Last week we were lucky enough to participate in three excellent online industry events taking place in Warsaw:
Internet Poland is the “biggest event in Poland presenting interactive marketing companies and issues,” and this year there were more than 800 conference attendees and over 3000 expo visitors and 90 exhibitors – quite a turnout for the first online industry expo ever in Poland. During the Internet Poland event, the fifth Forum IAB conference was held in Hall B, where lectures about various aspects of the Polish online industry were delivered by top industry speakers. In the evening, the MIXX Awards were presented in the same location for categories ranging from best Branded Content to best Direct Response.
One conclusion I can draw from these events is that the Polish online industry is experiencing exceptional growth. This is perfectly in-line with a recent article I read, Poland leads European e-Commerce growth. This article explains that the number of online shops operating in Poland is increasing by 30% per year, with 10,000 online shops counted at the end of 2010. This means that a surge in online marketing spend is sure to follow, and we are excited about serving both Poland and the greater Central and Eastern European markets with the most advanced display advertising solutions created for eCommerce marketers. 
Real-time bidding is sure to be an integral part of the continued growth of the online industry in Poland in 2012. We are prepared to be a major catalyst for that growth!
See more pictures of the event on our Facebook page.
Forum IAB Conference Overview
The conference was full of great presentations, but I wanted to take a moment to highlight a few that really stood out:
Keynote: Thank You Economy
Gary Veynerchuk
This keynote was primarily about social marketing and entrepreneurship. Gary drove home the point that “social media is the new decision influencer in our purchase decisions.” He spoke about the social graph as a collection of wisdom – Twitter as a cocktail party where everyone is listening to others to help determine their own opinions, because “we are not very good in knowing what we want, and we’re very quick to say ‘this sucks’.” This is where the opportunity lies for marketers.
Just as with social media, real-time bidding is about seizing a real-time marketing opportunity – taking advantage of a moment in time when a customer’s mind is open to have their opinion, and ultimately their purchase intent, influenced by what is in front of them on the screen.
The Polish Media Market – Offline vs. online
Tomasz Lis
Tomasz Lis is a famous polish journalist, TV presenter, and Chief Editor of the Wprost Magazine. He is opening a news portal, http://cosnowego.pl/. Though he comes from the offline world (print, TV), his investment into online media is an important development to demonstrate the growing influence of the online sphere in Poland.
Today and Tomorrow in Polish Online Advertising
Panel discussion
Robert Bednarski, Wiceprezes, COO Grupa Onet.pl
Artur Waliszewski, Regional Business Director Poland & CEE, Google
Anna Kaczmarska, Prezes, IDM Net
Dominik Czarnota, Prezes, NK.pl
Jakub Benke, Prezes, Starcom
Artur Gortych, Prezes, Artegence
The key point to this panel was that data will become more and more important. The data is there, and the winners will be those who learn how to monetize that data. Polish online ad spending is still growing, but there is a lot to do in order to measure the online marketing reach in real-time. The big branding spenders are for the most part still taking their budget to TV. Some Internet companies in Poland are already tackling this challenge to grow the online slice of the advertising pie: Nk.pl (Dominik Czarnota) is working on individual user advertising for their community (like Facebook is already doing). IDMnet (Anna Kaczmarska) is evaluating new ways of monetization, including not just ad inventory but data monetization as well.
The Game Change: How Real-time Bidding is Revolutionizing Online Advertising
In the afternoon of Day 2, sociomantic had the honor of sending our Managing Director Thomas Brandhoff to speak on our favorite subject, real-time bidding, alongside Admeld’s Frederic Lamoulie. Many of the industry experts were waiting for these RTB slots, because this is a subject that is growing in interest to online marketers across the globe. Lamoulie presented details on the sell-side of the RTB equation and how publishers can earn higher eCPMs by incorporating real-time bidding into their yield strategy. Naturally, Brandhoff focused on the buy-side, explaining the bidding and personalization process, as well as why RTB is truly a “game changer” for advertisers in terms of transparency, efficiency, simplicity, and more. He also shared some recent projections from IDC reserach which forecasts that the RTB industry will swell to be a $6.5 billion industry in the U.S. and Europe by 2015.
Overall, it was two days of great events for the Polish online industry, and we are already looking forward to participating again next year!
If you want learn more about real-time bidding solutions for eCommerce advertising in Poland or CEE, please don’t hesitate to contact me!