FICOD 2008 - Conclusions

![International Forum for Digital Content 2008 - Madrid, Spain](https://i0.wp.com/www.secareanu.com/content/images/2008/11/ficod2008.jpg?resize=293%2C68 "FICOD2008")
International Forum for Digital Content 2008 - Madrid, Spain
This past weekend I was in a team building together with the New Media Division of Realitatea-Catavencu Group and I presented to my colleagues some of the ideas from [FICOD2008](http://www.secareanu.com/2008/11/21/international-forum-for-digital-content-ficod-2008/ "FICOD2008"). I will share with you some of these ideas as well, since I think that they’re important for the future development of the online industry in Romania.

I will list the ideas here in no particularly logical order (just the order I jotted them down in my notebook) and I will not go into details explaining them (I leave you to perform this exercise). The ideas came from the main speakers at FICOD2008: Chris Anderson, Kevin Roberts, Gerd Leonhard, Jaqueline Hernandez, Nikesh Arora and Adam Daum.

  • Niches become more interesting online and thus you can satisfy minority taste, which makes niches become mainstream
  • Lower cost of digital distribution allows you to offer more content
  • A link is a vote/recommendation -> the ultimate word of mouth promotion -> influence
  • The amateurs make it big on the web because they can
  • Online news can became really regional, reaching even the remotest locations – the idea is that news that are close to us are more interesting/important for us than events happening thousand miles away -> quality content is about relevance
  • Mass customization -> the long tail
  • We live in the screen age and all screens should be interactive (TV, PC, Mobile)
  • We have to move from classic TV to a platform agnostic entity -> touch all the customer’s screens
  • TAMI -> Total Audience Monitoring Index (TV, mobile, Internet, cable, radio, outdoor, etc)
  • Some priorities: understand the customer, be everywhere, be global, connect with passion points, be aspirational
  • Ask consumers for feedback
  • Communication is all about touchpoints (forget ATL & BTL)
  • The only constant in life is change (Asimov), the most adaptable ones survive, not the strongest/smartest (Darwin)
  • Digital world – from information to attraction (express emotions)
  • The consumer is the boss now
  • The emotional connectivity will make the difference
  • Rational leads to conclusions (meetings), while emotional leads to action (buy, do)
  • Multimedia is all about sight, sound and motion
  • Simple stories are at the basis of today’s consumer experience (people, emotions, creativity, truth, authenticity, etc)
  • Online industry defined by rapid change: fail fast, learn fast and move fast – execute fast and stay focused
  • Execute the paradox: invest and cut costs at the same time by executing efficiently and being creative and innovative
  • Information -> Emotion
  • Knowledge -> Attraction
  • Inspire the consumer to act, hope and dream
  • Consumers don’t want to be marketed at, but connected to
  • Other priorities: dream big, aspire for lovemarks, learn from TV, inspire with a paradox, share the love
  • Consumers are now co-partners in your business
  • You need to figure out how you want them to think, feel and act
  • Behavioral targetting -> serve ads to users, not content
  • Customer experience is king
  • Social networks -> generate content
  • Publishing sites -> generate revenues
  • Neet to be content centric, not product centric
  • Attention/audience -> primary mean of making money
  • A world of no permission is a world of no money
  • It’s not about emerging technologies, but about emerging cultural practices
  • Command & control should become coordinate & cultivate

… and a quote I learned from one of my marketing professors that summarizes the ideas above:

***“Tell them and they will forget. Show them and they will remember. Involve them and they will understand. ***(ancient Chinese proverb)