Last week, the IAB held its Annual Leadership Meeting: Ecosystem 2.0.  CPX Interactive recognized that this would be a great opportunity to hear from the thought leaders in the industry, and was glad to sponsor Scribe Media’s video coverage of the event. CPX COO & President, Rob Rasko, had a chance to speak with Randall Rothenberg, President of the IAB, on a variety of topics.

Rothenberg looks forward to 2010 as a year of economic recovery. He believes that agencies and advertisers will be forced to take digital more seriously, despite their fears, as it becomes more mainstream.

He discusses two important growth areas for 2010, which he considers on the opposite ends of the spectrum. The first is an increased focus on mobile. Rothenberg cites the acquisition of AdMob by Google, and Quattro by Apple as evidence of a shift in focus. CPX can attest to this shift firsthand, as we have recently formed a partnership with Nexage to expand our reach to WAP sites and mobile apps. What Rothenberg finds most interesting is that mobile devices are being viewed by marketers as the bridge between brand advertising budgets and consumer advertising budgets.

The reinvention of the television screen as a fully interactive HD device is something else Rothenberg looks forward to this year. He believes that as the interactive television develops, it will cause brand advertising to flow like “nobody’s business” into interactive media. Rothenberg explains that companies and executives are starting to adapt to the obvious reality that the Internet is a disruptive medium.  There is an imbalance between supply and demand that is putting pressure on classic CPM prices for class forms of display advertising, so business models have to change and adapt, he says. The biggest change he sees is the realization among companies that they can either make technology their friend, or it will be their enemy.

A member of the IAB’s Network and Exchanges Committee, Rasko asks Rothenberg about self-regulation, and the guidelines recently released by the committee. Rothenberg reflects on how much the public dialogue and support have increased over the past few years. The IAB is seeing an enormous amount of support for things like their Privacy Matters pro bono ad campaign. At the same time, Rothenberg stresses the importance that every company in the media and advertising/marketing industry (not just interactive) recognize that the threat of really bad regulation by regulators or politicians who don’t understand the business and aren’t necessarily willing to learn. In addition, it is also important for these companies to participate in very strong, very aggressive, independently enforced self regulation in order to prove that they are worthy of the consumers’ trust.

Although he feels like there has been a good deal of support from politicians, Rothenberg has also observed quite a lot of intentional fear mongering taking place in Washington. For example, phrases like “consumer data” are being enflamed, even though it has existed for 50 years. What people aren’t told is that “consumer data” includes such things as IP addresses that allow people to connect to the Internet. Rothenberg also touches on the topic of the dreaded use of cookies. He explains that unless cookies are used, the consumer will be overwhelmed with advertising, and refers to legislation that would limit them as the Spam Reinvention Act of 2010. Both Rasko and Rothenberg understand the need for greater education about the interactive industry. Rothenberg says we have to get a lot better at explaining the basic business operations and technological underpinnings of the interactive business.

In the next part of the conversation, Rothenberg expands on the keynote speech of IAB Chairman Dave Moore, explaining his own view on the direction the Web will take in the future in terms of free and paid content.  Rothenberg refers to himself as a “flaming moderate” on the issue, and explains that he has always believed that it doesn’t have to be one or the other. There are thousands of variations and possibilities in terms of hybrid models of free and paid, and there are ways that both can be used to drive positive user experiences and positive business results.

Rasko introduces the concept of “coopetition” that he has observed among the members of the IAB, and Rothenberg expresses his gratitude for the efforts of members working together to help the IAB operate successfully.

Watch the video above for more from Rasko and Rothenberg, and stay tuned for much more from the event in the coming days.