28 – 30 November 2007
Hotel Intercontinental
Sydney, Australia

This week I spoke at the Australasian Media and Broadcasting Congress. This years event was even bigger and better then previous years. The two day event kicked off with talks from Australia’s leading online publishers Richard Fredenstein, CEO News Digital Media, Jack Matthews, CEO Fairfax Digital and Tony Faure, CEO Ninemsn.

After each talk there was a joint panel discussion, and while there is considerable respect for each other there was much debate around the theme of measurement. It was clear each publisher had different interpretations on what measurement was key in determining who was the best online publisher in the country. The discussions around ‘reach’ was heated with varies confusion on metrics around Unique ]Users vs. Unique Browsers. While the panel was not setup to resolve this issue it was agreed that clients and media agencies need to work much harder on determining the best metrics for measuring online campaigns before booking campaigns with online publishers.

During the two days there were talks and panels from APN News and Media, Leo Burnett, Seven Network, Network Ten, Foxtel, PBL Media, MySpace, Fremantle Media, Bigpond, BBC Worldwide, etv UK, ITV Uk, google, DDB, Commercial Radio Australia. The common themes of the event were as follows;

• The revenue generating opportunities created by digital media
• The changing nature of media consumption
• The future of digital film and television
• The impact of emerging technology in the online publishing world
• Media metrics
• Digital media communities
• Government plans and policies
• Industry business models

My talk was titled adapting to stay in touch with digital consumers, where I looked at and evaluated the trends driving the future behavior of tomorrow’s audience. I also discussed where consumers heading based on this behavior. I then moved the talk into the new agency service models and how to offer digital innovation to stay ahead of the game. If you would like to get a copy of this talk please feel free to email me.