Advertising Week held in New York City; DAN executives take the stage one after another
Advertising Week, one of the largest advertising industry conferences in the US, was held in New York City from September 28 to October 2. Marketing and communications leaders from around the world gathered at multiple venues centered around New York's Times Square. Over the event period, approximately 250 seminars and workshops, along with about 290 events, took place, attracting over 95,000 participants.
While sessions covered hot topics in the advertising industry like increasingly mobile-driven communication, data utilization, millennials, and programmatic buying, Ad Age reported that the most talked-about issue this year was ad blocking. With no effective countermeasure yet established, the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) is moving to implement technical measures and public relations campaigns. Although no program addressed the issue head-on, it was a recurring theme at various events.
DAN made a particularly strong showing among the speakers, who included industry leaders such as WPP Group CEO Martin Sorrell and AOL CEO Tim Armstrong, as well as prominent figures from the media world.
Nigel Morris, CEO of EMEA and Americas; James Connelly, founder and CEO of Fetch, a subsidiary; Gordon Bowen, founder, chairman, and CCO of McGarry Bowen; Doug Ray, CEO of Carat US and global president; Jim Butler, CEO of Isobar US; and Stephen Fowling, CEO of Vividium Americas.
From Dentsu Inc.'s Tokyo headquarters, CDC's Yasuharu Sasaki, ECD, presented projects currently underway involving artificial intelligence and robotics in a session titled "Will AI Disrupt Creativity Produced By Humans?" (Click the image below to view event footage captured by DAN's "Employee Reporter").
Outside the venue, the Outdoor Advertising Association of America (OAAA) seized the opportunity of industry professionals gathering to launch a "surprise attack," drawing attention by highlighting concerns about ad blocking and ad fraud (ad scams stemming from programmatic buying) that most in the field share. According to Ad Age, the OAAA deployed OOH ads across city billboards, phone booths, bus exteriors, and even Times Square. These ads directly addressed advertising executives visiting Advertising Week by name, asking, "Mr./Ms. [Name], is that ad real?" They further promoted the idea that OOH advertising can boost awareness and engagement for digital promotions. Each poster included the URL for "feelthereal.org," a site created by the OAAA specifically for this PR campaign. The site clearly explained the risks of digital advertising and the unique strengths of outdoor advertising.
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