Keynote: Interactive’s ‘Right to Succeed’

The several hundred early risers at Ad:Tech Chicago’s morning keynote were treated to an affirmation of their cause and a rallying cry for measurement.

Ted McConnell, Procter & Gamble’s Consumer Connect Program Manager of Innovation, stood at the pulpit (okay, a podium) and said, “Every day, you people are investing a new future and it is absolutely inspiring to see the strength of innovation that goes on here.” A few minutes later, he followed this up, avowing, “There’s no one who believes more than I do in the right to succeed of interactive.”

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Power to the People

The theme of the conference is the “Age of Engagement.” The tune of Age of Aquarius rings in my head. I am thinking ‘is this just another term?’ I suppose this means mass media is dead; long live new media. Smart companies are actively pursuing interaction with customers.

Keynote Strikes an Optimistic Note

Mary Meeker, of Morgan Stanley, started AD:TECH 2005 off on an upbeat note with a host of fascinating statistics on the global rise of the Internet as an integral part of consumer life. She also highlighted a number of businesses she feels are positioned to benefit in the coming years.

The presentation can be found here:
http://www.morganstanley.com/institutional/techresearch/

Keynote Via Disembodied Voice #2: Mary Meeker

Mary Meeker, from Morgan Stanley (presentation here) is bullish. From where she sits, internet oriented companies look like a good bet.

Keynote Via Disembodied Voice #1: John Costello

I admit it: this is my first Ad:Tech. I had no idea what I was getting myself into. Little did I know that showing up blithely about 10 minutes before the Keynote was about to start Monday morning was the best way to end up in some overflow room where you were treated to Keynote Via Disembodied Voice. It was a little confusing. But I hung in there and actually took some copious notes, with this blog in mind.

Mass Marketing Yields to Conversational And Tribal Communications

The final day’s keynote was given by Creative Artists Agency Entertainment Division CEO Mike Windsor and Berlin Cameron Managing Partner Avi Dan. The thrust of the talk centered on the now common theme of consumer control and the wane of traditional media. While Windsor prognosticated the death of mass “push” media and the rise of involvement and conversation marketing, Dan, defended the :30 as a viable ad unit.

China to Control the U.S. Internet Economy?

This morning’s keynote followed the idea that, with changing control of the consumer and economic trends, marketing’s role has to change.  Speaking to illustrate and reinforce this notion were Rick KarlGaard of Forbes.com and Mary Bermel of HP. 

Probably the most startling perspective of the keynote was Rich’s viewpoint that with an ever-expanding economy, increased competitives and a broader consumer accessibility, countries like China and India were poised to really to take a large chunk out of our economy - massively declining prices and a commodity based pricing model would not be far off for our economy in North Amercia if we didn’t react.  Why would we buy a suit on 5th Ave. (and they are expensive there - I checked it out myself) if we can buy the same suit online from Hong Kong for 20 percent of the price and very little quality difference?
Marketers have to keep up - this is where Mary Bermel of HP, their Interactive Global Brand Advertising Manager, spoke up with strong recommendations.

We need to be more accessible.  We need to predict and to anticipate more where are customers are going and what they are thinking and where they’ll be when they want our products.  We need to consider and potentially cover all of our marketing channels and touchpoints and follow the successes of personalized portal technologies like My Yahoo and the innovation that blogs (gotta luv em) have created.  Basically Mary emphasized that we need to scream smarter rather than louder at our clients and potential clients. 

The question remains though - is this the solution to the threat? Do we really need to spend more time covering our bases and risk haunting consumers at every corner they turn or do we need to really dig deep into the demand chain and understand truly what consumers want in terms of value and features?  Think about it - they’ll always buy that suit on 5th avenue if it really meets our needs and provides great value.  Or will they?

Blackwell on Branding

It can be argued that the most important piece of knowledge Roger Blackwell had to share with us was what he had for breakfast this morning (this would be particularly helpful for those of us who took advantage of the open bars last night). For someone to display such energy and enthusiasm before noon is nothing short of exhausting to the rest of us. I suppose being a professor lends itself to certain presentation styles, though, and while he didn’t need jokes to keep our attention, they were a refreshing change of pace.

Dr. Blackwell’s presentation was an overview of his new book, liberally peppered with references to a few he’s written in years past. He defined a brand as “a product, store, or service with an identifiable set of benefits, wrapped in a recognizable personality.” A brand consists of both functional and emotional elements. The creation and sustenance of great brands relies on a few key findings that he managed to tie back to rock ‘n roll (his new book is called Brands that Rock):

Monday Keynote, United.com’s Pete Peterson

Pete Peterson, president of United.com’s Travel Distribution and Airlines Loyalty Services gave what was one of the meatiest keynotes I’ve ever seen at an AdTech or any other industry show for that matter.  (Due to the fact that wifi is only in the hotel lobby and another round of sessions are starting momentarily, I must be brief in summarizing the speech, though I’ll try to come back and flesh this out more later.)

Peterson began by noting that the travel industry has been impacted by the Internet more than virtually any other industry. Whereas in 1996, there was virtually no travel sales transacted online, in 2004 more than $50 billion will be, according to online travel researchers PhocusWright, and by 2006 that should account for more than 50 percent of all leisure and “unmanaged business” travel. Whereas eight years ago, industry watchers were dubious as to whether the likes of Expedia and Travelocity would ever be profitable, today they and Orbitz are all multibillion companies.

Moreover, all of the web portals for the major airlines are also doing more than $1 billion in annual sales, accounting for 25-30% of United’s overall revenue, which Peterson said was similar for his competitors. In fact, the airlines’ web portals account for 60 percent of all online travel revenue.

Digital Darwinism

I don’t know. Sure, Samsung is doing some great work - a new cell phone every two weeks since September? Talk about a persistent state of launch mode. But Peter Weedfald’s keynote yesterday morning struck me as a little, well, 1998.

Partly, it was his confidence, which bordered on arrogance. While he didn’t really share much that was new or different, he did act like he’d come down from the mountain to tell us the real deal. Which was… what? That the Internet is important? Where’s Ol’ Saint Nick Negroponte when we need him?

Andrew K.‘s comment is pretty spot on. Did the catch phrases and 50-cent words cloud his meaning? That said, I did appreciate two of his points:

One, CRM should stand for “customers really matter.” And two, the whole idea of owning the first inch through the glass - as in reaching from the consumer into the network - is a sweet spot indeed. Samsung doesn’t need to be in the content or distribution business. If they can continue to create the devices we use to access the Net - be they cell phones, displays, or microwaves - they’ll do just fine.

(A more complete partial transcript is also available.)

Propagate the Bellicose?!

One of my fellow bloggers will give the full rundown of the keynote, but I’ve just got to share: That man’s malicious mangling of the English language made my hangover much, much worse.

Keynote, HP: Where Is the Love?

Keynote crowds

This morning’s keynote, while intriguing in terms of some of the ideas and projects shared, fell a little flat on the energy side. Allison Johnson, senior vice president of global brand and communications for Hewlett-Packard Co., expanded on the company’s Brand Love initiative, which reminds me of Yahoo’s Tim Sanders’ Love Is the Killer App, as well as Saatchi & Saatchi’s Lovemarks work. It’s spring; love is in the air. Or the water.

While Brand Love is extremely important—connecting with your customers at an emotional and personal level has never been so crucial—I was surprised that Johnson didn’t project a little more love herself. While Johnson spent a lot of time talking about honesty and authenticity, reading a slow-paced scripted talk felt a little, well, inauthentic. I would’ve preferred it if she had been a little more off the cuff while on message.

That said, Johnson ably explored how HP’s partnership with Apple is helping them move into the music space—as well as their work with Starbucks and the forthcoming Hear Music cafes. By concentrating on how people experience music—or digital photography via the company’s You Stories online gallery—HP is better positioning itself as a truly personal computer company.

And I love it when companies get personal.

(A more complete partial transcript of this session is also available.)