The face of advertising is continually evolving. Opportunities to connect with consumers are extending to mediums such as online games, mobile phones, and movies. Senior vice president of the Advertiser & Publisher Solutions Group at Microsoft, Brian McAndrews, hosted this year’s advertising leadership forum, advance08, and shared his thoughts on brand-consumer relationships before introducing renowned industry thought leaders Michael Eisner, Robbie Bach, Laura Desmond, James Cameron, and Jon Landau. Each pioneer revealed how new media and technology will shape how advertisers communicate with their consumers. Eisner described the Internet as an industry medium that will eventually become the primary production and distribution vehicle. Bach introduced new opportunities for mobile advertising, while Cameron and Landau described digital technologies to reach consumers via the film industry, and Desmond touched on how to engage consumers.
Michael Eisner’s background as the former CEO of Disney has given him valuable insight into the entertainment and media industries. Unlike some major distributors today who see the Internet as a last resort to connect with consumers, Eisner views it as a medium with a lot of opportunity. He said that within the next decade it will be the primary distribution and promotion vehicle that advertisers use to connect with consumers.
Robbie Bach highlighted important characteristics to be aware of when connecting with consumers in advertising. Bach stressed that today’s audience is intensely social and wants to experience their entertainment with friends. This opens the door for advertisers to reach their audience when they interact with friends on online communities such as Xbox Live, or with their mobile phones on spaces such as Windows Live for mobile.
Laura Desmond of Starcom MediaVest spoke about ways to engage with consumers, and the importance of making them paramount when developing a campaign. Desmond explored how new technologies enable advertisers to gain insight into the purchasing decisions of consumers. For example, she described a new “intent tool” which can reveal what drives consumers to buy a particular product. This information can allow advertisers to more effectively target their media efforts.
James Cameron and Jon Landau of Lightstorm Entertainment have learned from making successful films like Titanic, that a good story is what captures an audience. The two spoke of new opportunities in the film industry to relate to consumers like going 3-D and integrating digital cameras into the filmmaking process—to tell a story in way that could not be told otherwise. Microsoft has helped them track their artistic vision through the development of a digital asset management system that makes it easy to track their data.
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