• by Seana Mulcahy , February 2, 2004

The other night I moderated a panel for the Boston Interactive Media Association (BIMA) of which I'm a board member. It was our annual kickoff to our "eyeballs" focused interest group series. I felt as if I had come full circle as I created the organization a few years back.

The focus of the event was, "What's ahead for online media and marketing in 2004?" Esteemed panelists joining me included Byron Biggins, vice president, sales & marketing, FPBA Group; Nate Elliott, associate analyst, Jupiter Research; Rob Griffin, account director, MPG Media Contacts; Kevin Normandeau, regional director, AOL; Aimee Reker, director media services, Euro RSCG Circle; and Young-Bean Song, director of analytics & Atlas Institute, Atlas DMT.

The panel discussion was based on what's new, what's hot, what works, what doesn't, and what to watch out for in digital marketing today. It had somewhat of a "the future is now!" spin.

Members and non-members pay a fee to get into the event. I'm thrilled to say the room was standing room only.

It's hard to believe it has been a decade since the first online ad was sold. The industry has evolved from plain old banner ads seen on a few sites via a dial-up connection to several ad units, streaming audio and video, email marketing, search engine marketing, wireless, viral marketing and so on via broadband connections.

As a result of this, I think many panels need to evolve. I'm sick and tired of hearing people talk about the boom, the bust, CTRs, whether online can be a valid branding media... you get the drift. I'm happy to say, each panelist was well beyond that thinking. They had something to say and it mattered.

Here's a topline of the evening:

Publishers need to limit rich media ads by frequency capping.

Advertisers need to understand that frequency capping is employed to protect the user session from being intrusive. It does not mean put the same ad (capped) across 12 sites simultaneously geared to reach the same target audience.

Integration is working at the agency level. However, online needs to be considered "Just another medium."

Reach and frequency is critical to advertising success. Atlas DMT is coming out with a study in a couple of weeks to validate this point. You'll be surprised when you see how many times a user should view your ad.

Search was hot, is hot, and will continue to be hot. However, auctions, bidding, and sometimes-high prices frustrate advertisers.

Everyone wants broadband to be mainstream. It gives advertisers the ability to utilize offline creative assets and begin to have the look and feel of a TV commercial.

Rich media is hot if done right. It needs to be tracked differently. There are many ways to obtain data. Tracking goals differ case by case. Someone needs to come up with rich media tracking standards and own it.

Viral is still somewhat undefined but it is hot. Instant messenger from a consumer standpoint is super-sticky. However, it needs to be a bit more regulated in order for businesses to allow and/or endorse it. Ads streaming in such formats are disruptive to the workday.

Gaming is cool but a lot of people have't figured out how to use it.

Surprisingly, email wasn't a favorite among this crowd. It wasn't even mentioned until a question came from the audience. Most thought list rentals were "not hot." Perhaps this is due to jitters surrounding CAN-SPAM? However, building in-house lists to implement retention-based advertising was key. Jupiter predicts email to stay profitable this year.

Blogs are always talked about but make people nervous. Again, no one wants to tick off users. Many love 'em, participate in 'em, write 'em but don't know how they'll evolve.

Psychographic targeting is the Holy Grail. Content geared toward lifestyle is hot. For example, travel, entertainment, and automotive are seen potentially as big moneymakers this year.

The bottom line was: Ten years isn't such a long time but it sure as heck feels like it is. And yes, we have taken two steps forward.