ad:tech San Francisco Lifts Up During Down Days

Last summer we attended ad:tech Chicago, and it sucked (old post: adtech Chicago Underwhelms). This week was San Francisco’s turn. Ad:tech SF is usually a bigger show than Chicago, but we weren’t sure what to expect given everything that’s happening in the ad and tech industries.

I was pleasantly surprised as I spent two days meeting people, customers, partners and anyone with a booth. I wanted to highlight some of the things I saw:

Given all that’s happened in the last 6 months in the macro economy and the ad industry, I expected the conference to feel gloomy and the conversations to focus on “what’s wrong.” Not the case. People were energetic and still talking about innovation.

Unlike previous years, many of the bigger booths were manned by the company’s CEO. That’s the right thing to do in this climate. They are best suited to listen and feel the customers on the ground and adjust accordingly.

One of the good things about this downturn is that a lot of the me-too companies will go away. They were still out in full force this year, but you can tell they are struggling to justify their existence. Their departure will clear the way for the next wave of companies and solutions to rise.

The industry doesn’t need more lead gen companies or vertical networks targeted at tween female saxophone players. Booth after booth had the same message “we deliver the best ROI on your ad dollar!” – sorry but no, no you don’t.

At the recent IAB conference, one of the opinions you heard again and again from both buyers and sellers was “we don’t feel like we’re any better off than we were in 2001.” Everyone was talking about what the next big thing could be and what problems they want solved. There is still lots of room to innovate in advertising!

Zak will be attending the TRAFFIC domain conference next week, let us know if you’ll be there!

April 24 | Filed Under Advertising