AdTech Conference Is More Ad than Tech

May 10 2000

SAN FRANCISCO - Advertising executives descended on San Francisco this week for the AdTech conference, a schmooze-fest for Madison Avenue types searching for clues to help them win customers and create compelling brands now that they're convinced this "Internet thing" has really taken off.

Procter & Gamble's Mark Shar kicked off the show Monday with a keynote address that explained how the packaged-goods giant is using various Web sites and opt-in e-mail programs to connect with consumers. He also shared some of the company's best TV spots.

Forrester Research analyst Jim Nail moderated a privacy discussion, including panelists Russ Bodoff, senior VP and COO of BBBOnLine; Ray Everett-Church, chief privacy officer of AllAdvantage.com; John Kamp, senior VP of the American Association of Advertising Agencies; Bob Lewin, CEO of TRUSTe; and Larry Loson, president of PrivaSeek. Two government officials closely tied with the regulation of online privacy also weighed in: Dean Forbes, of the Federal Trade Commission's division of advertising, and Elliott Maxwell, special adviser to U.S. Commerce Secretary William Daley.

Attendance at the privacy panel was higher than at a similar panel at New York's fall '99 AdTech conference, but interest in the subject still seemed surprisingly lukewarm in light of the media attention that privacy issues have received lately.

Moderator Nail couldn't help but point out the obvious lack of enthusiasm for privacy protections among advertisers. The audience dwindled toward the end of the session - a clear indication that the ad industry has yet to learn that privacy protections are as important, if not more important, than compelling ads when it comes to earning consumer trust.

Tuesday morning, Robin Webster of the Association of National Advertisers presented the findings of an Internet advertising study conducted by the organization. Spending on online advertising is up, she said, with the average company spending just under $2 million in 1999. The full report of that survey will be available in late May.

Saatchi & Saatchi 's Kevin Roberts used his keynote speech on Tuesday to remind conference attendees that even in the digital age, advertising is and will continue to be about emotions and sensuality. Many people took issue with what they perceived to be the sexist and arrogant overtone of his presentation, and some attendees were left shaking their heads afterward.

Forums at the conference touched on marketing and advertising strategies, ad measurement, e-commerce, creativity and PR, but many participants seemed more interested in hawking their wares than deep thinking, especially during the "sponsored workshops." Many companies used the conference as a platform to announce new products or recent funding, and some, like the newly formed Outrider agency, used the event as a launch party.

The show counted 4,020 attendees, about the same as the fall show in New York, but this time around, all the exhibitor booths were sold out.

Most notable about the spring show was that visitors seemed to be coming from both traditional and interactive backgrounds, more so than at previous gatherings, suggesting that the line between the two disciplines is blurring.

But some attendees were left disappointed by the mainstream feel of the show. As one badgeholder put it: "It's more about the 'ad' this year than the 'tech.' "