Texting sheep, pigeon soap droppings and phones the size of red blood cells - thinking the unthinkable at 4 Minute Warning

The speaker and subject matter line-ups were diverse but cleverly interweaved to form a succinct narrative, with innovation and creativity core to each engaging session. Following the success of an extremely patriotic 2012, with marketers able to piggy back on Jubilee and Olympic events, 2013 is a blank canvas, and an exciting one at that. Augmented reality, the merging of real and digital along with convergence of web and TV, are key focus areas. 2013 could be the year of TV as a renaissance seems to be occurring (indeed, as was pointed out, there would not be much to talk about on Twitter were it not for tv). The importance of TV as a social role should not be underestimated and the question is how digital integrates with traditional channels, rather than vice versa.

Organisations that are able to think creatively, disrupt markets, be generous, authentic and deliver high quality experiences, services and goods will be the big winners. Claire Mcdonald, founder and MD of Wonderful + Brilliant, advised thinking like a fashion house. Fashion is about change and we should change every season. After all, if you don’t change direction you may end up where you’re heading. Embrace change every single day and be a change agent. This is easier said than done but many of the presentations focussed on this message and one left the conference with a real sense of empowerment and that, having stepped outside one’s own environment for a day, you really could change the world. Laura Jordan Bambach, creative director at Dare, rightly pointed out that along with relying on your instinct and getting lucky, insight and rationale are also key ingredients for innovation. But it’s ok to fail first and quite often it’s a question of education and discovering what’s possible and bridging the gap between education and the industry. This is of course where we at the IDM can step in.

In keeping with the main themes of convergence, Rob Hinchcliffe, community strategist at TH_NK, advised companies to get involved in content and discussions early on, add genuine value and always be mindful that more story doesn’t equal better story. The narrative needs to be consistent, regardless of the channel. This was clearly the strategy for Paddy Power with their ‘making mischief connect the content’ session, which showcased their support for the European team in the form of skywrite tweets for the September ‘12 Ryder Cup. A real example of the integration of on and offline channels.

Both Aurasma and O2 demonstrated how mobile can well and truly be at the heart of the media mix and Mirco Musolesi from the University of Birmingham took us through mobile sensing which detects customers' emotions, movements and discussions in order to predict their behaviours. A subject which rightly raised much debate, with issues concerning permission marketing.

We were brought back down to earth and encouraged to tune in to our human side with a rather dark presentation from Nick Morris, founder of Canvas8, who identified an increasing trend of a need to release ourselves from trying to be the best version of ourselves. The pressure-valve that we all live in explodes sometimes and there is a growing trend to find the underground and push the boundaries, a rebellion against our increasingly monitored lives.

All in all, the conference had a great balance of forward and current thinking. What’s clear is that we’re experiencing a third industrial revolution purely by focussing on and analysing existing customer behaviour rather than trying to “change” behaviour. We’re just responding to customer needs and we’re all creating our own destinies. Now more than ever is a time for innovation and agile creativity. Channel Four and the BBC are already responding to this with their collaborative innovation labs ‘Fuel Four’ and ‘BBC Connected Studio’ respectively.

So, we all need to adopt an Innovative Attitude, as explored by Dave Birss, a writer and doer from GetAdditive.com. Strip yourself bare, believe in your vision and notice things other people don’t. Deep down we all know this is the case, just like at the core of advertising is creativity. We just need to be reminded of this every now and then. This conference was the perfect reminder and a nudge to think outside the box - think the unthinkable! It did give me the tools to rethink, redefine and re-launch, just as it promised to.