After our Head of Mobile Ads Jason Pellegrino joined Wednesday’s “So-Lo-Mo” panel via a live Google+ Hangout to discuss all things social, local and mobile, I then had the opportunity to take the stage.
With me on the closing panel chaired by Mumbrella editor Tim Burrowes was Aegis Asia Pacific executive chairman Harold Mitchell, Telstra’s corporate marketing director Inese Kingsmill and the new CEO of Photon Group Matt Melhuish.
There were many opinions but we did agree that it’s probably the most exciting time ever to be working in the media and advertising industry. Australia punches above its weight in several aspects. For example, Harold Mitchell pointed out while Australia’s 22 million people account for only 1% of the world’s population, we make up 5% of global ad revenue. When it comes to creativity, Australia has one of the highest number of entries for this year's Cannes Lions international advertising festival, with almost 1,300 in total.
One of the questions for the panel was: what keeps us awake at night? I’ve gotta say: the speed of our changing world keeps me awake at night. It’s just mind boggling how quickly things are changing. Just take the mobile revolution: within two years we have become one of four leading smartphone nations in the world. Already over half of Australia’s population call a smartphone their own. The way we consume media, communicate with each other and organise our lives is shifting dramatically.
I’m sometimes worried marketers down under are not fast enough to adapt to this speed. All of us tend to get fascinated and distracted by bright shiny objects, but we have to remember to look at the data to see where the journey is going, and how quickly. For most marketing executives this means the need to embrace mobile and video more than they have. With our latest integration of video and mobile display inventory into AdWords it’s never been more easy and effective.
I still hear from CEOs that they are trying to figure out their “digital marketing.” Today every marketing campaign has to have digital at its core to succeed. The latest campaigns by Commonwealth Bank (“CAN”) and Tourism Australia (“There’s nothing like Australia”) are testament to that.
Harold Mitchell called this “owning tomorrow.” So let’s make sure we understand yesterday and analyse today carefully and without dogmas to be prepared for the exciting times tomorrow.
Posted by Nick Leeder, Managing Director, Google Australia & New Zealand
