Click Singapore 2010

Held at Dempsey House - part of what was once a British Army barracks but that is now a complex of restaurants, bars and shops - Click was a one-day conference covering all aspects of online advertising.

Probably the most hotly debated issue of the day was how to sell digital work to clients, with our audience anxious to hear the advice from our international speakers. Their answer? That for a client to buy digital work requires a great deal of faith and trust. They may be used to a world where they can buy a guaranteed audience of x million for a TV spot at an alloted time – digital work often requires the audience to come to it. If it's good enough, people will want to view it, but, although agencies can help via PR, seeding and so on, an audience cannot be guaranteed in the same way that it can on TV or in the press. Secondly, you are dealing with technology that often has to be built first before a client can get a true idea of what it looks and feels like. Tom Sacchi of Unit 9 explained how they draw up schematics and simple animations to show clients each step in the process, but even this requires a leap of faith to truly 'get' what the final work will be like.