Scenes From an (Un)Conference

Does the new Facebook “angry face” make us angry?

When will algorithms write the news, replacing journalists?

Is programmatic killing premium content?

Can brands keep up with feed-driven media?

Is storytelling getting better as a result of all of this data?

What happens after ad blockers?

The questions were coming thick, fast and from all directions at WPP’s annual Stream Asia event last month in Phuket, Thailand.

But the attendees weren’t interested in some nominal expert giving them an answer. They were there to formulate answers themselves, through interaction and collaboration.

Stream is WPP’s cross-group (un)conference that brings together agencies, clients and a wide spectrum of partners for several days of discussing and debating the near future and modern marketing.

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Encouraged by the event organizers, I stepped-forward to host a discussion on the impact on marketers and publishers of mass consumer adoption of ad blockers.

While ad blocking is not a super-hot topic in Japan right now, I thought I would share what I know and learn from the group about the situation across Asia and globally.

With the sometimes-delirious attention ad blocking has been receiving in the international advertising trade press, I thought it would at least provoke some interest.

I was prepared to talk for the whole hour, just in case nobody had anything to say.

That was unnecessary.

You might think little browser plug-ins that block calls to ad servers would be a topic of narrow interest to display advertising people, ad-model publishers and ad techies.

It is, of course.

But there are a lot of others interested too, because of the wider implications for new digital marketing forms emerging in response to consumers opting-out of banners.

This session was downright popular. And opinions were clear and directed, though not always in agreement.

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Sellers and buyers. New and established. Global and local. My session was diversely-attended.

There were top global brand marketers. Digital publishers. Agency planners. UX designers. Social media managers. Market researchers. Even the chief digital officer from the world’s best-known group of media agencies.

Because of the different backgrounds, we started with an overview of ad blocking. What it is. How it works. What types of ad blockers are available for which browsers, and so forth. It’s always good to start on the same page.

Without any objection, the group agreed that consumers are right to use ad blockers to avoid irritating creative, uncontrolled retargeting, and other unkindly digital advertising practices. To some degree, we agreed, the problem is OF OUR OWN DOING.

Only a small handful of participants had actually tried an ad blocker, but those who had shared their enthusiasm — easy to install, faster page load times, longer mobile battery life, clean-looking ad-free site layouts, etc.

Even the ad-supported web publishers in the group conceded these benefits, but made the point that for content to maintain quality standards and reader expectations, ads are necessary … unless marketers and consumers are prepared to change.

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At this point, the conversation shifted easily toward the types of adaptations that can already be seen out in the market.

For example, some publishers have started offering ad-free models for consumers with ad blockers.

Take the case of WIRED, who has a forward-leaning readership inclined toward using ad blockers. When a user with an active ad blocker visits the site, WIRED blocks its own content and asks the user to either (a) whitelist WIRED so ads can be shown or (b) pay $1 per month for an ads-free version of the site.

A related example of a “membership” model came up with Spotify. In order to determine which features were most likely to get Spotify listeners to pay for a premium, ads-free version a test was developed: The Spotify Test. In their case, it turned out that enabling users to download content instead of streaming-only service proved to be the value proposition that appealed most.

Another new direction that captured the imaginations of the group was non-advertising digital products from publishers.

With both agencies and publishers creating content studios, this is not completely new. But new examples were shared, including WPP’s recently-announced partnership with Buzzfeed. And early successes were celebrated such as the New York Times’s T Brand Studio and Condé Nast’s 23 Stories.

“Shop-able” or “commerce-able” media came up often, perhaps balancing interest in brand content, and serving as the point of difference in a conversation about ad-blocking inspired pivots.

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While such spirited interest in post-advertising models is not good news for ad tech companies positioned heavily in the display space, our conversation was constructive about them too.

The perception was that while there seem to be too many ad tech point solutions backed more by venture investment than marketplace need, a thinning out of the Lumascape could be a good thing.

Whether through failure or consolidation, most will have made a contribution to personalization of consumers’ marketing experiences.

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No one wanted to go so far as to say that we are witnessing the end of display advertising.

Far from it.

However we did, on the whole, feel ready to recognize that a large-scale evolution is taking place that is in-part a result of consumers blocking ads.

In turn, this is inviting adaptive marketers to try new approaches. And making opportunities for marketing services providers to reinvent themselves.

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The Stream effect has stayed with me after the event ended, going well beyond the new thoughts I took with me about the impact of ad blocking.

I have been networking with my new connections from across WPP (like Essence, AKQA, Comscore) with a new sense of purpose, and with a new understanding of the value that we can create together.

I came to Stream ambitious to learn and network. I left inspired and better-connected.