Advertising Week DC session attended by Silverback

By: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) posted on 09/16/2009 in Industry News  

 

Advertising Week DC (ADWKDC) Session and New York Information-

Washington DC 9/16/2009 Morning Session:

2009 marks the 6^th year of Advertising Week DC.  ADWKDC is hosted by the Advertising Club of Metropolitan Washington for professionals in the communications industry.  It is a week of celebrating creativity around the DC Metro Area. Even though it’s been super busy at the Silverback Strategies office, we were glad that we had some time to sneak out for a few to attend the Wednesday morning session of ADWKDC 2009.  

Here's a snap shot of today's morning session:

The morning session kicked off with Liz Dolan, CMO for The Oprah Winfrey Network.  Liz's presentation showcased her past experiences as VP of Global Marketing for Nike along with her "Favorite Mistakes."  "The team that makes the most mistakes wins," Liz stated, explaining that even large companies like Nike make mistakes and that it's okay (as long as you learn from it).   Liz also commented that we as communications professionals are innovators, and we have to convey a message or try new tactics that have never been done before in order to sell or promote anything, whether it be a product, a service, a person…etc. (and sometimes trying things may lead to mistakes but remember it's "OK").  She also shared some epic Fail and Winner commercials as examples for her topic.  A great commercial that took a big risk and eventually turned out to be extremely successful for Nike was when the company first signed Tiger Woods; it was a gamble at the time and the big question was, "How do you promote a tremendously talented amateur that’s never won a major pro competition?"  The Answer: Nike launched a commercial (Tiger Woods’ – Hello World Campaign) that broke boundaries; Nike understood their core value of sportsmanship (Just Do It) and it evoked a lot of "I'm a winner attitude" which helped paint the stage for Tiger and Nike's partnership/sponsorship even before Tiger won the Masters. According to Liz, the feeling of risking it all on an amateur eventually disappeared after Tiger won his first pro competition a few months after the commercial launched.

The "Truths and Myths of Mobile" discussion was held after Liz's presentation.  The topic covered trends for mobile devices.  Even though there's huge growth for mobile device usage, mobile devices are still classified in a wide variety of buckets and only a small fraction have smartphone capabilities.  So within these buckets you have non-smartphones vs. smartphones, plus there are different sub-groupings within the buckets based by phone type and service providers.  With the much larger non-smartphone user base in the mix, it is often difficult to communicate or market to these mobile devices since the phones can't handle the technology.  And what about the small group that use smart technology?  The Panel explained that even with smart technology this market segment is still fragmented, for example the iPhone vs. BlackBerry vs. the Palm Pre…etc. markets are all unique in their own way that it is often difficult to cater and update applications on a timely manner.  Just like Liz, the panel touched upon making mistakes and learning from it for the mobile industry.  The mobile industry is still a work in progress and there is a major need for a more streamlined way to reach out to consumers; the good news is that a lot of groups are working to make it better. The mobile industry is and will continue to be a hot topic, not only from the marketing and advertising but also from the usage and consumption stand points.  We as communication professionals should definitely keep an eye on this fast growing industry.

The next topic, “Adventures in Social Media:  The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” was moderated by Online Marketing Expert, Tim Rudder and Discussion Speakers:  Claire Alexander, COL Mike Jones, and Chris McGill provided their feedbacks.  The panel discussed the importance and adventures in Social Media.  Claire, VP for Discovery Communications said that social media should be engaging and should be used to drive loyalty to the product, company, brand, etc.  She also added that companies need to have clear, set goals prior to jumping into social marketing and that users need to be rewarded.  Chris Jones, Founder and CEO of Mixx said that social marketing is not temporary and needs to have a long term investment.  COL Mike Jones, a Commander in the Army National Guard explained that one of the biggest mistakes that companies fail to comprehend is that they treat Social Networks like a Website, he said that users drive Social Networks and it should be tailored for them.  He also added that if the Social Networking site fails to answer the questions on what people are looking for, then it becomes a waste of money.  “People are looking for a community, answers,” COL Jones said.   

Overall there are nothing but positive comments for ADWKDC.  If you’re in the marketing and advertising industry, a student, or in the communications field, check out the conferences.  We're definitely doing the whole package next year and we hope to see you there too.  We highly recommend people to attend ADWKDC next year and also check out New York's Advertising Week. Thanks again to the organizers.

 

To register or to get more information about ADWKDC and Advertising Week in NY, visit their Websites:

www.advertisingweek.com/

www.adweekdc.com/

A shot of the panel of experts during DC Advertising Week 2009