Web Summit Day 1 - The future is what we do now

Web Summit 2022 kicked-off with founder Paddy Cosgrave ’s address, informing the audience gathered in Lisbon’s Altice Arena that this year they broke historical records receiving the largest number of attendees ever, and also the largest number of attendees from Brazil - huge applause!?

Following Paddy was Mayor of Lisbon Carlos Moedas , whose background in research, science, and innovation at the European Commission means he is well placed to build a city fit for the future, and with that, shared personal anecdotes and some of the highlights of building Portugal’s first ever Unicorn Factory . Ending with a reminder that, we should all surround ourselves with people who don’t know that things are impossible…

We should all surround ourselves with people who don’t know that things are impossible…

This statement, however, isn’t reserved for start-ups or scale-ups it’s a universal truth, as the current climate both economically and digitally means companies of all shapes and sizes need to innovate on a continuous basis to keep up with changing consumer behaviours and disruptive forces.?

But, it didn’t end there as we were treated to a star-studded cast of speakers including Antonio Silva Minister of the Economy and Maritime Affairs for the Government of Portugal, Changpeng Zhao , Co-founder & CEO of Binance, Misan Harriman , Chair and Founder of the Southbank Centre & Culture3 whom all shared their own impassioned personal stories and expert opinions.?

Finishing up the evening’s kick-off was a heartfelt plea from Ukraine’s first lady @Olena Zelenska to the tech community, informing us that we have a choice to determine where we position technology to shape how the world moves forward.

On the first day of Web Summit 2022 officially opening it was clear just how well subscribed the event was as queues stretched for miles to get into the venue with a wait time of over two hours, but the atmosphere like the weather was great, and it was easy to make fast friends.?

The sessions I managed to attend all focused on advertising its many guises with opinions and trends from different sides of the ecosystem, so here is a snapshot of some of the best bits I managed to pick up from the first day at Web Summit 2022.?

The first session looked at generating revenue from the publisher’s point of view and played host to Nicholas Johnston publisher for Axios , Joy Robins CRO for The Washington Post , moderated by Wes Kaplan , CEO for Cointelegraph.

As traditional models of media monetization are put under pressure the question was put to these two heavyweights, how does the news make money anymore? The answer is that diversification is key, publishers need to be open and accountable about the fact they are a business and advertising is still a vital component of the revenue mix. However, ads are noisy and affect site engagement, so it’s not just about driving scale at the expense of user experience.?

Finally, the discussion moved onto how Genz is changing the news landscape, and with that, how are they consuming the news? The Washington Post, which has been experimenting with TikTok and have a strong following suggested that Genz doesn’t just want to passively consume news anymore, they want to be part of it. But, most of all from a content/brand perspective you need to anticipate where the audience is going to be and go meet them there.?

Shifting over to advertising in the creator economy I was lucky to catch Youtube star Casper Lee, and his cousin Sasha Kaletsky being interviewed by media reporter Sara Fischer on how creators are transforming the consumer economy. Ultimately, Casper suggested brands need to be more like creators generating authentic, entertaining content - not for views, but for the love of engaging with their audience. If you’re a brand that’s experimenting with social media content then TikTok is the place to begin, with a low barrier to entry it’s the quickest win. Sasha went on to elaborate that you shouldn’t just follow a trend with social media content, as that’s unsustainable! To create a long-term following you need to draw audiences into the brand’s narrative, and Genz is more inclined to trust an individual than a brand on social media, so all brands should have a figurehead.?

Moving onto media as a shopping channel I caught Colin Campbell managing editor for Yahoo News sitting down with Brian Gleason , CRO for data platform Criteo to discuss his outlook on the future of commerce media.?

Brian believes commerce media will evolve in three ways - content will extend, which means if you’re planning on taking a camping trip and have just brought a tent you’ll receive useful tips and helpful advice to back up that purchase. The eCommerce piece will move out into the open web, so as a consumer you’ll be able to buy from anywhere from media sites to social media apps. And finally, there will be a focus on enhancing the entire customer experience.?

Brian finished up with an overview of his predictions for media over the next two years. The macro economy is choppy, and sustainability will be a key tenant for brands moving into 2023, commerce, in general, will grow - CTV will be driving this, and finally it will be a fragmented market, but a few key players will emerge victorious.?

The next session was a presentation from Kochava ’s CEO, Charles F Manning who listed out his key trends for attribution in digital media over the coming two to three years. Firstly Charles echoed Brian’s point that CTV is now where mobile was in 2012 and represents a huge opportunity for brands. Secondly, with the launch of iOS 14.5 attribution across Apple Search Ads is growing. And thirdly, there is incrementality in the speeding up of attribution across cohorts irrespective of platform or device.?

What is the power of a purpose-driven brand? I caught a fantastic panel discussion with Jane Geraghty , Global CEO for Landor & Fitch , Joe Wade , Founding Partner of Don't Panic London | Certified B Corp , Khanh Huynh-Kürzinger , Head of Brand & Senior VP at 西门子 moderated by António Mendes , Program & Content Director RFM for RFM Rádio.

Things kicked off with ‘is purpose branding a buzzword?’ and the panel all agreed it is a fashionable term, so brands should make a conviction to show real tangible impact. Nowadays consumers are so much more discerning about what brands they choose to spend their money with, so the purpose needs to match that audience.?

Purposeful businesses have an obligation to make a positive difference, and brand strategy should consider how and where you can be a force for good. Purpose needs to be shown every day within the business, and to the customer - it should also be measured like every other business KPI.?

And finally, advertising from a technology perspective. Olivia Morley , a reporter for ADWEEK was joined by Scott Ernst CEO for Drift, a Salesloft company and Jamie Domenici , CMO for GoTo to discuss how brands should be future-proofing their marketing strategy with technology.?

Any marketer will agree there are a lot of partners and platforms in the tech stack, and it only seems to be increasing every quarter. So, the first suggestion was to take a step back and audit your tech-bloat. Look at what you have plugged in and make tough decisions about what is essential and necessary. From a consumer’s point of view, they don’t care about your technology, only that they have a seamless experience and internally you should only care that it’s a frictionless journey from the top to the bottom of the funnel.

So, that was day one…. Watch out for my update on day two - email me at [email protected]

As featured in Meio&Mensagem (read article in Portuguese here )