• by November 30, 2004

In case you missed it, last night was 212's final event for the year. And what a year it was for New York's Interactive Advertising Club. In its inaugural year, 212 managed to attract nearly 2,400 members, according to Brian Quinn, president of 212, and vice president, Eastern region ad sales for CBS MarketWatch, a Dow Jones Co.

Members enjoyed a variety of networking events and parties this year including 212's "Dialed In" and "Meet the Marketers" series of panel discussions. In 2005, Quinn and the 212 board plan to launch a job bank that many agencies have been itching for, a college job fair to introduce students to the variety of careers available in digital marketing and media, offer a NCAA Final Four poll courtesy of ESPN, and organize at least eight events starting with the group's first-year anniversary party in January. The group recently launched an online member directory.

Last night, 212 heard from David Verklin, chairman/CEO of Carat North America, John Skipper, executive vice president of ESPN, and John Montgomery, CEO of mOne North America on topics ranging from branded entertainment to the obstacles inherent in changing the broadcast TV upfront. The event was well attended considering it was held on the Monday after a four-day holiday.

One of the most resonant topics discussed by the panelists involved a basic economic issue. It now costs an average of $300,000 to produce a 30-second TV spot. Creating TV commercials, as well as buying and placing the media remains lucrative for most agencies.

It's also a fact that most young creatives can't wait to go on a week-long commercial shoot, even if it is only to L.A. That's compared to the $30,000 or less it costs to create a Web ad of equivalent length, or perhaps a couple of 10-seconds or a 15, depending on how you want to slice it or how design-intensive the task is.

"TV commercial production is holding us back," Verklin noted. And, the cost of producing content for niche audiences is perceived as a prohibitive venture. The Minute isn't so sure about that. Everywhere we look there are new content licensing arrangements being sought, original content in production, and alliances inked with production companies. Yahoo!, ESPN, AtomShockwave, and others are doing it. Check out Amazon.com's Amazon Theater Web series; this week it features an episode dubbed "Tooth Fairy" starring Chris Noth (aka Mr. Big).

Carat's Verklin, who got the hotshot creative thing out of his system earlier in his career at Publicis & Hal Riney, said as far as he's concerned there is more potential for cool, creative, and cutting-edge advertising using Web media.

"We need to find a way to create [Web] video content in a range of lengths, formats, and types," Verklin said. ESPN's Skipper agreed, but said as yet, his company has had no takers for 4-, 5-, or even 10-second ads.

Montgomery, who's been in his U.S.-based job just six months, said he doesn't think the advertising industry, in general, is moving fast enough to become more relevant to elusive audiences like young men. With regard to the potential of online media, he noted that in Europe, an 8-minute online infomercial for a recent Volvo effort had an amazing view rate, with consumers actually requesting more information after watching the piece. An immersed and engaged audience as well as finding the right audience for the message is obviously key.