Look no further for expertise on digital

Depending on what type of person you are, the challenge of being a marketer in a digital world is either keeping you awake with sheer excitement at the potential for engaging your brand’s customers, or keeping you awake with confusion and despair.

Whichever of the two situations you find yourself in during the small hours, this week’s issue contains a treasure trove of opinion, analysis, ideas and solutions that might just spark your next big brand engagement or communication.

This week sees the launch of a new bi-monthly section of the magazine called Digital Strategy, which should be your first port of call for all things digital. Each Digital Strategy edition will gather a collection of reports showcasing the latest innovations and trends in digital as well as identifying changing attitudes towards digital marketing tools and executions. More importantly, the features we publish will demonstrate how your department can best apply these tools and ideas to your brand activity.

Elsewhere, we have a genuinely illuminating roundtable discussion talking about which brands already have the know-how and technology to take full advantage of the rapid evolution in mobile marketing.

“A new section of the magazine, called Digital Strategy, should be your first port of call for all things digital”

Michael Nutley speculates about the future of search and behavioural targeting and what these disciplines might mean for the fate of traditional advertising agencies and, while I’m on a roll, outside of the magazine pages there is plenty more digital analysis to engage with. Ruth Mortimer’s blog, accessible through the home page of www.marketingweek.co.uk is always worth a few minutes of your day. Two recent blogs reveal her inner-technophile, detailing her thoughts on Unilever’s new digital ice cream vending machine (smile if you want one) and the fact she has started using a mobile phone app called Red Laser to revolutionise her shopping trips.

Ruth was last week named the PPA’s business magazine columnist of the year and deservedly so. You can now keep up with Ruth and the rest of our editorial team on our Facebook group, through our LinkedIn group and via our Twitter feed (all through the home page). And while I’m on good news, I’m delighted to add that in the same week as Ruth’s success, Marketing Week’s art director Wendy Webb was a winner in the 2010 Maggie Awards, a prestigious national competition recognising the very best magazine covers from last year.

You’ll be able to see a year’s worth of the iconic Marketing Week covers created by Wendy Webb and designer Simon Ford at our stand at Marketing Week Live next Tuesday and Wednesday. You can still register for this free event taking place at Olympia by visiting www.marketingweeklive.co.uk