We presented Idea Bounty at the Being Digital Conference in London this week. Carrying the infamous Giant Cheque on the underground just as London's tube strike struck was a bit of an event in itself - but it somehow arrived in one piece and the day began.
Matt Riley on his first mission delivering the Giant Cheque.
Sessions included:
Social and Real Time Media: Panelists included Giles Rhys Jones of Ogilvy One and Nicholas Wheeler of ITN On. Our own Matt Riley put the question to the panelists: 'it's a nice ideal to reverse the pyramid and give consumers more power - but it isn't always appropriate is it?' which raised quite a debate. Giles Rhys Jones then pointed out that 'brands should be social not just use social channels'.
Discussions emerged around how advertising is evolving, how it is becoming more relevant, niche and created to be both highly entertaining and sometimes to include the audience - which all pretty much ties in with my Real Time Branding article published last week.
During an interview with Shane Richmond, Communities Editor at Telegraph.co.uk, a topical question was asked: 'with facts being free on the web (for example via blog posts) what will people now pay for? Will they be happy to pay for commentary or insights?'. Shane was of the view that 'people will increasingly pay to get less information'. As we have now reached 'information overload' perhaps people will pay for good quality. Interestingly Shane also commented on how Twitter often delivers stories faster than other newsfeeds - traditional media does have to adapt to real time.
The Digital Footprint and Personas Panel: This panel was very interesting, with Lord Errol (House of Lords, Science & Technology Committee) stating that once any data has been stored it's no longer private and will leak - 'it's impossible to retrofit real security'. Although it seems that the majority of people don't care about this currently, perhaps if they realised the possible consequences they would suddenly start to mind?
Adriana Lukas, the UK arm of the VRM movement, discussed how everyone should have the right to control their own data and that tools were being developed for this - but the audience mostly seemed unsure that tools could be created which would be simple enough for ordinary people to use. Personally I can't see why something couldn't be developed - though we're probably looking a fair way into the future.
Being Digital was a great event all round which went on well into the evening despite the tube strike - and I'm pleased to say the Giant Cheque somehow made it back to the office unscathed.
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