While many SAS 2007 speakers focused on the future of advertising, Yusuf Medhi, Senior Vice President and Advertising Strategist for Microsoft, described the inspiring advertising opportunities of “the here and now.”
Medhi identified four dominant themes on the Internet today:
- Proliferation of video
- Deal making for advertising inventory
- Search advertising
- Emerging media – IPTV, mobile, gaming
Fueling the explosion of video on the Internet, according to Mr. Medhi, are the growth of broadband and ease of distribution. User empowerment has increased the volume of videos on the Internet, as have social networking sites, which facilitate sharing. He pointed out that MSN was among the first to use video several years ago, and still drives video advertising on the Internet.
The flurry of online deal making is a product of companies looking to supplement their capabilities. An example is the Microsoft advertising deal with Facebook. It was a strategic move, he said, complementing MSN’s broad reach with a site that attracts a specific, desirable audience.
Search is a very important opportunity today and in the future, but it has a mixed picture, Mr. Medhi said. “Search is on the one hand over-hyped and on the other hand under-hyped.” Search has yet to deliver on its full potential: 35 percent of searches do not provide an answer to the user’s question, according to Mr. Medhi. Nonetheless, search continues to be a powerful form of advertising that is expected to continue to grow.
Finally Mr. Medhi described emerging media, including IPTV, mobile, and gaming, and their new advertising opportunities. This year MSN launched its content on mobile phones, and recently announced its acquisition of ScreenTonic, a French mobile advertising company. This acquisition is expected to provide new ways to reach vast numbers of customers both in the future as well as the here and now.
In closing, Mr. Medhi reiterated his promise to partner with advertisers. “We’re open to work with [advertisers] to redefine what the future of the Internet looks like.”
