Today I attempted to attend 4 seminars for the second day of Advertising Week. Well I failed in my mission because one of them started and ended late.

The seminars I was actually able to get to were Facebook: Knowing is Better, Speaking 50+ and The Future in 4D: Brands, Communities, Content and Technology.

I missed the Forbes Economic Summit which covered the present and future state of the global economy as it relates to its impact on advertising and media industries.

Here are some highlights from the seminars I did attend:

Facebook: Knowing is Better – The presenters were Facebook, COO, Sheryl Sandberg, – Nielsen Online, CEO, John Burbank and Sony Pictures, CEO, Michael Lynton. This talk was about how to engage users in a meaningful way, scalable and measurable way. If a company can’t measure results in some fashion getting budgets approved for projects is indeed tough. Facebook now has about 300 million users with the average user having about 130 friends according to COO Sheryl Sandberg. The number of user accesses Facebook via mobile devices is currently growing as well. The current estimate is that about 65 million users access Facebook via a mobile device.

Facebook has partnered with Nielsen Online to generate market research that can be used by companies and the entities that represent them. The data collected is anonymous and users have the option of opt-ing out of any market research. Demographic information is collected as part of the research.

Facebook doesn’t consider itself a web destination but a technology company. It’s goal is to be a platform for creating connections and also allow users to interact with marketers the same way they interact with friends.

Speaking 50+ – This seminar was presented by Grandparents.com. The speakers were Jerry Shereshewsky, CEO, Grandparents.com, Brent Bouchez, Creative Director, Agency Five 0 and Matt Thornhill, President, The Boomer Project . During this session a lot was made of the fact that people who are 50+ are dead to marketers who fail to recognize of the size of this market. They only seem interested in the 18 – 49 demographic of consumers. A mistake according to the panelist because on average consumers 50+ have more income to spend on products and service. This they say holds true despite the current economic climate.

The 50+ consumer makes up about 40% of the marketplace yet most advertising focuses on younger audiences. Most marketers it seems believe that people 50+ are only interested in health and age related products. Matt Thornhill mentioned that More magazine, a publication geared towards women 50+ has a hard time getting advertising for items such as luxury cars, etc. Interesting fact is that most luxury cars are bought by people 50+. Something that is definitely not clear by watching the commercials for these items. The average buyer of Mercedes is 61.

During The Future in 4D: Brands, Communities, Content and Technology seminar a few things struck a chord:

• Every product should have a back-story
• Consumer data yields power (have a purpose for collecting it and use it wisely)
• Every product must resonate on a human level
• Be brave! Make mistakes. Course correct if necessary