The American Marketing Association at York recently held their annual Marketing conference featuring distinguished industry professionals from Toronto. I really enjoyed the laid back vibe and tons of networking opportunities! Here are some of the key learnings from the day:
Ray Kong - Consumer Marketing & Trends
- “Any business is designed to keep doing what made it successful.”
- “You have to skate where the puck’s going, not where it’s been” - Wayne Gretzky
- Two fundamental forces in marketing are shaping the future: individualism and ephemeralism (not yet a word!)
- Individualism is not just a cultural force but witnessed by the shift from mass to segmented and finally to relationship marketing.
- Rising divorce rates, people living off the grid, work from home can all be used as indicators of growing individualism
- Technology is an enabler of individualism but individualized offerings do not necessarily have to be technology based
- “You are not a marketer if you think a hammer is a hammer is a hammer!”
- Ephemeralism has to do with expecting and demanding things for the shorter term
- Indicators of growing ephemeralism include shared ownership (ZipCar), the ‘cloud’, employee churn problems and even temporary brands.
- People, too, are hardwired to keep doing what made them successful. Question, examine and continuously look for underlying trends.
- ‘Fiddling’ is a new post-purchase stage where consumer can customize the products according to their needs. E.g: installing Apps on an iPhone
Luciano Volpe - Networking
- “More people live in developing countries than developed ones like ours. They would kill to be here yet often we are not even here ourselves.”
- “The most important thing in business / life if communication.” [I respectfully disagree - but that is for another post!]
- “You will lose opportunities every day if you stay within your comfort zone. Take out those ear buds and connect with people around you!”
- 80-90% of communication is non-verbal. You don’t have to talk to people to know what they are thinking!
- “You can’t build anything if you aren’t sincere.”
- “The worst way to get a job is by sending in a resume.” [agreed!]
- “Push the envelope, be your own mentor, learn something new everyday!”
- Listening means being curious, reading and having an opinion.
- “A lot of people care about unimportant things and yet don’t have an opinion on what matters. Neither God wants them nor will Satan!” [a bit too epic for a marketing conference - but we get the point!]
Rob Tait - Branded Entertainment
- The US has been an early adopter of branded entertainment but Canada is not far behind
- “We are witnessing a shift from platform focus to format focus.” [The platform may support a myriad of formats - what Tony Chapman refers to as ‘Channel Agnosticism’]
- “The line between advertising and storytelling is blurring”
- Massive changes in the advertising landscape leaves tremendous room for opportunities as marketers and creative folk alike
- “Good is the enemy of great” - sharing an excerpt from his experience at MacLaren McCann
- “Be a problem solver. Look for the fix, not the fault.”
Terrence Donnelly - Personal Branding
- Know thyself: You are not what you believe but rather what people perceive you to be. Ask your friends to describe you! [I thought this was an interesting parallel to customer based brand equity]
- Own your brand: Plan, execute and build the career you want
- Ask yourself: What makes me lose myself? [Related to the concept of flow]
- Be aware of the flip side of what you bring to the table. E.g long term vs. short term focus or big picture vs. detail orientation
- Strive for perfection without hoping to ever achieve it [The Perfect Circle only exists in the mind - another day, another post!]
- “Visualize what success means to you in 25 years. You will be surprised at what needs to be done today!”
- The all-important questions: “What will be the outcome of my career? What kind of legacy do I want to leave behind?”
- “It is easier to be different than to be better.” [E.g Coke and Pepsi are both carbonated beverages but with very different positions. Neither brand could meaningfully claim absolute advantage on a given attribute.]
- “Treat your resume like an ad.” - Test, evolve, use and reshuffle as needed.
- “It is impossible to be a leader without having followers.” [Tell a story that people want to associate with and share]
- “Skip HR - go straight to the boss!” [On the direct approach to landing a job]
- “The two highest paid actors are the two best connected. Could this be a coincidence?” [Note to self, read ‘The Tipping Point’!]
Overall it was a great day packed with insights and I would certainly recommend it to any marketing student. Thank you AMA @ York!
