This guest post is by Pamela Neville, VP, Account Management at AMP Agency. Pamela recently joined the agency; prior to AMP, Pamela worked at Digitas, driving growth for a variety of clients via effective strategic marketing programs.

During the BIMA event last month, AMP Agency and Digitas valiantly debated whether print would still be around in 5 years given the ongoing mass adoption of smart phones and tablets. Although we at AMP made a convincing argument that print will remain firmly in place for at least 5 years given the longevity of our older generations and the ubiquitous use of print on airplanes (takeoff and landing), waiting rooms and the like, there is clearly more to it. Print has a place amongst the media mix. There is no denying that digital is growing and newsstand is decreasing. But, it is my contention that the evolution will not be a slow death but rather a shift in how consumers use the print medium. Three main drivers impact this shift: emotional response to print, situational usage and content.

Emotional Response to Print

Last week at BIMA's mobile event, a panel of experts spoke to an overflowing room at Hill Holliday. The panel included Trevor Hamilton - Director, Mobile Solutions, Brands & Agencies, Velti; Gene Keenan - VP, Mobile Services, Isobar; Ali Merlino -  Director of Sales, Northeast, Millennial Media; Johnny Won - Interactive Strategist, Hill Holliday; and Elizabeth Zalman -  Co-Founder, Media Armor.

New technology in the digital marketing landscape is affecting financial services companies more and more each day. In the recent past they have explored and succeeded with mobile, illustrating their willingness to enter new territory. Through it all these companies are working to keep all their digital messaging portable, personalized, and participatory. Each speaker on the panel for Meet the Marketer: Financial Services, which included James Bacharach, VP Brand Communications & Creative Services, John Hancock; Hee Kyu Kim, VP Digital Marketing, Bank of America; and John Magee, VP Analytics, PerkStreet Financial; and our moderator Melissa Rodenhiser, Director of New England Sales for CNNMoney.com shared his or her experience over the past year as well as insights into their predictions for 2011.

John Moore, CMO at Mullen, led an energetic panel on location based services (LBS) this morning at Hill Holliday. The experts included Sarah Amitay, Mobext; David Chang, WHERE, Inc.; Andrew Paradise, Aislebuyer; Mike Proulx, Hill Holliday; and Caitlin Remby, NAVTEQ Media Solutions. Even more exciting than the spectacular view from Hill Holliday's 35th floor conference room was the abundance of cutting-edge information and informed predictions about what Moore calls the hottest topic in marketing today.

Companies like Dunkin’ Donuts, JetBlue, and Gap are among those already taking advantage of LBS, but the newness of the technology means we have more questions than answers. Moore presented a short and humorous video in which Bostonians were asked to talk about LBS. The confused answers demonstrated that although this event’s attendees use apps like Foursquare and Shopkick like it’s their job, they do not represent the norm.

Have you ever wondered…

It can be difficult not to lose yourself in the new world of mobile advertising. The innovation, creativity, and potential surrounding mobile is exciting, but can overshadow the reality of using mobile to reach consumers and the best strategies for getting involved can be elusive for those not deeply entrenched in this new channel. 

Nearly two-hundred attendees showed up on Thursday, January 28th to attend the MITX Digital State event. Guest blogger for MITX, Daniel Schwartz of Donor Communications and from Northeastern University,volunteered this article in which he covers hot topics discussed by the expert panel throughout the night. Please feel free to leave any comments you may have on the piece or the writer below. Enjoy!

We’ve just elected some fantastic new people to the BIMA Executive Committee. BIMA is the online media exchange of MITX and represents the online advertising segment of the larger MITX community of internet business & marketing professionals.

I just chaired the 3^rd Annual IMA Alliance Forum- an annual get together of the leaders of interactive marketing associations across the country. Hosted in Las Vegas by our Las Vegas sister org, LVIMA, we had a productive meeting to determine ways our organizations can collaborate and better work together. And given that I'm writing about this, clearly nothing had to stay in Vegas.