I was thinking about today’s post, but I just can’t get this out of my head from WOMMA and the Financial Times:

The Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) has warned that advertising agencies face growth of just 1.2% a year by 2016 if the industry fails to tackle the changes to the media created by sites such as Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter. The IPA warned that not enough agencies are adjusting to the online world. In its worst-case scenario, the resulting decline in paid-for advertising space could see $23 million of revenues lost by the industry by 2016, if agencies fail to create new products and services to cater to the social media world.

That is quite a statement.   However, it is not surprising to me that even agencies have had difficulty with the transition to new media.  I have seen only a handful of Universities offer degrees or concentrations in digital marketing.  Although there are conferences and trade events, there are a limited number of certification programs.  Though webinars abound on the subject, there still seems to be uneasiness in utilizing new media in many marketing departments.

In looking at the individuals and collectives that are driving this transition.  They seem to have the characteristics of early adopters for electronics.  They share a common thread of passion and creativity for the new.  One more trait that rises to the top is the comfort in experimenting.

I truly believe that 2009 will be the year that many organizations, agencies included, make great strides to utilizing new media for marketing campaigns and PR.  Through this there will be successes and mistakes.  We can all learn from both.  The most important thing this year is to gain the comfort to experiment.

We will take a look at ways you can gain comfort in new media in this space, starting with tomorrow’s Fun Friday post that will share some reading materials with you.