What’s Next in Online Advertising?

Via Mashable

September 22, 2008 – 10:49 am PDT – by Jackie Peters 8 Comments

I recently attended OMMA Global in New York. The last OMMA event I attended, OMMA Global Hollywood was in February. I am blown away by the huge leap the industry has taken in that time.

I recall walking out of the morning keynote back in February shaking my head, everyone was still clinging desperately to banner ads despite the fact that they weren’t performing well. There was talk of needing to create new metrics in the wake of tanking CTRs, with insights like “hey, it’s still branding” – despite the clearly contrary eye tracking research. I am happy to report that the advertising industry seems to be beginning to realize that there might be better ways to reach people online. It’s like they’ve just woken up from a long sleep.

As someone more on the marketing/PR side than advertising, it was a refreshing environment to be in, and I suspect that, just as marketing, branding, customer service and PR are beginning to blur as a result of social media, online advertising is finally getting on the ball and joining the great blurring of communications fields. There was a great sense of optimism regarding the opportunities to create a more consumer-centric advertising model that works on the social Web. ‘Bout time!

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