Digital Britain needs skills

The government’s publication of The Digital Britain report has potentially far-reaching consequences for those already working in, or considering a career in advertising.

The government published its strategic vision for the UK in the global digital economy. The report itself was a measure of the changing face of advertising. As well as being published online, video interview of the report's author, Lord Stephen Carter, were posted on YouTube. Users could access the report on Facebook, via Twitter, they could 'digg' it, share it, post links to it and download images relating to it.

The advertising profession demands a variety of skills: the ability to design a poster campaign, knowledge of social media, and creativity with digital content for websites. It is this diversity which also makes advertising a fast-paced, varied and exciting industry to work in.

The future of advertising

Among the proposals in The Digital Britain white paper were two key elements for advertisers:

• the aim for universal access to fast broadband services by 2012
• the ambition to improve wireless infrastructure

The government is aiming for universal 3G coverage and wants to see a rapid transition to the next generation of high-speed mobile broadband. This means that both the mobile phone and online markets are likely to become huge areas for advertising.

According to the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) Europe's definitive report on online advertising, the UK experienced 19 percent year-on-year growth in 2008. These figures are backed up by a report from the Advertising Association, which found that the internet enjoyed a 19.1 percent annual increase in expenditure in 2008, one of only two sectors to experience growth.

Internet became the third largest medium, increasing its share of the market to 19.3 per cent last year. If the government's proposals progress as planned, this could increase rapidly in the coming years.

Digital advertising - video

There are plenty of opportunities for using new digital media. Video has enjoyed a particularly high-profile recently, with various commentators highlighting its importance in a digital age.

As high-speed broadband becomes widespread, it is getting easier and quicker to access visual content. For example, the next generation internet allows users to download a Star Wars DVD in three minutes.

Siim Vips, chief executive officer at web content management firm Modera, said: “Video is a very useful tool in driving awareness and sales as it can be used to communicate products and services in an easy, digestible and useful format and shared easily.

“For many brands, video can be an excellent tool in providing more in-depth messaging.

“The added benefit of more focused content is that it appeals to specific user groups who may be inclined to share the content with friends and peers in other UGC [user-generated content] and social environments.”

Digital advertising – mobile

Get Creative Choices on your iPhone. Mobile advertising is another area that has received plenty of attention, especially with the increasing popularity of smart phones, particularly the iPhone and the Blackberry. If universal access to 3G does become a reality, the demand for these devices could rise further.

John Mew, head of mobile for the IAB, said: “The potential is huge. It can only grow. It is like online was seven or eight years where there is this great new medium in terms of audience size but ad spend was fairly static for a few years, before all of a sudden starting to catch up.”

“The same thing is starting to happen in mobile advertising now. The audience size is starting to accelerate quite quickly and advertising follows eyeballs. But mobile offers you a lot more than other platforms as well.”

The potential for creativity is there for advertisers with these new media, which also offer increasingly diverse opportunities for professional development. We are no doubt going to see a demand for skills in these areas as the vision for a Digital Britain takes shape.