Web 3.0 will be about data, but don't forget how to tell a story
A recurring proposition that has emerged throughout Internet Week 2011 has been the subject of the future of online advertising. What changes are we likely to see across the advertising landscape and how can advertisers impact upon these changes?
On Monday, Maud Pasturaud, Senior Manager, Acquisition Marketing at Jetsetter, set out to answer these questions, as well as provide insight into what advertisers are striving for today. Ultimately, it is impossible to predict what is going to happen, as Pasturaud pointed out, but she firmly believes the future of the industry lies in data. We are going to experience a move from a "Real identities, real relationships" philosophy in the Web 2.0 world to one of "Real identities generating massive amounts of data" in a Web 3.0 environment. Advertiser-consumer interaction is becoming increasingly personal and Pasturaud believes that trend is only set to continue in the near future.
Pasturaud also spoke of the need to "be the first" to utilise advertising innovations in the digital space. This is a particularly interesting piece of advice as it contradicts some of the sentiments of Andrew Cracknell, who was the keynote speaker at the Yahoo! PROVOKE Summit on Tuesday. He urged a certain level of caution with regards to advertising in the online space and pointed out that as advertisers are launching themselves into digital innovations and opportunities, they are forgetting the importance of a good story. He called upon some examples of classic ads from the 1950s to emphasise that a strong, simple story is cleverest thing you can have in advertising.
So all of this begs the question, should advertisers be diving head-first into the digital age of advertising or should they go back to the future with a focus on good storytelling across a few key channels? While there is no definitive answer, here are some of our favourite quotes regarding the future of advertising from the events discussed, which should help you make sense of it all.
"Today, I'm going to take you into the past, which is arguably going to be a better use of your time as nobody really knows what's going to happen in the future" — Andrew Cracknell
"Advertisers are looking for better targeting of ads, better reporting with measurable results and a better understanding of what consumers did after they saw an ad." — Maud Pasturaud
"Don't let your cleverness get in the way of the message. If you've got a good story to tell, just tell" — Andrew Cracknell"
"The future of mobile is the future of everything" (Quoted by Maud Pasturaud, originally by Matt Galligan, CEO of SimpleGeo)
— Simon Hall
