ZenithOptimedia

You can read about the launch over at Adnews (http://bit.ly/performicsoz)  and there is US coverage at Mediapost (http://bit.ly/hQnJz3)

We are very excited with the launch of Performics. Performance marketing is already such a major part of our business and Performics is a natural evolution of our existing offering. We are looking forward to rolling out some new tools and processes from HQ. The OneSearch platform integrating paid and natural search is particularly exciting as no one else seems to have really nailed this yet.

So I've recently read a number of great trends documents. Most of these focus on important technologies and human behaviours and experiences that are emerging or on the horizon as we move into 2011. 

What I thought I'd do then is look a little more pragmatically at the world according to a digital guy in a media agency.  So these are the key trends/predictions/directions/issues I expect we'll be living with in 2011.

1. Agencies will adopt DSP's. True it's already started, but media agencies are generally now only really testing these platforms, staffing up and generally getting a handle on process and how to operate their new toys. Implications are that 1) as mass adoption occurs publishers will gain confidence and start opening up their inventory to the exchanges. And 2) some of the as networks that are currently doing quite nicely thank you might see a drop in bookings, the more agencies do here the more smaller less diversified networks might suffer.

2. Related to DSP uptake will be a welcome return to a consumer based planning focus, arguably media people getting back in some ways to doing what they do best. Direct and performance buying practises have to some extent made digital planners slaves to numbers in boxes, but i think that a move towards audience buying without the black box of the ad network will see a renaissance in consumer research, insight development and user data scrutiny.

3. Tightly aligned to the above prediction is my third; Innovation in digital banner production. Save for some fine examples of smarts and creativity the vast majority of online banners are a relatively poor excuses for space fillers in a variety of ignorable sizes. Expect to see the steady growth of dynamic multi-variate testing technologies. These tools will help 'creatives' focus on single minded brilliance, especially for their direct response clients. This will lead to expedited learning and simpler, more effective campaign creative  especially when paired with the smarts of a DSP platform.

4. This leads me nicely to my fourth point; media and creative agency collaboration; don't fight it. Embrace the strengths of your partners and enjoy another perspective on the brief. The above is a great example of how agencies can help each other. In my experience there is always a healthy and some times unhealthy tension evident in the creative / media agency relationship, so its high time we work better together.

5. Measurement; simpler, holistic and  cross media. 2011 will see some interesting merging of traditional metrics like brand association and purchase intent augment digital reports, whilst digital measures make their way into offline (actual ads seen by single 25yr old male via FOXTEL IQ anyone?).

6. Industry standardisation - stemming from some of the complexity in creating simpler reporting I also expect that some gains will be made in 2011 around standardisation - of ad units particularly for video and mobile.

All in all last year was a very busy one, and 2011 looks to be much the same, and i expect much of the above will come to be part of our lives in media land.

Feel free to share or disagree with me.

Click here to download:

Trends Predictions for 2011 - Moxie Interactive - Dec 2010.pdf (4.84 MB)

(download)

Click here to download:

Trends Predictions for 2011 - Moxie Interactive - Dec 2010.pdf (4.84 MB)

Attached is the "future of digital" report from Publicis Groupe company Moxie .

The top ten trends covered by the report:
1.        Mobile payment for all
2.        The rise of hands-free feedback
3.        App based hardware domination
4.        Signing in to your TV
5.        Our heads in the clouds
6.        A content crossroads
7.        Independence Day for brands
8.        The social message is the medium
9.        The search for mobile is on
10.        Let’s get physical