It’s been a busy week for events here at blur Group, with both TFMA and Osborne Clarke bringing together some great people to share information and provide expert analysis across a range of industry issues that affect us…and most likely you, too.

Whilst digital law experts Osborne Clarke brought a panel of experts together to debate the new ASA regulations on online advertising, the TFMA at Earls Court on Tuesday and Wednesday were particularly insightful, with the likes of Google, Cisco and Facebook all lending their expertise.

One of the key themes that permeated the keynotes was that we are now in the decade of mobile. And with smartphones approaching near ubiquity, this presents a great opportunity for designers, marketers…everyone involved in the digital realm, to get really creative with their output.

Old and new media collide

But rather than seeing ‘old’ media put to bed, we’re now seeing some fantastically creative ways of merging traditional and new media to create some truly groundbreaking works of advertising art.

What we’re seeing now is that all media has the potential to go digital. Ciaran Norris, speaking at Mindshare’s keynote at TFMA on Wednesday, introduced some excellent examples of this in his cloud marketing presentation.

AXA is the first insurance company in Belgium to launch an iPhone app, a tool that guides users through some simple steps when they have a car accident. But the app was launched by an innovative print advertisement that requires an iPhone to ‘complete’ it.

The user places the iPhone on the page, and the user can see how the accident in the advert unfolded. At the end, the user is invited to download the app. An incredibly clever and effective advert.

AXA Insurance (2010): new meets old

Norris also noted that we are engaging with more ‘traditional’ media than ever, contrary to many predictions that they would start to die out.

We may be using different platforms to engage, such as streaming TV through smartphones and laptops, but the medium of ‘TV’ is still very much alive and kicking. And whilst tablets are encroaching on print media’s territory, we’re seeing it’s possible for both to coexist peacefully.

So, a key theme that’s really starting to unfold is the merging of ‘real’ and ‘virtual’, a seamless integration born from countless science fiction films. And true innovators, of course.

QR Code advertising

Expect to see a lot more QR Code advertising in the future too. QR stands for ‘quick response’, and it takes the form of a matrix barcode (i.e. a two-dimensional barcode) that is readable by QR barcode readers or, interestingly, camera phones.

Calvin Klein has already been making controversial inroads into QR Code advertising territory, with its giant ‘Get it Uncensored’ billboard ads in New York and LA. In short, people take a photo of the QR code and they are whisked off to an external website where they are greeted by a rather busty model called Lara Stone. And needless to say, users are then invited to share the ad by Facebook and Twitter.

Calvin Klein: ‘Get it Uncensored’

In-app advertising

And whilst many companies are developing their own apps to help market their brand, there is a strong argument for not going down this route unless the functionality of the app is actually vital.

Why build your own app when you can simply advertise on one someone else has built? It may work out more cost-effective to piggy-back of someone else’s technical skills.

Apple recently announced it was slashing its iAd prices in half, which means it’s a lot more affordable for businesses to get involved with in-app advertising.

So smartphones, it seems, are shaping the way advertisers are starting to think and you can expect to see a lot more spectacular examples of two worlds colliding, as the physical and digital worlds merge closer together.