Digital Britain: a UK success story. Let's not blow it!

• The UK has the second highest figure for the weekly time people spend online.  Us Brits spend 14 hours per week online, an increase of nearly 6.5 hours a week on 2004, the highest increase amongst the countries surveyed.
• The UK leads the world for online advertising.  Online advertising accounted for £1 in every £5 of advertising (19 per cent), the highest of all the countries surveyed.
• We really are going mobile!  There are now nearly one million mobile 'social networkers' and - to assist this - coverage for faster mobile broadband speeds (jargon name: High Speed Downlink Packet Access!) is the best in the UK.
• There is one broadband connection for every four people in the UK.

Enabling customers to interact

Getting customers to respond to an ad isn’t easy, and getting them to interact can be even harder. Whatever your objectives, direct response or brand building, getting consumers to engage with your brand is vital.

10 reasons why i love entertainment blogs (or maybe 10 reasons why i should get out more)

I may have mentioned this before, but I’m a BIG fan of celebrity.  In fact it's pretty safe to say that I have very few other interests.  That's why the proliferation of entertainment and celebrity focused-blogs have been a godsend for me, and to be honest there's very little else I look at online.  Normally this is just for my own reading pleasure, however yesterday I saw a video on the Perez Hilton site (featuring the man himself) giving his take on the recent US Weekly exclusive surrounding the apparent elopement of Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt (both stars of US faux reality show 'The Hills').  Perez pointed out that thanks to online, for the offline magazine world there is now no such thing as 'breaking news' and therefore the print versions of celebrity magazines are having a tougher time than ever to maintain their interest and provide their readers with new information.  And now paid-for, exclusives, seemingly staged stories - such as the Montag and Pratt affair - are the result.   Such a thought-provoking video (for me, anyway!) made me realise what a massive impact such blogs have had on media (and marketing) in general.  So, after giving it a bit more thought, I’ve found 10 big reasons why I love entertainment blogs, such as the aforementioned Perez Hilton, Holy Moly, FilmDrunk, MrPaparazzi, Dlisted, Heatworld (the blogroll goes on...)

The bank of the future

Does anyone remember London in 1966? Apparently something big happened in the world of football. More importantly – for a Scotsman at least – Barclays unveiled the world’s first digital ATM (the technology was rolled out to the public in 1967 and opened by the now sadly deceased Reg Varney). In the same year the bank also developed the Barclaycard, the world’s first credit card. 

At this morning’s IAB Engage for Finance conference, Catriona Campbell, Founder of Foviance and Paul Dawson, Experience Director at Conchango, outlined what new developments we can expect see in the financial industry in the years to come. 

A short film from Microsoft’s Industry Innovations Group, showed the bank of the future, complete with ambient interfaces and Minority Report-style iris recognition technology. Campbell went on to outline how technologies of the future may be applied to the digital financial world. She explained that EEG technology (that’s ‘electroencephalography’, the measurement of electrical activity produced by the brain as recorded from electrodes placed on the scalp – thanks Wikipedia) can be used to show what effect bank homepages have on the minds of consumers – be warned, apparently, First Direct registers “high arousal”. Click here to view - it may not be safe for work though. 

For Dawson, the future of digital advertising is brand utility – “being useful” – and brand experience – “being loved”. Financial brands must pay attention to this as they face the current financial climate. “Great ideas come out of difficult times”, concluded Campbell. A useful lesson for modern times.

To read a summary of today’s events at IAB Engage For Finance click here.

"A great democratising force"

Last night I went shopping with a pint of Stella!

By the time Hammy had been played with, Amelie was out of her Rainbows uniform and my wife had finished erecting a Playmobil fort for my son Oscar it was pushing on for 8.30pm.  With Stephen Fry in the USA playing in the background, my wife and I decided to go shopping.  Now there aren’t many shops open at that time of night in my home town of Weetabix (Burton Latimer), so of course we went online.  For an hour we traded ideas about what we should get the kids for Christmas all in the comfort of our armchairs, on our own laptops while I enjoyed a nice cold Stella and my wife sipped a glass of red.  I set up a wish list for Oscar on Amazon populated with Storm Hawks and Hot Wheels sets, though I intend to slip in a few Clone Wars toys on today (for my own parental pleasure).

We found a red guitar for a whopping £60, but then we found a similar one for £40.  Scooters were duly investigated and my wife managed to find some for sale at £25 rather than the £50 being advertised on a trendy kids site.  We also used a discount voucher (check out our new guidlelines) to get 20% off some wall hangers for Oscar’s new room.

Hoorah – we just won an MP3 player for £10 on Ebay - perfect for Oscar as he always nicks his sisters.  We looked at Nanos but when you see how a 6 and 4 year old look after technology, spending £80 is a hard pill to swallow.

Email confirmation from Swim Shop told me that my dive sticks have been dispatched, followed by Hotel Chocolat who very kindly emailed me what I bought last year – dear god did I really buy that much chocolate?

When we finished shopping we decided to have some cheese and biscuits before retiring to bed excited that the next few days would bring us lovely parcels for our children’s Christmas.

I then woke up this morning to find an email from my wife containing a link to a rather nice pair of boots she’d like.  When did she have time to send that?

So I bought them from the train travelling to London.

Don’t you just love the internet?  Cheaper, easier, lazier, no pushers and comes with booze (responsibly of course!)

Can we meet the Government's challenge?

Andy Burnham, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media & Sport, has set the online industry a challenge.  In a keynote speech to the IAB's flagship Engage event yesterday afternoon, Burnham said that the Government was fully behind the UK online advertising industry and would do all it could to maintain it as a world leader.

But he also stressed the importance of ensuring that safeguards are in place to enable users - particularly children - to successfully navigate and feel comfortable in the online world.  For the online world, Burnham said that - unlike other areas of life - he thought the "stakes in the ground are not quite there yet, that is something we need to address together".

Burnham confirmed what we''ve known for some time: the Government doesn't think that the internet is ungovernable.  However, he said we should be "first thinking about self-regulation".  This is important: he is asking the online advertising sector to step-up to the plate and act like a 'grown-up' industry.

He recognises the complexities of the online world (although doesn't pretend that he understands them) and believes that a self-regulatory approach is the most appropriate way to balancing online creativity and innovation with protecting users/consumers.

At the IAB, we welcome this and we're ready to meet this challenge. We have already established a positive track record in self-regulatory initiatives. For example, we're working to improve the self-regulatory framework for advertising content to make it more relevant to today's digital world; and we've taken steps to reduce inappropriate website content (and protect brands) via a world-first Code to vet display advertising.

As I've mentioned here before, the IAB is also developing self-regulatory Good Practice Principles to protect user privacy around behavioural advertising.

So our challenge is very clear: we need to ensure that we put those stakes in the ground and ensure that (online) advertising remains - as Burnham says - "one of the flagships around the world for British creativity".

Is the internet throwing a giant sized wedge into the generational divide?

I apologise for the sweeping generalisations in this article because I’m not going to report facts or figures, I just want to voice an opinion based on my observations.

The recent fuss made over Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross' prank calls highlighted the incredible divide between generations; on one hand some of the older demographic were outraged, while the younger demographic appeared happier to accept an apology and move on. While it’s nothing new for generations to disagree, particularly on what is and isn’t acceptable behaviour, this is one of many examples that makes me think the divide runs deeper now than it did before.

One of the top reasons for this deeper divide I’m witnessing must be the internet. Younger demographics adopt new uses of conversational technology quicker - while I can’t reel off stats, I'm fairly confident that the proportion of over 40's using Facebook, MySpace and Blogs isn't bigger than the under 40 age group. Everyone uses text messages, but no one texts more than younger demographics. There is one notable exception I am aware of: email. This is one form of social media that everyone uses, from my mum to my sister (at 93 my gran wants email too, but her nursing home doesn’t have WiFi). Through necessity and simplicity email has vaulted over the generational valley, but I’m willing to bet its use is very different.

Whether older people have fewer opportunities to learn about new technology, or whether they would simply prefer to be chatting in person than reading status updates, younger people are now in more immediate and informed touch with each other. They discuss topics and form opinions quickly. I believe that while technology is increasing the visibility of this phenomenon, it is now doing more than just increasing awareness. And this is one of the reasons why younger people were ‘over’ the Brand / Ross debate faster. They knew all of the details, heard the calls, laughed with friends and moved on while older groups were receiving the first, selective ‘shock’ information from the press.

Will it be like this forever? No. Nintendo and Apple are making seemingly impenetrable media simple to use, no matter the age. My dad, in his early 60’s was never interested in my Playstations, PCs or dare I say it, Spectrum. He barely batted an eyelid when an article of mine went on a website with 1 million unique visitors a month, but was impressed by my name being printed on a business card. No, he does not get or have any interest in technology. Yet give him a Nintendo Wii and he’s beating his daughter up in a virtual boxing game. Give him an iPhone and he’s pressing icons, sliding pictures and watching YouTube.

While there always has been and always will be a generational divide and, I believe, the internet has made it larger, it can be repaired. As a friend, Marcos, recently said: “geeks make ugly technology”. This, in my experience, has always proven to be 100% true. As Nintendo, Apple and even the BBC iPlayer are proving, design and usability are now even more important for this reason – they make content accessible to anyone.

Have you noticed the bridge between the generation gap get smaller as internet technology develops? Do you know of any social networking sites for older people? Does any of this really matter to marketers when you can use demographic targeting?

IAB on Twitter

The IAB has finally made the leap to Twitter: www.twitter.com/iabuk. Our account has been set up to give live updates from our annual conference this Wednesday, Engage 2008, but it's actually so much fun it will keep going in the future. I've been reading up on Twitter etiquette at conferences, but any tips please let me know.

Does our Communities Minister really understand communities?

This is an historic week. 

There's no doubt that Barack Obama's election as President of the US marks a turning point in American, if not, global politics.  His victory is testament to the 'American Dream' (Barack's own words) as well as to the nature of democracy in the US.  It has it's critics, but the American democratic process rather puts our own to shame.  Its not helped either by comments such as those of our very own Communities Minister, Hazel Blears.  In a speech to the Hansard Society yesterday, Blears blasted political blogs in the UK as written by those with "disdain for the political system and politicians, who see their functions as unearthing scandals, conspiracies and perceived hypocrisy."  Strong stuff.

But what exactly is Ms Blears afraid of?  And does she really understand online communities?  Political blogs are today's 'editorials'.  They are a symbol of freedom of speech and expression.  Technology today allows social media and online communities to flourish by expressing and sharing opinions and experiences.  In her speech, Blears warns of "a dangerous erosion in our political culture" and blames "a shrinking and increasingly competitive newspaper market."  I think the truth may actually lie in the fact that Ms Blears and her colleagues cannot necessarily control (or perhaps handle would be fairer) political opinion and expression on the internet in the way they may attempt to do so in traditional media such as newspapers or on television.  Blears seeks to address flaws in our political culture.  However, our democracy is greatly enriched by the internet and its ability to galvanise and organise political views and opinion.  Commercial brands are already embracing social media, changing the very nature of their relationship with consumers.  It means a little less control for a brand but a better consumer experience overall.  Government should not be afraid to follow suit.  It may find a better level of engagement with the very people it wishes to influence: voters.  It might help improve public services as well.

 You can listen to the Minister debate this issue with one of the leading political bloggers, Iain Dale, here (about 49 minutes into the programme).

Do I love you?

 The IAB has just appointed a brand new head of mobile, former Orange head of marketing Jonathan Mew, which is big news for us as the medium attracts more and more industry-wide attention. And whilst it would be very easy for me to wax lyrical about his mobile knowledge and expertise, I thought it may be nice to give up my allocated blog day (just for one day!) and open it up to the wonderful world of mobile advertising, straight from the horse's mouth.

So, in his own words...

Who will win the US election?

It's fairly obvious, but let Google Trends help you out: Obama vs McCain

Is copying a good thing?

Vodafone/Blackberry recently announced the launch of the new Blackberry Storm, which comes out in mid November.   Clearly a challenger to the iPhone, this nifty device will also get the support of a download apps store (also kick-started by Apple).  As a Blackberry user this excited me more than the fact that it's not first to market.  Being first to market and boasting a 'media first' was always a must, but I'm sensing that the industry is now more driven by doing it better/differently than others, rather than doing it first.   To stick with Apple for a moment, iTunes has had plenty of challengers, Tesco Digital, the repositioned Napster and of course the eagerly awaited Datz.  Even iTunes Genius is uncannily like Last FM or Pandora.  Of course if you speak to these players and use the word 'copy' I'm sure there would be a very well-crafted response about filling a gap that their competitors don't fill but I don't see anything wrong in doing this if you make it work for your brand.  The well-documented iPint debate aside, if something is appealing to consumers why not make the most of it, and make it work for yourself as long as credit is given where due (enter Honda cog vs Mr Fischli and Mr Weiss debate).

The same applies when building an ecommerce site.  Why waste energies and money on designing a bespoke navigation when you have amazon.com, play.com and CDwow on your doorstop.  Of course we should all aspire to be copied - imitation is the sincerest form of flattery - but sometimes, just sometimes it's ok to copy, or should I say, 'be inspired by'.

Standardising internet advertising. It's chicken or the egg

Last week the IAB's Search Council hosted a roundtable event at which Tim Bradshaw of the FT posed the question to the lead thinkers in the search industry: would the search market be as big as it is now if Google hadn't dominated?

The answer was yes, which I partly agree with. Of course search would be big, every consumer uses it, but I do strongly believe that having one big player in search helped make the proposition simpler and easier to understand for marketers, for everyone. Critically, it made a complex subject easier to explain to senior managers and directors. They are people after all.

When it first launched I remember thinking Google was the chaotic, nastily designed cousin to the likes of Yahoo!, AOL and Ask but it was incredibly simple to use and it delivered results. It did away with all complications. Instead of looking to this competitor for inspiration, the search market went bonkers with extra services that only further complicated things and exemplified Google's easy to use approach.

As a result we now have a near global monopoly in search from a user perspective and from an advertising one. Had the other search engines worked together 7 - 8 years ago to create some uniformity I believe they would be in a very different situation today.

Google standardised search marketing through its dominance and while the search market may have been 'as big' I don't believe we would have got to this stage 'as quickly' without that standardisation. This begs the question, do emerging markets like video and mobile wait for technology to lead the way for a unified approach to advertising, or can companies collaborate earlier? There are benefits and dangers of letting one technology lead because it does make things easier but if the leading technology becomes the accepted norm, people understand it, flock to it and stop using the alternatives as much. Hello Google.

This helps me arrive at the point Tim's question raised in my mind. The internet is a huge battleground that sees not just companies but individuals competing, no, gambling to have the next 'big idea'. Sometimes however, the biggest idea in establishing a form of internet advertising is to work with each other on certain core principles - something we at the IAB strive to facilitate every day. By doing so you could create a level playing field, thus preventing one competitor from taking the entire share and leaving the countless other gamblers behind before they even threw their dice.