Pathways Through The Interactive Jungle

Advertisers were looking to the future with a discussion on how the advertising industry can fully utilise the quickly evolving sphere of the interactive media. Bernard Balderston, Media Manager, Proctor & Gamble, said “It has become obvious that multimedia and interactive television will bring us to the threshold of the rebirth of marketing communications. Indeed, the opportunities and challenges will be bigger than anything else that the consumer and we have experienced in communication during the recent decades. For marketers the traditional barriers between advertising, promotion and selling will begin to come down.”

Eric Salama, Group Director of Strategy, WPP Group plc, was aware of the importance of this new field but he stated that, at present there is a massive gap between hype and tha actual reality of applications, but was well aware of the need for advertising support in order to recoup some of the huge investments that have been made in this field.

The question of what ISBA is doing to guide the advertising agencies in this New Media, was tackled by Jane Jee, Managing Director, Access Brand Ltd, who pin-pointed both the advantages and disadvantages of this new media. She predicts that advertising will take on new and exciting forms but is unable to foresee when it will happen, although the process has already begun with BT’s Video on Demand Trials. ISBA’s overall view is that change is inevitable and it should be embraced by all concerned because there will be long-term economic and social benefits.