Reflections on Advertising Week New York: Five things Google's Nishma Robb learned from this year's event

Video and VR were some of the most keenly debated topics of the week and some of the data revealed at Tara Walpert Levy’s session confirmed what I’ve suspected for some time – that people and their habits remain consistent in the wake of radical change in the technology that surrounds them.

Over 50% of adults are watching YouTube on TV and 60% are watching with others – very similar to how I watched TV with my family as a child. Similarly, mobile video and video are most likely to be watched in Primetime – and if it’s not viewed in the family room then it’s that classic teenage retreat of the bedroom. The most remarkable stat of the week was that the average video viewing session on a mobile device is 40 minutes – consumers aren’t treating TV, digital and mobile as silos and neither should we.

Why are we STILL having to talk gender diversity in 2016

As chair of Women@Google UK I don’t know whether to be heartened by the track devoted to Empowering Women on Monday, or dismayed that we are still having to have this conversation in 2016.

The brilliant Meabh Quoirin of Foresight Factory was joined on stage at one session by a trio of brilliant women to debate the rather depressing findings of an Advertising Week-commissioned survey into the issues facing women in business in the US. In a country where just 4% of Fortune 500 CEO’s are women, there is a disturbing dissonance between high levels of ambition among young women in particular and what they are able to achieve. I’d be intrigued to see how this study would play out in the UK and across EMEA – legislation around family care, for example, may be very different this side of the pond but I’m certain women – as well as many minority groups – are facing similar challenges.

Super Tuesday – the election show rolls on

It was impossible to miss the media circus that surrounded the first presidential debate held on the first day of Advertising Week. Both candidates’ performances were fascinating to watch, and the debate was a brilliant springboard to a Super Tuesday track of content kickstarted by a debate on the Times Center stage, chaired by an impressive Katie Couric, that was devoted to the election and politics more broadly. Any Brit – Remainer or Brexiteer – watching the election unfold can’t help but draw some parallels with some the surprising referendum vote back in June.

No balls, no babies

This year was the first time Advertising Week ran a keynote series of sessions in the Townhall with the biggest names on stage for a two-hour-long session. One I managed to see was a one to one between Arianna Huffington and a very funny Mark Cuban – football club owner, successful entrepreneur and the lead ‘Shark’ on the US version of Dragon’s Den – Shark Tank. A Peter Jones on steroids if you will. The conversation jumped from his recent front row attendance of the presidential debate – he’s now a big Clinton supporter having originally flirted with Trump – through to his meeting style (he doesn’t have them). Most memorable was the discussion around ambition – as he put it, ‘No balls, no babies’.

Advertising can be a force for good

The biggest show of the week was undoubtedly the inaugural D&AD Impact awards presented with Advertising Week. Unlike any other awards, the show was fast-paced, foot-tappingly produced and ended with a gratifyingly Police-heavy set from Sting. More importantly, the Impacts aim to celebrate work that “harnesses the power of creativity as a force for good” and has demonstrated “a real and positive difference to the world.” And, category after category, showed off some great work from the likes of Burger King’s Proud Whopper to Inglorious Fruit and Veg. It not only felt joyful and impactful but, critically, had demonstrated real world results by speaking directly to relevant concerns and topical issues, rather than to their own corporate agenda.

Nishma Robb is Google’s head of ads marketing. Advertising Week Europe returns to London at Picturehouse Central March 20-24 2017