The million pound man

I recently attended the Internet Advertising Bureau’s Engage conference, which attracted advertisers who spoke happily about spending a million pounds on an online campaign. Not surprisingly, with that much money at stake, the delegates were keen to see what’s coming in 2007 and beyond – and where they should allocate their budgets. Three trends caught my eye:

The rise of mobile internet: While there are 900 million PCs in the world, there are 2 billion cell phones. Mobile internet is relatively immature at the moment, with services focusing on travel, mapping and other mobile activities. But with games machines like the Nintendo DS enabling internet browsing, we expect to see mobile internet used more recreationally in future.
A shift in the internet’s global axis: Europe’s share of world internet users will drop from 25% in 2000 to 18% in 2010. During the same period, the US will drop to just 16% and Asia Pacific will grow from 17% to 36%. This reflects a massive growth in Asia Pacific, which will bring new customers to global businesses that are prepared for them. Significantly, the percentage of internet users who have English as a first language will fall, which will increase the need for icon-led designs and intuitive transaction funnels.
Delivering the brand experience within the advert: A new trend is to try to deliver the brand message and experience within the advert, often using interactive features, instead of enticing visitors to a separate website. That could lead to less disruptive online experiences for users at websites that host advertising, but advertisers will need to start usability testing adverts in the same way they test their websites today to be confident they are communicating clearly and making the right impression. Researchers increasingly recognise that the biggest impact on brand engagement is the customer experience.