Innovation, Technology and Disruption: The Must-Attend Events of NY Advertising Week 2014

By: Kerstin Recker, VP of Marketing and Business Development at NTENT 

It’s almost here: Advertising Week 2014, the week-long congregation that brings together 90,000 industry professionals to the streets of New York – and hosts a litany of impressive events that boast big names and even bigger ideas.

Scattered throughout New York City, Advertising Week’s events (Sept. 29-Oct. 3) shed light into some of the most pressing issues, concerns and emerging trends in the industry, with a particular focus on programmatic, mobile, and video disruption this year. As consumer tastes shift and technologies evolve at lightning speed, it’s more crucial than ever to stay ahead of the curve. With so many panels and events to choose from, it’s difficult to know where to begin, though the themes of innovation, technology and disruption arise repeatedly. Below are several exemplary events that highlight those values, along with some thoughts on how any digital marketer can gather some invaluable insight:

 

• Masters of Monetization: Mobile (Monday, Sept. 29, Times Center Hall, 11:30am). Finding a way to monetize mobile has become one of the hottest topics for discussion in the past few years, and leading practitioners in the field discuss how best to achieve return on investment (ROI) in the burgeoning mobile market.

 

• Inside the Programmatic Ring (Monday, Sept. 29, NASDAQ MarketSite, 1:30pm). If programmatic advertising (using software to purchase digital advertising) is seen as the next great wave of efficiency in the industry, then why is it still so little-understood? According to the Association of National Advertisers and Forrester, only 23% of client-side marketers understand the concept.  This must-see panel will help clear up the misconceptions and misunderstandings surrounding 2014’s hottest topic in advertising by featuring leaders in the field debating its merits, and how it can (and will) shape growth in the future

 

• Where the Cookie Crumbles: Solving the Cross-Device Problem (Monday, Sept. 29, Times Center Hall, 2:00pm). In this day and age, as consumers switch between a variety of devices throughout the day, it’s nearly impossible for marketers to reach them at every touch point. Just a few years ago, tracking cookies gave marketers a sense of what people wanted and when, but as cookies simply don’t work on mobile, there’s a sense of urgency in reaching them now more than ever. This panel features innovators and experts  (including the managing director for the ad platform Atlas on Facebook,) who will focus on how the advertising and marketing industries are combating the issue, and what you’ll need to know for it.

 

• Future.Video.3.0 (Wednesday, Oct. 1, Times Center Hall, 9:00am). Nowadays, it seems that every brand is utilizing short-form content to reach an increasingly wary consumer base. But are they using it well? The explosive growth of video to tell a story is fueled by breakthroughs in audience targeting, and this panel of experts discuss what’s to come in the future for this recent trend.

 

• Hey, What’s Up: How Mobile Messaging is Changing the Face of Advertising (Wednesday, Oct. 1, B.B. King Blues Club, 3:00pm). Private messaging has overtaken social media in some ways, becoming the preferred way for consumers to share content and communicate with each other. While this is not necessarily a new phenomenon, this panel delves into the way marketers can tap into consumers on these messaging platforms, a space they have not previously been able to break into.

 

• Creating Great Creative with Neuro: Now That’s What I Call Brain Science (Thursday, Oct. 2, The Microsoft Stage, 10:30am). This panel could almost be the subject of its own TED talk: Industry experts sit down to discuss how to develop an emotional connection to your consumer using neuroscience-based solutions.  Sure to be a fascinating and enlightening panel.

 

• From Start to Finish: Content Distribution (Thursday, Oct. 2, Lucille’s at B.B. King Blues Club, 1:00pm). This event focuses solely on content marketing and native advertising, quite possibly the most influential (and least-understood) topics in advertising and marketing right now.  Specifically, this event promises to hone in on the end user and what it is they’re seeking from brand-based content.

 

These are just a few of the 250+ events happening this year, all at a critical time of change in the advertising industry. The full agenda is available on the official event page: http://www.advertisingweek.com/calendar/. Which events are you most looking forward to?