What I learned from Advertising Week Europe

Focus on measurement and Artificial Intelligence

There is a race currently to keep pace with the best measurement practices. So, what did we learn at Advertising Week Europe?

Easy-to-measure metrics are becoming an obsession (i.e. CTR, VTR, likes).  More focus is required on real-world business outcomes, joining up media metrics and business outcomes will be critical in the future.  Advertising Week Europe could not go by without Les Binet and Peter Field’s work being cited, and the industry is aligned, if it wasn’t before, that focusing on long-term metrics rather than short-term wins is crucial. This was underpinned by the latest Thinkbox Profit Ability 2 study that found 58% of the profit from advertising comes after three months.

AI will involve the age-old act of balancing quality, cost and speed for products and services (you can usually only achieve two of the three). Google’s AI search capabilities will be good for users, but bad for publishers, who are the main sources of the information (and advertisers supporting them). Check out Google’s recent keynote 10-minute take out video for more on how it is integrating AI. 

Synthetic data created artificially through simulation and algorithms will also replace real-world data, but again, the modelling needs to be underpinned by real-world up-to-date information so the requirement for real-world will still exist in an AI-led ecosystem.

And what inspired and moved me?

My personal highlight of Advertising Week was listening to the panel and talk hosted by Stefanie Sword-Williams, author and owner of F*ck Being Humble.  The panel was a good reminder to female leaders like me to ensure we provide a platform and support for emerging female talent and educate them on how to build their profiles.  Her follow up-session on ‘Public Speaking and Pitching’ provided lessons in confident communication, positioning yourself as an expert, and owning your own stage.

The most touching session, however, was ‘An Inspirational Story of Resilience and Creativity’, by Hamed Amiri, author of ‘The Boy With Two Hearts’, Drawing on life lessons from his journey as a child from Afghanistan to Wales, he talked about how to be a hustler, being a leader but being ready to be led, be prepared to succeed but accept defeat, persistence always beats resistance, embrace the low moments to create the high ones and, most importantly, always be yourself.

All in all, the event provided the perfect opportunity to get away from your desk and be challenged and inspired to think a little bit differently, bringing together leading talent from across the industry who together will drive its future.

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