Invite colleagues
This is, Denise Shrivell from consultDS. I am a long term publishing and advertising professional in the Australian market and have become a contributor for the Digital Marketing Inner Circle. Each fortnight I will be profiling different Advertising professionals to showcase thier achievements and throughts.
This fortnight we profile Phil Duffield, Managing Director of AD2ONE – a digital sales and marketing company with office and Sydney and internationally. Phil reminds us just how far we have come in a short amount of time from banners and pop-ups to more complex advertising platforms. He brings us his thoughts on issues facing our industry and raises some interesting points on the changing media landscape (watch out TV) as well as his forecasts for a market affected by challenging financial times (and with this, he uses yet another new acronym – see Q5). Phil also tells us of the big digital idea he, and his wife, wishes was his – which I’m sure many of us can relate to, and sometimes even daydream about.
Name: Philip Duffield
Works: AD2ONE
Job Title: Managing Director
1. How, where and when did the digital industry find you?
The digital industry first found me about five years ago, just after I had permanently migrated to Australia from the UK, not sure what that is in internet years. I was approached to help launch AD2ONE in the Australian market place. After two years as sales manager, I then spent two years at News Digital Media as a Group Sales Manager, returning to AD2ONE in early 2008 as Managing Director.
Before that I worked as an Account Manager for Solutions Publishing in the UK; a role that created my interest in sales. I had always had a passion for the internet and what it could offer both organisations and consumers.
I joined the digital industry at a really exciting time in its development here; when social networking was still in its infancy; Web 2.0 was new and the major brands were still reluctant to put their advertising dollars into digital. In fact, banner and pop-up ads were still very popular with advertisers and publishers when I started out. We’ve moved on a lot since then in a very short time.
2. What is your current role and what do you actually do?
I’m the Managing Director for Asia Pacific and have been since April 2008. I head up the Sydney operation, where I am based, plus the team at the Singapore office also reports to me.
3. If you could have any job, what would it be (can be in and/or outside the industry)?
My dream has always been to be a professional footballer in the English Premier League – that’s the real football that you guys call soccer. I have passionately supported Reading in the English Premier League and Coca Cola Championships since I was ten and I follow their progress every week via the BBC and on also on an application I have downloaded to my iPhone. I played at a fairly decent level for Kew FC when I was in the UK and I still play now in my limited spare time.
4. Take a punt on the ‘next big thing’ in digital?
Personalised mobile internet advertising will be the next big thing in digital. With many consumers now carrying internet ready devices around with them in their pockets, mobile internet advertising is going to have to get a lot more sophisticated to stop consumers just switching it off when it appears. Cost is a major factor here as many consumers will object to being charged to download mobile advertising content that’s irrelevant to them. However, until the big telecommunication companies standardise download costs, i.e. charging a monthly flat fee and 3G penetration increases and becomes more efficient mobile advertising will always have its limitations.
5. Where do you see the digital industry in the next 5 years? (any forecasts and challenges)
When the global economic crisis (we like to call it the GEC) is eventually over, the effects will last for many years to come. Marketers aren’t suddenly going to stop demanding the same value, ROI and performance that they are getting right now, when their particular sector picks up and revenues are on the rise again.
The danger is that in the current climate, marketers will opt for the cheapest possible advertising solution in the digital sector, and will sacrifice quality for quantity. Cheap is generally not always best and if advertisers want a good response from their campaigns, they should invest properly in quality inventory or not at all. They risk damaging the perception of their brand permanently at a very crucial time if they use the digital sales networks and opt only for performance based campaigns as opposed to the branding campaigns that will keep them top of mind with consumers.
6. How do you see other media evolving in the next 5 years?
We will definitely see a continuing convergence of media and a reinvention of traditional media such as newspapers and television. Television remains the biggest source of news for consumers, although the web is hot on its heels. A recent report from the Pew Research Center in Washington, says that 70% of consumers questioned listed television as their main source of international and national news. However, for the first time since they have been doing the survey, more respondents (40%) quoted the Internet above newspapers (35%).
Marketers will demand a lot more integration and sophistication for their multi-channel campaigns. Only digital can deliver the measurable ROI that marketers will increasingly demand as we enter the next decade.
TV as we know it will not exist, replaced by consumers’ desire to watch the content of their choice on demand on any device they chose to. The challenge for marketers and media companies that own this content is how to target their TV advertising when consumers have the ability to forward through ads, and the rising use of illegal P2P downloading threatens their business model altogether and threatens their ability to generate revenue.
7. Where do you see the digital industry going in the next 12 months? (particularly in light of the evolving financial situation)
According to economists, the financial crisis will get a lot worse before it gets better. It is starting to make an impact in Australia now with a reduction in business and consumer confidence, our housing market has stagnated and job layoffs have happened across many industries, particularly in the automotive sector.
What is happening in this market slow-down, is that consumers and businesses are demanding more value for what they are buying. Discretionary spending has reduced and luxury brands may lose out to the cheaper alternatives. It is crucial during these challenging times that brands engage with their customers, creating relevant offers for them and more importantly to ensure that their brand remains top of mind, until things recover again.
Advertisers will want to scrutinise media strategies and will question them by requesting the rationale behind even a low advertising spend. Media agencies that don’t have a clear media strategy and proof of their effectiveness will fail. Publishers will demand better strategy, better planning and more creative and effective advertising solutions.
8. Did you ever have a big digital idea you wish you pursued (or someone else’s idea you wish was yours)?
I wish I had invented Google, so does my wife! Although I’m probably not enough of a geek on the development side of things to come up with an idea like that. My strength lies in the monetisation of websites, social media and all things digital.
9. Where do you get your industry information from?
AdNews, B&T, Marketing Magazine, IAB and my various personal contacts across the industry.
10. What industry groups or networks are you a part of?
Nielsen, IANA and of course Digital Ministry.
If you have any comments or feedback please contact Denise – This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Next fortnight, we hear from a highly successful person in our industry who really does seem to know ‘everyone’ and gives himself the most interesting, provocative, and unassuming title I have ever seen! He is sure to offer us some surprising and inspiring views.
Till then!
