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It has often been seen as a complex place, thanks to the intimidatory powers of technology and progress, but 2005 is already showing a wonderfully diverse array of opportunities.

There were some significant landmarks in 2004. Google's billion-dollar IPO was not just a sign that the financial markets had woken up to the size and expansion of search engines and marketing. It showed that any stigma about online advertising had almost disappeared: Google's business model is based on the success and effectiveness of online advertising.

Elsewhere, from search engine optimisation to viral marketing, online advertising and affiliate marketing, the list of developing and maturing disciplines goes on. An initial source of confusion is that digital thinking is all Blue Sky and dreaming. Basically, the potential of digital is no longer just potential. If, on average, brands are spending some 3.2 per cent of their ad budgets online, as the Interactive Advertising Bureau reports, then some £350 million was spent on online advertising in 2003 alone.

Second, although this technology needs to be understood in order to be used effectively, it is no longer an end in itself, with phrases like ROI (return on investment) progressing from VC-popular terms to something that's almost a cliche in being used to justify the effectiveness of digital work. The relevance of technology to business and brands is easy to prove.

Considering the measurability of digital media, and therefore its accountability, it should be easier to answer that question than for so-called traditional channels.

So, as digital inevitably increases its role in the overall marketing mix (and surely it has to, as the gap between spend on the medium and the amount of time consumers spend online is huge, if closing), this should be one more reason to embrace ideas such as 'Managing Total Marketing'.

If Roger Wood, director of CAT Business Development Services, says you can't manage something you cannot measure, the growth of the most measurable medium of all time - and the tools with which to measure it - should be a comforting thought. After all, when it comes to the future, there is perhaps only one thing that we can agree on: we are living in an increasingly digital world and the pace of change will only get faster.

Philip Smith will be talking about the 'Modern Face of Marketing' on the first day of IDMF 2005

FACT BOX

THE PITCH: The IDMF, Europe's biggest event dedicated to direct and interactive marketing, presents an unrivalled opportunity for visitors to learn about new products and services, source suppliers, discover innovations and new ideas and, most importantly, do business

NEW EVENT: Organiser Reed Exhibitions has joined with CIMTech, the technology arm of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, to deliver a leading-edge conference focusing on how marketing technology can deliver bottom-line profit. Visit www.idmf.co.uk/cimtechregistration11

WHEN: Tuesday 22 to Thursday 24 February 2005 (0930-1700) at Earls Court 2, London Info www.idmf.co.uk (for exhibitors and floorplan), www.cimtech.org/cimtech2005

TO ATTEND: Register online for fast-track entry at www.idmf.co.uk or call 0870 429-4310 for a form

DAVID HOOD, CHAIR, CIMTECH INTERNATIONAL

The complex world brings complex problems and complex decisions. So many opportunities and so many threats. We have so many different options to change, so many sources of ideas. So many customer needs and ways of meeting them.

What should the basic rule of any business be? It must align itself accordingly and change where necessary to meet its objectives. But, with changing marketplaces and increasing competition, how do we achieve that when so much gets in the way of realising objectives?

If marketing offers three times more value than any business activity, why is it not seen as the key driver?

SEMINARS

MTM - Mastering Modern Marketing's Models, Metrics, and Processes Day

One: Tuesday 22 February Chaired by Mike Hewitt, Management Today

10.30: Official Welcome

- David Hood, chair, CIMTech

10.45: Chair's Intro to MTM and Scene Setting

11.00: Keynote: Improving Marketing: Improving Standards

- Karen Beamish, project director, MSSSB

12.00: Session 1: Managing Marketing Process and Workflow

- Freddie Daniels, Cogentum

12.30: Session 2: The Modern Face of Marketing

- Philip Smith, editor-in-chief, Direct marketing and new media group,

Haymarket Publishing

13.00: Lunch

14.00: Panel Discussion

16.00: Session 3: Managing Multiple Channels of Communication

- Mike Lewis, VP marketing, Virgin Mobile

The Customer Centric Enterprise Day Two: Wednesday 23 February Chaired

by Paul Cooper, Institute of Customer Services

10.30: Official Welcome and Brief Recap

11.00: Keynote: Moving on from CRM and Back to Profit-making

- Bill Mooney, GB Group

12.00: Session 1: Permission-based Marketing: Empowering the Customer

- Symon Blomfield, International Communications Solutions

12.30: Session 2: Customer Relationships in a Technical World

- Sir Paul Judge, VP, Marketing Council

14.00: Panel Discussion

16.00: Session 3: Loyalty, a Two-way Street

- Martin Hayward, director of consumer strategy & futures, Dunn Humby

Proving Marketing's ROI Day Three: Thursday 24 February Chaired by

Howard Wilkinson, vice-president, CIMTech

10.30: Official Welcome and Recap

11.00: Keynote: Improving Marketing using Technology

- Nick White, vice-president, Gartner Consulting

12.00: Session 1: Accreditation of your Marketing Orientation

- Martin Mulholland, Regulatory Compliance Solutions

12.30: Session 2: Measuring Marketing Effectiveness: Investing in

Customer Management

- Prof Merlin Stone, business research leader, IBM

13.00: Lunch

16.00: Session 3: Improving Stakeholder Value

- Dr Andrew Black, Institute of Directors

NICK WHITE, VICE-PRESIDENT, GARTNER CONSULTING

Can technology improve marketing? In the past, technology has been charged with delivering the Holy Grail of positive ideas, but, in many cases, the reality did not provide the anticipated returns and, in some, expensive failures.

Will marketing fall into the same trap? Some might argue that, to a point, it already has with CRM, depending on the definition and scope.

The lessons we have learned in other areas are that the successful adoption of technology relies on sound process definition, the buy-in from the people and clear returns to the business.

SYMON BLOMFIELD, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, INTERNATIONAL COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS

The PC, when linked to the internet, is possibly the most perfect promotional vehicle ever. Highly personal, direct, interactive and in front of potential customers during business and leisure.

The trouble is, in many ways, it is too perfect. Just as the internet was rapidly populated by porn sites and online betting, so 'service providers' were quick to lead in intrusive technology and barge their way into the private world of PC users with irritating pop-ups ruining it for everyone else.

This is the point. When the channel is this personal and the technology can intrude, hard sell doesn't work.