Context, trends, meaning and new definitions at the inaugural APA International Content Summit 2010
Daisy McAndrew, Economics Editor, ITV News and keynote speaker, Rory Sutherland , Vice President of Ogilvy and IPA President, opened the conference with optimism for content and a smattering of behavioural economics' nudge theory.
Rory spoke passionately about, in his belief, the fundamental mistake made by marketers: the oversight of not looking beyond brand preference. As a result the power of context has been neglected and is only now emerging. Every decision made is affected intrinsically by the context in which the decision is being made. As contextual communication grows, content; a channel in which advertisers can control the context, will dominate advertising.
In the second session of the day Julie Meyer, CEO Ariadne Capital and founder of First Tuesday spoke about how digital will continue to shape business, identifying three key trends for the future:
- Continued de-coupling of any one way to access the web
- Network oriented businesses - think of everything being networked, linear businesses no longer work
- Individual capitalism - consumers thinking of themselves as brands with their own P&Ls
These trends will shape the future, but she reminded delegates that the business model is the game changer, not technology. The business model of the future will be around collaboration, with business David and Goliaths working together. Tagstar, a platform that helps organisations monetise content, is an example of this.
From telex to twitter, Julia Hobsbawm, CEO Editorial Intelligence was next up and spoke about the importance of meaning. No matter the platform, or how gorgeous the content, what really counts is the whole content experience. Illustrating her point, she explained her worries about the current app gold rush, which has seen many brands developing applications for the sake of it, rather than having the end user at the heart of the development. If this continues, brands run the risk of damaging their brand through slack content strategies.
Ben Hammersley, technologist did not talk about technology. General social trends, not the next big gadget are fundamental for content providers moving forward. He identified measurement - both in macroeconomic sense and personal sense - as the being the driver. The rise of "taking stock" and "truth-telling" will redefine the media industry. New media is the ability to generate real numbers, whilst old media will encapsulate inaccurate reporting. Being able to know who, how , what why in real time and the ability to report this is what will continue to propel the growth of content over the next few years.
Up next, after the break, is Nicola Yershon, Director of innovative Solutions at Ogilvy, Juliet Strachan, Managing Partner at HPI and Antony Mayfield, Senior Vice President Social Media, iCrossing addressing what consumers want and how they want it and the implications of these for content.
