Changing the Way People and Business Communicate

Digital Marketing Outlook

SoDA 2010 Digital Marketing Outlook

Executive Summary

As the somber undertones of 2009 fade away, we move excitedly forward towards a year of promise, opportunity and rapid change. If the fiscal stars align, we’ll leave behind the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression and move into a new decade filled with anticipation of a stronger global job market that will inevitably be fueled by new and innovative business models. Digital will surely be at the core of this evolution.

In 2009, we saw thousands of marketing and advertising professionals lose their jobs, reputable agencies close their doors, and budgets slashed across the board. Yet among the worst headlines of 2009, Digital has continued to revolutionize and prosper. Facebook and other social networks connect hundreds of millions of users daily, over two billion apps have been downloaded from the Apple App Store in its inaugural year, and global mobile usage has reached an astonishing 4.5 billion handsets and counting.

What you’ll find in the pages that follow is the output from the 2010 Digital Marketing Outlook survey which polled in excess of a thousand executives from major global brands, traditional and Digital agencies, vendor and service providers that operate in the Digital space, as well as freelance and independent Digital practitioners. The research has confirmed our outlook: many believe the future of Digital Marketing is exceptionally bright.

Some notable indicators from the survey that substantiate this bullish POV:

• 81% of Brand Execs expect an increase in digital projects for 2010
• 50% will be shifting funds from traditional to digital media
• 78% of global participants believe the current economy will actually spawn more funds allocated to Digital

Additionally contained within, you’ll find some keen insight from SoDA members around the globe on their thoughts and predictions about the future of the Digital Marketing landscape over the forward 12 months.

• “Online storytelling will bring us huddled around our monitors like our great-grandparents huddled around the fireplace, like our parents huddled around the radio, like we once huddled around the television- and we’ll tell stories like they’ve never been told before.” – Jason Bangerter, Struck/Axiom
• “Just as much as the conduit for brand storytelling has evolved, the modern consumer of 2010 plays a huge role in your marketing plans. Consumers have beyond proven themselves as content creators and distributors – they are the medium. Consumers are “living, breathing, passionate people who are redirecting traffic and content in real-time, based on personal interests, relationships, and the culture of the moment.” – Peter Caban, Mekanism
• “Interactive storytelling is new because it allows the reader to control the flow and direction of the story. The reader constructs their own version, and comes to their own conclusions.” – Anrick Bregman, Unit9

The next generation of Digital is upon us:

• “The web can be anywhere, and physical interaction with brand and the extension of commerce into the real world are the convergence point in the next wave of digital marketing.” – Peter Connolly, Obscura Digital
• “The most important outcome of the smartphone revolution isn’t sales, but rather the shift in the cultural expectations of the device. In just two years, the iPhone has quickly ascended to pop-cultural icon, and has shifted the way that mobile devices impact consumers’ lives, attitudes, and how they, in turn, view the role of a mobile device to support their daily needs.” – Brian Chiger, AgencyNet
• “IPTV will be the catalyst for “a move away from the ‘interruptive’ advertising model that dominates television today, toward the idea of enhancement, in which brands support new contexts for viewing.  This might be through design, such as a branded frame around a video; through application, like the ability to mark products within programming for further information; or through interactivity, like ads that change up in response to a change in viewer.“ – Dale Herigstad, Schematic
• “Augmented Reality has the potential to transform the digital landscape, merging online and offline in many creative ways. It is among the most interactive digital tools available to marketers, delivering unparalleled experiential engagement.” – Richard Taylor, IE

Social Media is propelling the rise of the Consumer:

• “Rather than spending another misguided year trying to “engineer” viral campaigns that will propagate themselves, regardless of consumer intentions, it’s time to refocus our marketing efforts to align with the way that people actually behave.” – Ivan Askwith, Big Spaceship
• “2010 will be the year that social media-fueled technology and behavior is responsible for more content consumption choices than ever before. As the media landscape becomes increasingly fragmented, marketers will need to become more nimble than ever, and start getting on the leading edge of trends, as opposed to waiting for them to emerge.” – Ian Schafer, Deep Focus
• “The most effective digital platforms have shifted from “disruptive” to “productive” by providing a service or utility…[They] fundamentally change the approach from “how we reach our customers” to “how we make their lives better.” – Ken Martin, Chief Creative Officer, and Ivan Todorov, CEO & CTO, Blitz

On behalf of my SoDA brethren, I’d like to wish you an inspirational, profitable and exciting year ahead.  There is quite a lot to look forward to…

Richard Lent – Founder / CEO, AgencyNet | Chairman of the Board, Society of Digital Agencies

About the 2010 DMO

The information presented in this document comes primarily from our online survey as well as select interviews, other research sources and industry expert opinions. All data was gathered in the last quarter of 2009.

About SoDA

The Society of Digital Agencies (SoDA) serves as a worldwide voice of digital marketing professionals with a mission to advance the industry through best practices, education, and advocacy.

For more information or to get in touch with us, please visit our website at www.SoDAspeaks.com. Add your input to the survey by visitingwww.SoDAspeaks.com/survey