Ahead of our thinkDoubleClick digital advertising summit on June 4th, we caught up with Neal Mohan, Google’s Vice President of Display Advertising, to hear what’s on his mind heading into the conference.

The theme for thinkDoubleClick this year is “Connect & Accelerate.” Why did that resonate with you?
I get asked all the time why I'm so bullish about the future of digital media. It's a long answer, but if I had to boil it down, it comes down to two things. First, I think there’s a $200 billion opportunity as brand spend shifts online that I think will help grow the pie for everyone. Second, digital has an unparalleled ability to connect the things that will help marketers and publishers address that opportunity - their businesses, their partners and their customers. We'll be talking about this at the conference, as well as how technology can help accelerate our partners’ growth.

What discussions are you looking forward to at thinkDoubleClick?
I’m looking forward to some honest conversations about brand-building in today’s connected world, how marketers are re-thinking their marketing mix, and how publishers are embracing new models, like native formats.

We really hope that people walk away from this event with actionable insights from our fantastic lineup of speakers featuring Coca Cola’s Wendy Clark, Omnicom Digital’s Jonathan Nelson, and CBS Interactive’s Jim Lanzone.

Will there be any announcements?
I’m not going to give away too much, but I think what might surprise people is that we’ll be talking about social’s role in the customer journey, as well as the growing importance of native formats to our publisher partners at a level of detail we haven’t to date. I hope everyone tunes in next week to learn more.

thinkDoubleClick is being live-streamed publicly on June 4th from 9am - 12:30pm PDT. If you haven’t done so already, register now.

Posted by Yamini Gupta, Product Marketing Team

On Tuesday, June 4th we’ll host our annual digital leadership summit, thinkDoubleClick, with provocative conversations about the future of digital marketing and media, and you’re invited to join via live stream by registering here!

Hear executives from advertising, agencies and publishers discuss some of the big questions in digital such as:

• How do creatives leverage, but not be overwhelmed by, technology to deliver next-generation consumer experiences? 
• What unique experiences are publishers developing that add value to consumers and advertisers alike? 
• How do CMOs best use social with other marketing channels to build strong brands? 

The full agenda for the thinkDoubleClick event is listed below. You can join in the conversation on June 4 by using the #thinkDCLK hash and commenting during the live stream at www.youtube.com/doubleclick.

Register here for the thinkDoubleClick summit.

June 4, 2013, 9 am - 12:15 PDT

9:00 - 9:30 am	Connecting Digital, Accelerating Growth Neal Mohan, VP Display Advertising, Google
9:30 - 10:00 am	The Coca-Cola Company's Liquid & Linked Marketing: How a 127-year-old company is pivoting for success in a real-time, socially-connected world The Coca-Cola Company sells over 500 brands in 207 countries, with over 700,000 System associates and 1.8B+ servings of their beverages everyday. Hear insights and lessons learned on how the world's most valuable brand is remaining relevant by becoming more connected, transparent and nimble in real-time. Wendy Clark, Senior Vice President, Integrated Marketing Communications and Capabilities, Coca-Cola
10:00 - 10:35 am	Advertisers Must be Inventors This year, Volkswagen and Deutsch LA partnered with Google to work on a briefto re-imagine how to build a stronger, bigger community around its brand. In today’s connected world, telling stories alone isn’t enough; we need to create tangible value and utility to bring the brand’s promise to life. In this session the creative team from Deutsch LA will be talking about the process for developing more rewarding and shareable experience. Winston Binch, Partner/Chief, Digital Creative Officer, Deutsch LA David Kim, Group Creative Director, Deutsch LA
10:35 - 11:15 am	Time to Rethink the Marketing Mix? Emerging trends in digital marketing -- including new ad formats, the rise of social media, and proliferation of channels -- are creating new challenges and opportunities for brand marketers. What are the key trends marketers should be concerned about -- and how should they respond? AdAge deputy editor Michael Learmonth poses the hard questions in an executive dialogue on what’s next for brand marketing. Fireside chat with: Michael Learmonth, Deputy Managing Editor, Advertising Age Lorraine Twohill, VP, Global Marketing, Google Jonathan Nelson, CEO, Omnicom Digital
11:15 am - 12: 15 pm	New and Native: Extending the Conversation Technology has had a profound impact on the media industry. This disruption, though, has brought along significant opportunities for creative publishers to thrive. In this session we’re bringing in three executives to show how they’ve leveraged the digital revolution to deliver more engaging content and differentiated solutions to advertisers. Randall Rothenberg, President & CEO, Interactive Advertising Bureau (provocateur) Jim Lanzone, President, CBS Interactive Peter Horan, President & Chief Operating Officer, Answers Meredith Kopit Levien, Group Publisher & Chief Revenue Officer, Forbes Media

We look forward to seeing you on June 4th at thinkDoubleClick.

Posted by Scott Brown, Product Marketing team

Today at the Conversational Marketing Summit (CM Summit), Neal Mohan, Google’s VP of Display advertising, will be speaking on ‘The State of Google.’ We'll reveal new insights for today's digital advertisers on how to bridge data-driven buying with brand marketing in our interconnected world.

Tune in as Neal discusses the future of advertising at Google:

• Live stream on YouTube.com begins on May 21, 2013, at 9:45am ET 
• Following us? @GoogleDisplay tweeting live during the event 

The Conversational Marketing Summit (CM Summit) is taking place from May 21-22 2013 in NYC. This year’s theme is “Parting the Clouds: Bridging Data and Humanity.”

Posted by Mary Shirley, Product Marketing Manager

As part of our "Video in the Future" content series, today we speak with IAB's Head of Brand Initiatives, Peter Minnium, and The AOL On Network's Senior Vice President of Video, Ran Harnevo, about the challenges and opportunities of Video Everywhere.

Watch the conversation live below. If you'd like to leave questions and comments for the speakers, please log into your Google+ account, and leave them in the comment box for the hangout on the thinkwithGoogle +page.

Posted by Yamini Gupta, Product Marketing Team

People are constantly connected and moving from one device to another to communicate, shop and stay entertained. They expect a great browsing experience regardless of what device they use - PC, laptop, tablet, smartphone, hybrid device, mini-tablet and television. 

Creating a great website experience for consumers across all devices can help businesses generate more engagement and increase conversions. We want to support you in finding the right strategy for your business and help answer key questions related to user experience and website creation. So, today we’re launching a new initiative on Think Insights dedicated to multi-device web strategies: www.google.com/think/multiscreen

We understand that the key to success in a multi-screen world is to deliver a great user experience across devices and specifically address user needs based on context. Our new Think Insights page offers tips for businesses on how to approach multi-device websites and outlines different implementation options. We're also providing links to helpful resources, like a testing tool to analyze your website's load speed, examples of great multi-device user experience, and a list of partners that can help you get started.
This is part of our ongoing effort to provide you with industry-leading best practices, technical guidance and third party services that can help you optimize your site across screens. To stay up-to-date on the latest content added to the site, please subscribe to our monthly Think Letter. 

Nabil Haschemie, Product Marketing Manager, Mobile Ads

Join us on Thursday, May 16th at 2:00PM ET/ 11:00AM PT to hear Ran Harnevo, Senior Vice President of Video for The AOL On Network, talk about the opportunities and challenges of video everywhere, with Peter Minnium, IAB's Head of Brand Initiatives. Sign up here!

In the last Hangout in our series "Video in the Future", IAB's VP of Ad Technology, Steve Sullivan, discussed the value of programmatic video with TubeMogul's Chief Strategy Officer, Jason Lopatecki, and Silver Chalice's Executive Vice President & General Manager, Rich Routman. Brands and publishers are acknowledging that programmatic video has a place in today's media plans, and provided perspectives on how the space is evolving. They touched on how fast online video is growing and what programmatic buying will mean for transparency, effectiveness, and the reduction of waste.

Watch the video:

Posted by Jonathan Arp and Yamini Gupta, Product Marketing Team

What’s the future of digital media and marketing? How are CMOs from some of the largest consumer companies thinking about leveraging digital to reach and engage audiences? What marketing channels are proving most effective in building brands - paid, owned or earned? In a world of rapidly shifting consumer expectations, how will media companies continue to differentiate themselves?

These are some of the questions senior executives from the digital advertising ecosystem will address at thinkDoubleClick, Google’s annual executive discussion on the state of digital.

Register now to join the event livestream on June 4th, 9:00 AM - Noon Pacific. Participate in the conversation, ask speakers and panelists your questions with #thinkDCLK.

thinkDoubleClick 2013 speakers include:

• Wendy Clark, Senior Vice President, The Coca-Cola Company, @wnd
• Jim Lanzone, President, CBS Interactive, @jlanzone
• Peter Horan, President & COO, Answers @peterchoran
• Meredith Kopit Levien, Group Publisher & Chief, Forbes @merdith_levien
• Randall Rothenberg, CEO, IAB @r2rothenberg
• Lorraine Twohill, Chief Marketing Officer, Google
• Michael Learmonth, Chief Editor, AdAge @learmonth

We look forward to seeing you on June 4th!

Missed last year’s highlights? It’s not too late to catch up.

Posted by Yamini Gupta, Product Marketing Team