IAB Innovation Days @ Internet Week:
Day One Recap

The sold-out Future of Display—IAB Innovation Days @ Internet Week conference started on Wednesday, June 8, with a bang as IAB President and Chief Executive Officer Randall Rothenberg issued an industry call to ignite creativity in display advertising. Expressing a provocative point of view, he challenged those in the room to drive a true creative revolution in display advertising by moving the dialogue away from clicks and toward personal, memorable, breakthrough marketing experiences that have the power to change the hearts and minds of consumers. Creative teams must now include technologists along with writers and designers, he said, to engage the intellect and emotions of audiences across all channels, and create brands that endure. View his full presentation here.

Ross Levinsohn, Executive Vice President, Americas Region, Yahoo!—in his first public speaking engagement since taking the role—opened up with Randall about Yahoo’s strategy as a digital media company. Focused on premium experiences and premium content, the organization is building and nurturing meaningful partnerships with advertisers by implementing a “stop and listen” approach to content and creative, rather than just selling space to bring in more ad dollars. In the end, this may mean doing bigger business with fewer partners in order to present target audiences with strong, high-quality brand stories. He also called out the power of cross-platform messaging, suggesting that mobile is paramount to Yahoo!’s existence in this evolving marketplace.

Madison Avenue and Silicon Alley intersected as Darren Herman, Chief Digital Media Officer, kbs+p and The Media Kitchen, and President, kbs+p Ventures, moderated a conversation with the Chief Executive Officers of several up-and-coming technology companies in which kbs+p has a stake. They compared the current display marketplace to the search landscape indicating that the two spaces are melding together. In addition, they agreed on the critical role location-based data play in consumer intent and conversion.

Legolas Media Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer Yoav Arnstein had the first five minute “Objects in Mirror Are Closer Than They Appear” demo session, showing off his technology’s ability to create a trading environment that allows brands to know exactly where each ad will run and the publisher to feel comfortable that advertisers are reaching right eyes.

Workshop sessions and lunch rounded out the morning, returning a refreshed and refocused crowd to the main stage ready to hear from Ekapat Chareonlarp, Director, Client Development and Tech Media Lab, IDG TechNetwork. He shared three signs that display advertising is all grown up and entering the adulthood stage of the lifecycle. 1) Size does matter. The market size is growing. 2) Display now works and plays well with others—audiences and open APIs. 3) Display delivers performance. It’s up to you in the audience to shape the future of display, he said. It won’t happen by itself.

Will Price, Chief Executive Officer of Flite, a cloud-based advertising technology, took advantage of the second “Objects in Mirror Are Closer Than They Appear” segment to demonstrate a solution for brands who pushing content across the web, rather than waiting for users to find them. The new product, Flite Ad Studio, allows advertisers to build interactive, innovative display ads as easily as they might create a Facebook account.

The IAB Rising Stars had some time to shine as IAB Consulting Director Peter Minnium showed off all six brand hospitable formats. Thirty-six top-tier advertisers—including GM, Home Depot, Kraft, Procter & Gamble, Unilever, and Universal Pictures—have implemented one or more of the six new IAB Rising Stars ad units to tell their brand stories. Read the press release here.

Vipin Mayar, Executive Vice President, Global Director, Marketing Performance, McCann Worldgroup, and Geoff Ramsey, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, eMarketer, previewed their new, soon-to-be-released book, Digital Impact: The Secrets to Online Marketing Success. They called on marketers to understand and embrace the need to produce magnetic content—entertaining, relevant, informative, valuable content that consumers can share. Using the right “bait” will attract the right audience. And, matched with a total measurement system that includes established objectives, map drivers, implement tracking, optimization, and ROI/attribution display will continue thrive. Key takeaways: 1) Display ads work best when they meet the following critieria: unique, useful, well-executed, fun, and good use of channels. 2) Integrate your display efforts with social, mobile, and search. 3) Select the right metrics.

Closing the first day of IAB Innovation Days was another up-and-coming technology demonstration by RadiumOne. Chief Executive Officer, Gurbaksh Chahal, Chief Executive Officer, RadiumOne, presented the ad network's ability to help advertisers target the social consumer in real-time—expanding reach, frequency, and engagement.

Networks and cocktails rounded out the afternoon as attendees prepare for an exciting night of Internet Week celebrations and another day of robust IAB content.

#IABID on Twitter