Earlier this week I attended the Digital Media Debate organized by the Worshipful Company of Marketors and the Worshipful Company of Stationers.
The debate was managed by Venetia Howes and the speakers were
- Professor Merlin Stone: Head of Research at The Customer Framework, visiting Professor at De Montford and was previously at IBM
- Fergus Boyd, Head Of E Business at Virgin Atlantic
- Daniel Finklestein OBE An economist, writes for The Times
- Rory Sutherland, Executive Creative Director and Vice-Chairman, OgilvyOne London and Vice-Chairman, Ogilvy Group UK
Some interesting issues were discussed, here are the highlights:
Where are we now with digital media?
• Social media has only really been around for 10 years.
• The application is free, the costs are in its management.
• A little knowledge is a dangerous thing, there are many people selling digital media advice and training with little experience or knowledge which means that people can get it wrong, with bad advice.
• Social networking is not serious enough, can we get an alternative word, ‘social’ networking makes people think of one very particular application.
• People solve their own problems online by searching for them.
• We like the Brands we buy rather than buying the brands we like.
• The Internet enables people to interact without social embarrassment.
Where are we going with digital marketing?
• Customers expect more from brands and customer expectations will continue to increase.
• It’s essential to start with brand values.
• We need models of better predictability and better understanding of our behaviour.
• We will be forced as marketers to create better models.
Join the debate – what’s your prediction of the future? Earlier in the year I listed predictions for Facebook – but what about LinkedIn and other digital campaign tools?