Welcoming 150 of Haymarket’s leading digital and development thinkers from across the business worldwide, as well as expert speakers from Google, Profero, Bartle Bogle and Hegarty and Nissan, WebFest is one of the ways in which Haymarket seeks to create an environment of digital excellence and innovation.
The day-long conference was designed to tackle the most pressing digital questions for the media industry in the digital age.
Haymarket Media’s CEO Kevin Costello delivered a roll call of Haymarket’s digital achievements and revenue growth from the last year, including the hot-off-the-press announcement that Haymarket’s interactive edition of GP had been named app of the year at the PPA Digital Awards the previous evening.
Keynote for the conference came from Head of Customer Advocacy at Google, Alfred Biehler, who focused on the value of context when it comes to gathering data, the evolution of platforms and Google’s famous innovation-focused 70:20:10 time management model.
However, it was a session born out of work within Haymarket’s own four walls which proved the favourite with the audience, says Haymarket. As part of a series of digital events leading up to WebFest, on Monday 16 September some of Haymarket’s digital innovators from across the business and consumer divisions were brought together to take on the challenge of how autocar.co.uk should capitalise on its industry reputation and diversify its digital portfolio.
In a matter of hours, the team came up with not only a viable solution, but a digital prototype for a product that would help the brand capitalise on its loyal readership.
“This was our fourth WebFest and arguably the best yet,” said group director Patrick Fuller. “Our staff, sponsors and guests came together for a stimulating day of digital activities and it has moved our thinking on in several areas. Our thanks to everyone who helped make it such a success and in particular our guest speakers, who generously gave up their time to be with us.”
