanson, managing director of digital at Independent News and Media and Alistair McEwan, ad director for The New York Times Media Group.

Bromley from the Mail says: "At the very beginning of transformation of how people consume media and we mustn't forget that selling newspapers is actually still pretty effective."

Of the Mail's website he says: "We don't design our homepage for accident and not what looks nice but from looking at individual behaviours. We're stilll learning."

Carl Lyons from Bauer: "I really believe that brands are touchpoints for emotions and can be very valuable in digital. The challenge is to stay relevant to advertisers and consumers. Across our portfolio anything from Kiss FM to FHM and specialist opportunities, we also have a range of opportunities across platforms. All these different places we have the ability to keep this relevance going."

Swanson from The Independent. He says that the strength of the brand is key but he's not so arrogant to think that everyone automatically comes to the site. He says that many people go there from Google, the secret is to make the user journey great once they hit the site. "We know they will go to other sites. We need to make sure that when they come to ours that they have a great experience and interaction with the brand."

Interesting to see the 'old media' guys on stage. It's clear that brand doesn't necessarily have the same equity online. The secret is to build the user experience so that people are likely to return.

It's open to the floor. Who will be first to ask Mail Online's Bromley about Jan Moir?!

Question from the floor: will Murdoch put his content behind the pay wall?

"It will happen," says McEwan from NYT. "But it doesn't have to be an either/or situation. There can be paid content and free. It is proven that consumers are willing to pay for content in different ways. It's up to us to develop that for them. This doesn't necessarily mean putting up a big fat pay wall."

Cliche watch: "There is more than one way to skin a cat."  says McEwan.

Lets see who can finish top of this hastily arranged cliche league table.

1205

Dan Rosen, head of AKQA Mobile, has taken the stage to talk about brands and mobile.

He's going to showcase some mobile campaigns that have impressed. Some guiding principles first:

1 Great innovation takes great insight

Nike PhotoID is the example he's using for this. Disclaimer is that Nike is an AKQA client. This is what Nike had to say to us earlier in the year.

2 Mobile is about trading reach for richness

Rosen is now citing a Japanese campaign by K-TRA which created an app that helps people travel around Japan. Had just 20,000 users but millions of page views as it really engaged with that user base.

3 Create a role for mobile within an integrated marketing strategy

Rosen is talking about the UN Voices Project created by UNIC Australia designed to give everyone a voice. Here's some info on this one

4 Your consumer is mobile. Show that you understand them

Gap's US work is the example here. Rosen says this is a great example of how Gap understands consumer behaviour and shopping behaviour and how mobile can help with shopping.

1150

Nothing to report on the cake front unfortunately. But a couple of cups of coffee and we're back up and running.

Next on the agenda is mobile. Specifically:

'Make your brand mobile' featuring Shaun Gregory, managing director of O2 Media and Daniel Rosen, head of AKQA Mobile.

First up is Gregory. Gregory has big experience of old media and the newest, having joined O2 from Blyk. Mobile has reach and a unique ability to target consumers, he says.

The power of mobile is the most accessed media channel from 12pm to 6pm, claims Gregory, citing research from rival Orange.

The 'mobile wallet' is well under way, according to Gregory but heyond this where can mobile help people. "It's no longer just a phone its the centrepiece for decision-making for future consumers," he says.

The potential and scope for smartphone growth is phenomenal. Gregory says iPhones account for one third of traffic on smartphones.

As we wrote yesterday however, the Blackberry outsold the iPhone in Q3 2009.

Brands must go beyond the banner, according to Gregory. He's not just talking about apps and social media though. Simple techniques such as sponsored SMS can work well, he says.

O2 is delivering relevancy says Gregory and is inviting brands to do it with them. He says reach relevancy and response are important to this.