Later this month, several of us from Microsoft Advertising will be in London attending the Ad Trading Summit (ATS). It’s my first time attending ATS and I think the timing is great. In 2011, the real-time bidded (RTB) exchange model has been further validated and I’m looking forward to hearing from, and joining in discussion with, industry leaders to talk about the potential the data-powered media landscape offers marketers. I also look forward to the opportunity to share my thoughts on the evolution of our industry during my keynote at ATS.

In my presentation, I plan to outline Microsoft’s vision for enabling creativity, quality engagement and cross-device connections in the RTB space, including how we can overcome some of the barriers to unlocking offline ad spend. I’m looking forward to discussing views on how we can combine technology and storytelling to drive brand budgets into the Exchange space and what we can do as an industry to move RTB up the sales funnel to create truly engaging 1:1 marketing opportunities, at scale.

The growth of Ad Exchanges and RTB has redefined display advertising as we know it. The industry is experiencing increasing amounts of ad spend being channelled through exchanges, and with this growth, new opportunities have and continue to emerge. Looking beyond the U.S., the RTB business in the U.K. alone was worth approximately £130 million at the end of 2010 according to Exchangewire. We believe this trend will continue globally.

It’s natural that these changes raise fundamental questions. How is the balance of power shifting across the media buying chain? Will media plans continue to be the focal point for agencies and advertisers? Which processes and players will survive and which won’t? These hot topics and more will be addressed by my colleague Zuzanna Gierlinska, EMEA Director, Microsoft Media Network, when she leads an ATS panel discussion on, “The Future of the Media Plan; how will media spend be allocated in the coming years”. It should be a great discussion and I hope you’re able to attend.

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