Pew Internet Director Lee Rainie gave a keynote address to the iMedia Agency Summit for ad executives. He discussed the new media ecology and how it has changed customer behavior and expectations.

Main themes: The media ecology has changed so profoundly that the people formerly known as consumers are a new breed. They allocate their attention differently. They approach the product research differently. They move into a buying frame of mind differently. And they are prepared to discuss their buying experiences on a vastly different scale. These changes occur because people inhabit a variety of media spaces, depending on their circumstances and frame of mine. Their expectations about encountering brands are shaped by those media spaces and by their ability to influence the character of those spaces.

This talk provides new national consumer data and a series of on-the-ground examples of how companies have successfully engaged the new breed of consumers.