Chris Hirst is the managing director of Grey London, an advertising agency whose clients include Procter & Gamble, Toshiba and Channel 5.

We asked him about the extent to which so-called traditional advertisers are embracing digital.

Should we be buying online media based on engagement rather than just passive consumption?

In the current tough financial period, would advertisers be willing to commit more budgets online if customer engagement was guaranteed?

Historically, FMCG brands have been slow to embrace online marketing as they have struggled to deliver a compelling creative message and measure the effectiveness of their campaigns.

He recently spoke at ChannelAdvisor’s Catalyst event about how the company was generating business online through its Nike+ community and Nike iD, its system that allows shoppers to create customised trainers online and in store.

After his speech, we asked Chris a few questions about Nike’s e-commerce strategy, internal structure and future social media plans. And why its website is 100% Flash.

Let's build a quick to-do list to spruce up your site for Universal Search.

I have just been checking my Yahoo Mail, which kindly displays a skyscraper ad on the right side of the screen.

The challenge is to offer advertisers increased flexibility and new formats in order to protect margins.

Now P&G, one of the world’s largest advertisers, has spoken out for the need for change in the internet marketing industry.

It would be a dream to accurately measure the impact of your TV ad on generating uplift in an outdoor campaign, driving interest in your press ad, which subsequently delivers a sale.

But can this now be achieved online?

Lovefilm founder and COO William Reeve tells us why he wouldn’t recommend the company’s movie downloading service to his friends.

He explains how the DVD rental company got through last month’s postal strikes and why it’s not the right time for its highly popular service to go mobile.

And he gives us a few thoughts on the subject of Hackathons, having recently brought over the brainstorming concept from the US.

The online ad giant says the service is now being offered to its Adsense partners in the UK, Ireland and Canada – enabling them to display ad-supported clips on their sites.

But can the self-proclaimed 'Home of witty banter' really compete against the Goliath that is online video streaming for the share of viewers' attention?

The move, another attempt by Google to monetise its $1.76bn purchase of YouTube a year ago, will see it sharing revenue with publishers that add its ‘video units’ to their sites.

The acquisition, reckoned to be worth around $100m if targets are met, will see Schematic folded into the ad giant’s digital unit.

The data, taken from Advertising.com's network and a survey hosted by InsightExpress, found longer pre-rolls delivered higher CTRs but shorter ads performed better in terms of complete views.

The move will see Hi-Media attempting to use its online advertising and micro-payments systems to better monetise the site, which says it is experiencing strong growth in Europe.