We have an opportunity to turn 3rd on the medal table into economic success

Abba Newbery, director of advertising strategy at News International Commercial, on how the Olympics can inspire media planners…

I think for most of us 2012 has been a great lesson in recognising that we can all underestimate the extent that we are working in a world of uncertainty.

Consumer confidence is down to -29 since June 2011 – the worst run in the survey’s 40 year history. Yet Olympic success and the overwhelmingly positive attitude across the country suggests we have a real opportunity to turn third place on the medal table into genuine economic success. Success that we can all play a part in if we move quickly enough to take advantage.

With this in mind we are now seeing four new pillars entering our product development: sociability, serendipity, customisation and collaboration. We believe these are essential for engaging with the new digitally native generation.

Publishers also need to recognise the importance of nimbleness and speed, and the ability to react to change. We’ve changed our Sun homepage to reflect every gold medal win, and have piloted a live Olympics dashboard across all our Times digital products, meaning that we are very much able to keep up with breaking news as it happens

We pride ourselves that our brands have always been unique and leading: brave enough to be different, innovative enough to lead the way. Now even more though we need to find ways to encourage and challenge and invite our readers to join in.

And it’s the engagement with readers that means much more than ever before: it means seamless storytelling across many platforms. It means social, local, mobile. We’ve followed the torch through every footstep, met over 200 Olympic and Paralympic athletes on their route to the Games, and are now camped out at BT Live in Victoria and Hyde Park.

Big newspaper brands still need to recognise the importance of acting small to create rich experiences for readers (I think Dave Brailsford describes a key element of British Cycling success as being down to the aggregation of marginal gains).

At NI we care about live narratives, reader festivals, augmented reality, and creating visceral and tactile experiences for 100s not 1000s of readers. We are working hard to develop integrated advertising products that enhances the content it sits in, where content and commerce can be intuitive and seamless.

We are incredibly proud of our collectable Olympic coverwraps, made possible by Samsung, allowing our readers to enjoy some of the most memorable moments of a lifetime.

It’s also worth remembering that it’s not just digital media that can deliver big audiences in 2012. 3.7 million people will have visited the Olympic Park by next weekend, 19.4 million people watched Bolt win on TV on Sunday, and The Times sold an estimated additional 100,000 copies on the first Saturday of The Games. Maybe the Olympics can inspire the next generation of media planners too!