On a day when the last thing anyone wanted to do was sit in an auditorium - with sunny skies and beach beckoning - the opening sessions largely reflected the day and condition of most delegates - many who were either jet lagged or in Saturday night recovery mode. And yet, while not all sessions proved worthy of the Festival's reputation (with one being nothing but a sales pitch), a few nuggets emerged that offered some insights into the thinking of agencies and marketers in today's uncertain and rapidly evolving business climate.
In talking of the "Death of the Creative Director", LBi's Chris Clarke and Lorenzo Wood captured the re-newed focus on the need for compelling content, compelling stories and awesome creative if one is to capture attention in a world where attention is at a premium: "Do something interesting if you want to say something interesting", they posited. "(It's) not enough to be clever... you need to be clever with impact." . Instead of defining the experience, brands today must create spaces where consumers can interact and create, and then identify opportunities to intervene in ways that add value. All of this was positioned in the context of the social media (r)evolution and the oft-stated fact that individuals are now both consumers and producers of content.
Further down the docket, Sapient moderated a discussion with members of the Coca-Cola team talking about how interactive technologies are transforming their campaigns. Carol Kruse, VP Interactive Marketing, discussed the challenges of running global digital campaigns and their success in taking ownership of, and transforming, their fan-founded Facebook page which now counts 3 million-plus fans. Perhaps the most interesting point raised was the shared consensus of all panelists that mobile will be the next 'big' thing for marketing - particularly in emerging markets where, Kruse stated, Coke has in fact bypassed the web and gone straight to mobile.
With the addition of Richard Rosen's discussion on the convergence of brand and direct marketing, and a reinforcement of the power and potential of social media to enhance both personal and corporate brands from the good folks at LinkedIn (more on that later), the day - which began in a booze and jet-lag fuelled haze - ended up quite enlightening.
