• by Seana Mulcahy , May 12, 2003

It seems there has been a lot of conferences, dinners, round table discussions, leadership forums, and the like lately. Having missed a few due to the demands of new business pitches, I feel like the poster child for the sign of the times. It's tough out there. Wouldn't you agree?

When I asked a couple of friends and peers for an update, they all pretty much said the same: Perception is still reality. Many of us still fight the crusade daily. We defend the recommendation of anything in the digital media space. This includes the percentage of the overall spend. Not to mention, it seems we always need to build the case for the overall effectiveness of the medium itself. Truth is, we've been doing this for many years, and although a bunch of us are still passionate about what we do; we are tired of it.

Instead of answering any questions I wanted to do three things: Tap into you, dear readers, uncover the current perceptions out there, and provide some proof points.

Perception: The only people that work in the online space are about 21 years old.
Reality: Online does tend to be younger, but the first online ad was sold in 1994. There are many of us who won't admit our age, but worked for years prior.

Perception: Digital media is often an afterthought.
Reality: Digital media is often an afterthought.

Perception: Due to the fast pace of the medium, it doesn't take as long to plan online media.
Reality: Wrong. It takes just as long. We go through the same process as the offline teams do. In fact, we have more steps.

Perception: The medium still has kinks to work out.
Reality: The medium still has kinks to work out: true reach and frequency numbers, accurate competitive spending numbers/tools, online standardization, etc.

Perception: Online people speak their own language.
Reality: Online people speak their own language but they speak yours too. Quite often you are not required or encouraged to speak ours. As a result, we have to play the role of educator and translator to make sure everyone is on the same page.

Perception: Not much has happened in the space after the dot-com bust.
Reality: A lot has happened. In fact, the industry has slowed a bit but consistently had an increase on overall spending year after year.

Perception: Spam and intrusive ads give us a bad name.
Reality: Spam and intrusive ads give us a bad name.

You get the drift. Last week I went to an upfront (and plan to be at others this week). It amazed me to see the budgets behind these presentations. There were celebrities by the dozen, food and a libation galore, and there was dancing. Although the comparison to that of online media are apples to oranges, we have a few things to dance about.

Perception: Broadband has not gained traction.
Reality: U.S. subscription rates have doubled since 2001 and are growing at 56%. Broadband should reach 29 million households by year-end.

Perception: Companies ditched Web efforts amid the tech recession.
Reality: Spending on e-business projects have risen every year since the bust, now comprising 27% of al tech spending.

Perception: Online advertising died.
Reality: It's just changing. The popularity of banner ads is giving way to ads tied to search results. That will help boost online advertising to $6.6 billion this year.

I know there are a lot more stats and proof points out there. I'd encourage you to share them on the Spin Board. For now, I think we are all in a state of violent agreement. Are we afraid if we disagree we will not look unified? Or is it 'misery loves company' at these things? Who knows, let's see what happens at some forums this week. I'll be off to the IAB's and some more upfronts. We'll have dancing soon enough.