Online Marketing and Media Show 2008
One of the regulars on the digital conference calendar, the Online Marketing and Media show returned to the Business and Design center June 24th and 25th. With over 70 exhibitors and a full conference program of both free and paid-for sessions, there was much to attract the wide variety of businesses in attendance. Judith Lewis, search marketing expert at i-level talks us through the show.
There was a heavy emphasis on search-related companies at this show, with most related to this industry in some way. While stands often go empty on the second day of a bad conference, the OMS saw only one empty stand, perhaps indicating the quality of the visitors. “We got more, better leads here than at previous shows” commented one company.
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One stand which was never empty, even when the cider (creative juice) and jam (sticky content – organic) ran out was Steak Media’s very innovative and unique stand. Presented as a farmers market stall, the team created a wonderful ambiance with bales of hay, a small cart and all were wearing butchers aprons. The team were handing out hessian bags filled with paperwork on their offerings and their own purple cow was in the lobby. The Steak Media stand was most likely win an award for innovation and originality as well as winning the company more business.
Further in to the show, several companies were offering link building services including one stall holder who offered to get any company more links through link exchanges after being told by another stall holder that this was bad. Somewhat confusing to the casual punter as several confused faces could be seen around that area.
One area covered by the show which seemed to be increasing in popularity as a marketing channel was affiliate marketing. The affiliates4u conference was being heavily marketed and the presence of such stands as PAN (Premier Affiliate Network) indicated the change this channel is undergoing from being primarily seen as sale only to brand building and marketing (as well as sales).
French company NetBooster were at the conference talking to people about their international offerings including their enhanced reporting and tracking enabling them to track purchases resulting from organic or paid search from enquiry through to final purchase. With 250 employees worldwide, including 3 ex-Googlers, they not only help companies with search, they also help with relisting after being blacklisted.
Most of the sessions were well attended with some full to bursting and actually causing a fire hazard like the early viral marketing session by Rebel Viral, who had interestingly included ammunition and a police officer on their stand. Creating an impression were also Mirago who beyond offering a new ad serving platform for publishers, were offering visitors to their stand a mini USB mouse.
Overall the conference seems to have been a success with businesses benefiting from quality contacts and visitors getting quality content from the free workshops.
Judith Lewis (http://www.decabbit.com), search director at i-level search, covers conferences for Technology Weekly as well as reporting on topics of interest. She can be found through her site or blog at http://www.SEO-Chicks.com
