Succeeding in 21st century media (ad:tech Paris keynote)

Today at ad:tech Paris 2009 Chris Dobson of the BBC gave a keynote speech on how established companies can adapt to new media. Though this conference targets the broader advertising industry, many of the ideas have relevance in hospitality marketing. Here are a few notes from the speech:

• You don’t have to be new to be in new media. BBC is one of the oldest media companies, but is one of the world’s most advanced media companies. The brave new world favors the brave old one.
• There have been many new media changes over the years, so you must be adaptable. BBC started television broadcasting before World War 2, but the format only started gaining popularity after Queen Elizabeth’s coronation in 1953. Get your technology ready now, and you’ll be prepared with the growth surge comes.
• The multiple screen theory is no longer a theory. People are now using media on multiple devices more than ever.
• The brave new world requires great content. Content is needed to populate all media devices. User-generated content will always be important, but so will professionally produced content. Bigger companies have the resources to fund and produce top-quality information. Users need and appreciate that.
• New media still has less reach than old media, but is more personalized. As we move ahead, ‘high touch’ media will also become high reach. We’ll be in a world of high reach and a high degree of personalization.
• The future of new media adoption in western Europe, unless it changes significantly, is under pressure. Brazil, Russia, India, and China have many more young people as a percentage of their populations, so technology adoption is higher. The greatest new media opportunities lie there.