"Mobile advertising must increase"

Catrin Rubenson has been CEO of admazing, a Swiss online advertising broker, since April 2013. Prior to that, she was responsible for building up Tradedoubler Switzerland as CEO since 2006. She is appearing at SOM as a keynote speaker at the discussion "the future of digital marketing".MK You have been CEO of admazing since April 2013. What is your conclusion so far?CATRIN RUBENSON My outside view has been confirmed: admazing is a well-positioned company with motivated employees, strong technology and good relationships within the industry. But it is also a company that still has a lot of potential. That is why we have now expanded in all areas. We are investing in new technologies, processes and the Zurich site; but above all in even better customer service. While maintaining quality and transparency, we will not only achieve our customers' goals and expectations, but exceed them. Which will further consolidate our position as a leading online media service provider in 2014.MK You will be taking part in a panel discussion at SOM on "the future of digital marketing". What are the most important trends in digital marketing?RUBENSON The trends can be divided into a predominantly technical area and a content area. The more technical trends are mobile advertising, automated media buying, and data and data analysis. Mobile advertising simply has to grow strongly; driven, among other things, by better data networks (4G) and the successful "mobile commerce". Automated buying is already widespread in the U.S. and is now establishing itself in Switzerland, with reach goals becoming important alongside performance goals. Data, on the other hand, has been collected for a long time - but now the possibilities of data analysis and use are also coming to full fruition.In terms of content, "content marketing" and video or video-based storytelling are central. The production of good content is becoming increasingly important, also in terms of search engine technology. However, it must be disseminated via a large number of channels. Moving image content is particularly promising for this. Video ads, short video clips, but also video-based storytelling in general are part of a modern marketing strategy in 2014.MK Which online forms of advertising will gain in importance in the future?RUBENSON Especially large-scale, integrated and user-friendly formats as well as all forms of moving image formats.MK How have the needs of your customers changed and what is particularly important to you today?RUBENSONSpeed and complexity are constantly increasing in our industry. We are responsible for an appropriate reduction of complexity and the evaluation of trends as well as the target-oriented use of the latest technologies for the benefit of our clients. This requires us to understand more and more disciplines and to develop or offer appropriate solutions for our clients. In addition to the achievement of goals, the path to this goal is also central and must be characterized by transparency and fairness.MK What are the biggest challenges in online advertising?RUBENSON In "ROI-driven" performance advertising, online is a central channel and often indispensable. Now we have to prove that online advertising can have the same brand impact as TV campaigns. Research in particular still has a lot to do here. But there are always promising individual studies on this topic in Switzerland as well.MK More and more people are going online with smartphones & tablets. Nevertheless, revenues from mobile advertising are still relatively low. What are the problems? And what must successful mobile advertising look like?RUBENSON On the one hand, it's a question of time - the shift must and will come. On the other hand, a lot of experience is still being gained with mobile advertising. People are still experimenting with formats, advertising media, landing pages and advertising concepts. The balance between advertising impact and user interest is not always guaranteed yet. But the more that is invested here, the better the opportunities and the campaigns will become. Until mobile advertising is at least as established as stationary placements are today.MK Can you give us an example of an online advertising campaign that you consider particularly successful?RUBENSON It is significant that only a few online campaigns leave a truly formative impression. There is still a lot of potential here, especially in the creative area and the production of advertising materials. Successful examples are mainly campaigns that combine different channels in an exciting way or fully exploit the strengths of online advertising: so, for example, the advertising campaigns for Graubünden Ferien with "Gian" and "Giachen", the adventurous campaign "Heineken Dropped" or the launch of the Samsung Galaxy S4 with live streaming from Zurich main station directly into the advertising banners.Interview: Simon Wolanin