Comment & Opinion | by Danny Meadows-Klue | Article published in Media & Marketing Europe
The leap in online advertising, both in pan-European and national campaigns, reflects how powerful clients have found the web. Since 2000, the internet has established itself not only as a mainstream media channel, but one of the key channels for many demographics. Simple standards - like the IAB's 'Universal Advertising Package' - let clients run the same creative across thousands of sites, and pan-European media like Yahoo! and 24/7RealMedia brought together audience numbers on a scale to rival television.
Yet scratch beneath the surface and you see a chasm. While some clients invest 25% or more of their marketing online, most are yet to discover how the web can build their brands or generate sales. Once firms start using online, they increase its role each year, but many middle-tier brands are yet to go beyond having a website.
Dig deeper and it's clear that education and knowledge are the critical differentiators between those reaping the rewards and those yet to start. The sudden arrival of the digital networked economy demands harnessing new insights, and learning new skills. Across Europe every market and firm is at a subtly different point in this journey, but even those of us who have been in digital advertising for over a decade should be hungry to learn more.
Interactive advertising is bringing a massive cultural change to the marketing industry. Across Europe leading brands and their networks of trade associations need to be pushing education and training to the top of their agenda to help marketers get the success they deserve from digital.
Danny Meadows-Klue is co-founder and chief executive of the Interactive Advertising Bureau European network of trade associations IAB Europe
