On March 3^rd, MEC Manchester had the opportunity to attend the day long Data Economy event held by ExchangeWire at London’s Young Vic Theatre. Promising in-depth analysis, insight and debate around the area of data within the European display market, the conference included contributions from some of the most experienced and influential figures in the industry. Although there are many questions still unanswered, it’s fair to say the day did not disappoint.

First to speak on the power of what data can deliver was Steven Filler from Collective. Perhaps the most impactful slide of the day Steve showed was the number of clients attending the Data Economy itself, which revealed ad networks were the majority of attendees, followed by agencies. What was astonishing to see was how few clients were present, although it could be argued that this is due to the fact the field is still in its infancy and has yet to gain the exposure it deserves. On the other hand, one could suggest it all comes down to the old argument: ‘a client doesn't need to know the tech, just if the KPI's are being met’. Of course, true data usage absolutely requires the input of first party data from the client, so it may have frustrated many that there were so few clients there for the session. Needless to say, Steve’s suggestion that no current display is truly engaging without some aspect of retargeting will have rang true with many, while his slides on targeting the ever-perplexing "funnel" at the "top end" with data driven display certainly set the tone for the day.

Next up was the Big Data Panel, chaired by Erich Wasserman, Co-Founder & GM of EMEA Mediamath, which spread its offering from the US to London in January this year. The panel itself consisted of representatives from Infectious Media, Netezza, Tribal Fusion and Quantcast, with each considering key areas such as data types, veracity, storage and investment, analysis, usage and metrics – a considerable amount to cover, but the group certainly rose to the challenge. Throwing in some fantastic comments was Brad Terrell from the IBM-owned Netezza, more knowledgeable than any other in the room on data storage it was startling to see that before he even began to talk about storage he talked about people. His suggestion that "the right people are key for innovation" is surely true for any business, but when it comes to the data space, there is perhaps a greater need for individuals to stay focused on the current market – which at the moment doesn’t necessarily have the volume of resource it requires.

One point the panel was keen to hammer home is that there’s a need to work with the data space as it is now. Wasserrman pointed out that "data infrastructure is cheaper now than two years ago" and Terrell explained that without people to use this infrastructure, we have little traction. When asked: "Who is performing well within the data space?" Conrad Feldman of Quantcast answered quite simply "we are” - and he was right to do so. Feldman went on to describe how we need to move away from this aggregate perspective (panel data, TGI and Comscore etc) to an atomic perspective with data, allowing it inform creative direction and allow real-time optimisation based upon engagement. Needless to say, not all the points above were fully discussed, but the panel helped to show there are real thought leaders in this field, with infinite amounts of knowledge on application and measurement.

After the Big Data panel it was the turn of A&NY Media’s Andy Mitchell to take to the stage. If one point came out of his presentation, it would have to be the notion of ‘sensing demand’. Having 200+ premium publishers means nothing without the tech and insight to leverage them and he went into detail on how the A&NY network is a many facetted offering utilising real-time audience insight, predictive targeting and Pendulum, a product that can constantly refine audience segments and is accessible through their Market Maker dashboard. Mitchell likened A&NY Media's focus on providing real-time learnings to being sat in the stands watching a goal scored or seeing it on TV. The mantra of "getting closer to the data and reacting faster to it" has helped them build their real-time audience optimisation platform to what it is today. Nick Timms goes into great depth on the breakdown of the platform and the benefit of an in-house ad network recently on ExchangeWire.

Jay Stevens from Rubicon project took the platform after Andy and discussed the parallels that can be drawn between off and on-line database marketing. The obvious conclusion to his address was that the two share distinctly common traits and we can learn much from the off-line world and its longevity in how we treat its on-line digital progeny. Jay went on to show industry slides that proved the value of the display impression, moving away from CPM's and site specific buys towards scalable audience. His slide on CAGR for audience buying in 2011 proving the prediction of growth within this area is not to be ignored. A whopping 36% growth in comparison to site specifics measly 4%. Once again Jay made clear that understanding within this market is a must and education of this area has to happen if we are to see the returns in results for clients and productivity and not forgetting that potential 36% growth!

Part two to follow soon!