Finally, a conference that wasn't dominated by the nuts and bolts of search. Really.
Sure, search was a constituent part of the OMMA-West Conference and Expo in San Francisco, but it didn't
supplant all the other parts of the program. E-mail marketing, media integration, blogs, podcasting, RSS feeds, and other game-changing publishing methods and technologies, along with behavioral
marketing and agency/provider issues each emerged as part of the discussion. Each has its place, to be sure, in the ongoing dialogue on interactive media and marketing and the way in which people
consume media.
A provocative and entertaining talk by Bob Garfield, Advertising Age's ad critic, put a fitting spin on conference. Garfield argues, and quite convincingly, that the online
marketing and media world needs to prepare for the influx of dollars coming its way and fast.
Geoff Ramsey, OMMA-West's emcee and CEO of eMarketer, always a lively presenter with anecdotes
plucked from his own life and interactions with clients, colleagues, and conference networking, coined the acronym "IMPACT." It stands for what all advertising and marketing should be - "involving,"
"measurable," "personal," "actionable," "consumer-led/driven," and "targeted." You can't argue with that. It makes sense.
And yes, we go back to search. While eMarketer says the search market
accounts for $5.4 billion, we need to remember that this is just part of the puzzle - albeit a very important part. The local search market, a paltry $162 million in 2004, is projected to swell to
$3.4 billion by 2009, according to The Kelsey Group. Remember the adage "all politics are local?" When it gets right down to it, all search is local, too. We all need to find stuff: people, houses,
jobs, doctors, you name it.
Sure, search pervades all online marketing efforts now, but brand advertising dollars are flowing online at an astonishing pace. Search methods and software
platforms that we have yet to know will emerge. Video and personalized search are two of the most interesting, but there are other forms that we can't even contemplate yet. Search has forced major
media companies and Fortune 500s alike to rethink their media models.
One of the conference highlights was hearing from John Battelle, co-founding editor of Wired magazine and founder of
The Industry Standard, a paean to the Internet economy. Battelle's been underground for a bit, writing a book on the search wars, due out September 8, teaching at Berkeley (courses in blogging
and magazine development, he says), blogging on Searchblog.com, and masterminding a new business venture called FM Publishing.
FM, Battelle says, stands for Federated Media, which will serve as
an ad and marketing network for high quality blogs. FM will function much like a book imprint or record label, aggregating like-minded blogs, "10 to 20 per category to start," Battelle says, in the
technology, media, pop culture, entertainment/gaming, and sports segments.
"It will feature authoritative and influential reporting and analysis;" he will vet each site for quality of content,
Battelle adds. "We'll provide services between marketers and authors so advertisers can have a conversation with and in those blogs." Battelle declined to name the blogs he's chosen but he'll start
with his own Searchbolog and BoingBoing.
It's his third startup and he hopes this one, set to launch in the third quarter (his fingers are crossed), is a keeper, or at least sustainable.
Battelle is poised to close an angel round of funding with what he described as "killer investors" this week. He begged off when asked to name these "killers." The sites in the federation will link to
one another and authors will be able to retain intellectual copyrights.
Battelle's simple chronology showing how publishing has evolved over the last few years from the heady pre-game show
dotcom frenzy to full-tilt boogie, and finally to the sputtering heap of imploded ideas without business models, was an interesting one. So too, was the notion he advanced about the architecture of
participation, or the way in which blogs enable users to build your business and therefore, value. "A good blogger," Battelle notes, "is leading a conversation, he's a great filter and editor. And,
the best publications are driven by editorial conversations, not market opportunities." Now that's food for thought. Bring it on.