EconAds is a half-day seminar focused on the key strategic issues driving the economics of online advertising. On June 3 at New World Stages in New York City. we will look broadly at the marketplace to see what disruptions lie ahead and where the investors are focused and where M&A activity is heating up. The program is specifically targeted towards leading media, advertising and investment executives and is designed to promote knowledge sharing and encourage networking. We’ll ask the big questions like how to reach an audience increasingly fragmented across so many channels and connect those to the questions and tough calls facing marketing and media leadership. Our topics and panelists taken together with an active and engaged audience will surface the trends and patterns that matter most to charting the waters of the opportunities and economics of online advertising. We’ll be adding confirmed speakers and our final program in the next two weeks, but so far, here’s what we have lined up:

Confirmed Speakers

Ad Networks & Beyond:

Ad networks are booming and rightly so, they have become the economic engine of large and small publishers alike. They come in many flavors (search and brand), sizes (Google to niche blog ads networks) focus on niches and can provide targeting and powerful analytics. But what’s up next for ad networks? And how do they differentiate and innovate?  Where are we going to see further consolidation? How are media companies competing? And at the end of the day, what’s the right formula for delivering and measuring messages that engage and audience and deliver the highest CPM for publishers?

Agency 2.0:

Where are the agency opportunities in online advertising? We’ve already seen consolidation and acquisition of new world, more nimble shops by big agencies like WPP and TBWAChiat.  How are traditional agencies responding to the changing economic landscape of online advertising?  What are the creative challenges? And how are they changing their organizations and operations to create new formats and respond to new definitions of success? What services do they need to offer? How do they differentiate? What will Agency 2.0 look like in the coming months and years and how will marketers want to use and manage their services?

Social Media Advertising

Social media advertising should provide marketers the perfect storm of messaging. After all users are sharing their personal passions and interests freely and recent research has proven that users care less about who creates the message as long as it’s informative and entertaining. What companies and programming strategies are defining social media advertising? How are marketers tapping directly into the passions of their users and promoting viral and word-of-mouth engagement?  What channels are they reaching them on and how are they managing and measuring impact? What is the “code of conduct” for reaching users in their online homes and what privacy and policy concerns can social media advertising raise?

Search:

Are there any any signs that search advertising is changing or slowing? Or will it continues to be the the 800 pound gorilla of traffic, generating billions in revenues for Google, Yahoo and Microsoft.  How are marketers getting creative about their search marketing strategies and what technologies and tools are changing the marketplace dynamics allowing some firms to gain advantage. Where are the investor opportunities in with these innovations? What are the M&A targets and where will we see further consolidation as platforms offer more vertically integrated services?

Thanks to Digital Hollywood for helping us co-locate our event there along with the bigger Advertising 2.0 conference on June 4-5. This is part of Internet Week, produced by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences in cooperation with the City of New York. To underwrite these events, please e-mail our sales staff at advertising AT contentnext.com.