#awxii

[atriumpr]

[wrrf]

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Things I'd rather do w/@BigSean #BigSean #concert #music #rap #hiphop #performance #stage #VIP #vevo #websterhall #nyc #newyork #nightlife #party #AdWeek #awxii #fun (at Webster Hall)

[k-musings]

Advertising Week Through a Student's Experience

This year marks the 12th year of New York's Advertising week. Advertising Week is a 4 day gathering of the industry's best and brightest thought leaders. They host over 200 events, seminars and workshops and have over 900 speakers. I attended Advertising Week for the first time and I'm already looking forward to next year's events.

The following are the seminars that I attended:

The Glass Ladder: Women as Creative Directors

This panel was lead by Sheelah Kolhatkar (Bloomberg Businessweek) and included Tricia Clarke-Stone (CEO and Co-Founder, Narrative), Mindy Goldberg (Founder, Epoch Films), Nacny Hill ( President and CEO, 4A's), Beth Newell (Creator and Editor, Reductress), Lesile Sims (Chief Creative Officer, Y&R New York) and Camille Hackney (Executive Vice President, Atlantic Record). These successful creative women discussed their experiences, challenges and offered advice on how both women and men can better address the gender divide.

Some questions that they addressed include: What are the challenges faced by women in creative workplaces? Should we aim for a gender-neutral workplace, or are there benefits to celebrating our differences? How are female creatives affecting how women are portrayed in pop culture and advertising? Where are the men in this conversation?

The panel itself was full and filled with women with a couple of men as well. Overall I found this panel very inspiring and empowering. My key takeaways from everything that these women talked about are:

1. Learning how to sell yourself better. Have confidence in everything you do and say. Don't have the confidence? Fake it till you make it.

2. There are still voids for women that can be filled.

3. Millennial women are wanted/valued today.

4. Don't be afraid to speak out and don't be afraid of failure.

5. Having a good support system makes a difference.

Winning the Mobile Moments of Truth: A Chat with Google & Fast Company

Hosted by Bob Safian (Editor, Managing Director, Fast Company), he and Sridhar Ramaswamy (SVP Advertising & Commerce, Google) discussed the future of mobile and listeners also got a sneak peak of Google's latest announcements.

Mobile has changed the way we interact with each other and the world. With mobile, we now have "micro-moments" throughout the day rather than the traditional few of moments of truth and it's not stopping anytime soon. My key takeaways:

1. Micro-moments are the future of where advertising needs to go.

2. Advertising is about reaching people when it matters.

3. The situation with Ad Blocking. Advertisers need a have a conversation with its consumers on establishing what's an acceptable ad.

Branding & Hollywood: Bringing Brands To Life Through Alliances With Film

Lead by Maryam Banikarim (Global CMO, Hyatt Hotels Corporation), Doug Ellin (Creator, Entourage), Dan Sanborn (VP PR and Entertainment Marketing, Diageo) and Rob Stone (Founder and Co-CEO, Cornerstone) talk about the strategic partnership between Johnnie Walker and Entourage. They recently released a 2015 film and the speakers lead listeners through the process and execution of this partnership.

It was enlightening hearing how they made the brand come to life through film and their general strategy for creative alliances in branding and Hollywood. Seeing as providing entertainment and storytelling is the way to go for advertising, it will be interesting to see if more brands will partner up with Hollywood in the future to create content.

Getting to Gamers

This was the last panel of advertising week and my favourite, being a gamer myself. Geoff Keighley (Executive Producer, The Game Awards) leads the conversation with Erin Flood (Director, Content Strategy & Acquisition, Verizon), John Koller (VP Marketing, Sony PlayStation), Erica Larson (Head of Industry, Gaming, YouTube/Google) and Dave Marsey (EVP/Managing Director, DigitasLBi) on how to break through the noise and get your message heard to gamers and resonate your brand with them.

Like the speakers, I was surprised to find out that this was the only seminar about video games and gamers throughout advertising week and the first one ever. Hopefully next year there will be more seminars about this topic and industry, epically one about esports. This is a large and growing industry that brands should look into and hop on board. My key takeaways:

1. Brands need to tap into how people love to play the game and know their content.

2. Brands need to find the gamers' passion point/interest.

3. Make sure the influencer the brand is working with fundamentally believes/goes along with the brand's beliefs and values too.

4. Contextualize and draw content from the game itself.

5. Do not interfere with their gaming experience.

In addition to the seminars, each night there was an AW Connects, where all Delegates can network and meet each other. I only went one night but going as a student sucked. Not a lot of Delegates were interested in speaking with students. As soon as I introduced myself as a student, they paused, had that look on their face, and ended the conversation as soon as possible. Fortunately, I was able to speak to a few that were kind enough to give me advice and held a friendly conversation.

Due to it being a school trip, there just wasn't enough time to go to all the seminars that I wanted to go to. With all that being said, it was still a great experience and I enjoyed my time at AWXII. Since I am graduating soon, I hope that will be able to attend next year's as someone who is in the advertising industry and not a student anymore!

[ucbworkplace-blog]

What Can Improv Workshops Teach Advertising Agencies?

Laura Jones of Y&R shares her insights on some of the techniques she learned from attending our workshop “The Art of the Pitch,” presented in partnership with ABC during New York City’s Advertising Week earlier this month. We customized this workshop to blend comedy fundamentals that double as professional skills to give advertisers a competitive advantage. On the Y&R blog, Laura highlights some key takeaways:

Spend Time Nurturing Other People’s Ideas 

Take time to play out other people’s ideas before you pitch your own. 

“By the end of the session, assess which paths have the most potential and then collaborate to flesh those out. Bonus, if an even amount of time is spent nurturing everyone’s idea then when it’s time to walk away from some of them, people will be more willing to work on someone else’s idea if they feel like they’ve been heard.”

Remember The Phrase “Yes, and” 

Affirming and building on others’ ideas is powerful.

“You’ve probably heard this one before, but it bears repeating for the simple fact that it’s just more fun to come up with ideas with people who say ‘Yes’ than people who say ‘No’” 

Don’t Downplay Concerns 

Downplaying someone’s question or concern is like saying “No.”

“According to the UCB, people stop listening once you tell them they are wrong. Instead, acknowledge their concern and then think of a solution that doesn’t diminish [it].”

To read the full article click here 

[withntent]

Advertising Week Experts Agree: Make Mobile Your Next Move

By Rob Clark Vice President, Applications & Mobile Engineering at NTENT

The digital universe has become an organic life force all its own with the primary benefit of providing real-time, accurate information to humans based on data surrounding their behavior. Business owners then apply that knowledge to enhance the consumer experience. It sounds almost primitive to equate the evolution of the digital world to the evolution of man, but in many ways, it’s a parallel analogy. Scientists say humans only use a portion of our brains and that as our evolution continues we stand to be capable of great things. The same can easily be said about the future of digital technology with the fast-growing rise of the mobile “super-computer”.

A common theme among the dozens of panels and renowned industry leaders who appeared at the recent Advertising Week event in New York City was the overall impact and untapped potential of mobile marketing as an epicenter of insight into consumer buying behavior, but one in which we currently use only a fraction of its potential. While some business owners have found a number of ways to incorporate mobile into their business model, those who manage to master the undiscovered mysteries of mobile stand to reap the greatest rewards.

The Big Deal About Mobile

If you’re not already on the mobile bandwagon as a marketer, allow me to pull over for a moment and explain a few reasons why you should hop on.

The mobile device is no longer just a way to keep in contact with loved ones away from home or call 911 when our car breaks down. The mobile device is a pocket-sized extension of our brain. It reminds us of our loved one’s birthday and offers gift suggestions easily purchased with one click. Not only can we dial 911 in an auto emergency, we can search for nearby repair shops and lodging or file an insurance claim in the time it takes the police to arrive. Each and every life situation or what the marketing world has come to refer to as “moments”, presents a new opportunity for business owners.

“Moments” or more aptly described as “micro-moments” represent the main moments of life when mobile users reach for their "extended brain" to save the day. In fractions of a second, mobile search engines like NTENT are able to deliver answers to questions like: I want to know, I want to go, I want to do, I want to buy. These four sources of motivation should be a main point of consideration when building your mobile strategy.

The mobile brain is evolving so rapidly, every day provides new information and opportunity to reach both a broad audience through the mobile web, and a targeted, honed audience via complementary mobile experiences such as apps, messaging and search. The key to success is using what we’ve already learned to unlock the potential of what remains to be discovered.

What We Know So Far

In a panel at Ad Week titled, “Winning the Mobile Moments of Truth: A Chat with Google & Fast Company”, Google SVP of Advertising and Commerce, Sridhar Ramaswamy provided integral insights into the mobile landscape before us.

Mobile devices are our most personal device and the screen above all others we value most. Your goal as a digital marketer should be connecting the best content with users on that screen. Studies show 93% of mobile search users end up making a purchase either digitally or in-store. With those odds, a well thought out strategy that integrates all aspects of your user’s behavior leaves little room for error.

Relevancy is everything. While we understand ads often come with the digital territory, due to the personal relationship we have with our mobile devices, we don’t want to be overwhelmed by them and we respond negatively to ads that aren’t relevant, have intrusive placement or anything that inhibits our user experience. The good news is that the opposite is potently true: An appropriately placed ad that is relevant, with interactive and engaging creative that enhances the user experience guarantees a score for every marketer.

Location, location, location! Latitude and longitude targeting has come to replace the cookie in an app environment. Marketers can use mobile search to tap into consumer intent, touching consumers at exactly the right “micro-moment”. They can then use this information to reevaluate and realign campaigns with extreme relevance to their user. Imagine being able to send a user a coupon for your pet food when he or she enters a pet store. Use app data to determine regular purchases and push notifications to remind users it’s time to stock up for Fido. You’ll become a beacon of necessity to your busy customer who has no time to deal with such things.

Engagement takes the edge off. Using mobile pathways to reach customers in an interactive format disguised as convenience alleviates the pressure of the hard sell. For example, an Australian bank used their app to inform customers of available home listings as an alternative way of motivating patrons to inquire about home loans.

You must let go of the old to embrace the new. Instant access to the web through mobile devices and mobile search has introduced a slew of new data to the mix that contradicts the traditional demographic expectations marketers are used to. For example, 45% of video game searchers on mobile are over age 35, while 60% of mobile auto searchers are female. There is still no exact science to interpreting mobile data at this juncture, but Ramaswamy encourages traditional thinkers to keep an open mind with the information they receive. Odds are there will never be one way to view the mobile prism, but rather an infinite number of outcomes depending on your angle.

Navigating Unchartered Territory

There are still tons of chances for business owners to make their mobile mark and secure solid, strategic ground. To be successful, companies must look at the creative process holistically, providing different solutions for different audiences. Your mobile web user is different than your mobile app user.

At an Ad Week panel titled, “The Shift in Mobile Mindset", Director of Mobile Media Solutions at CBS Interactive, Malene Sam, advised business owners to look at mobile strategy as holistic parts of a greater whole. She compared the mobile web to a concert meant to attract a large-scale audience while mobile apps are more like a band fan club, providing a detailed, specific user experience. Successful brands will curate creative accordingly.

As the mobile spectrum continues to expand and unfold, one thing remains constant: The possibilities to gain exposure, set your business apart and grow exponentially are yours for the taking.

[thelighthousestory]

Kathleen Saxton talks to BJ Smith at Advertising Week XII in NYC. Covering topics from mental well-being through to conquering your fears...

https://youtu.be/soTjoSmsN6o

[amiornyc]

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#AMiorRecap | #PressPlay: Special thank you to the good people at @Tidal x @AdvertisingWeek for having me last night. The event took place at @WebsterHall and it featured performances by @CaseyVeggies, @Jidenna, & Hip-Hop Legend @SnoopDogg. @DusseCognac provided complimentary cocktails for the evening. Video was shot & edited by myself. SoundTrack provided by @superduperkyle - "Endless Summer Symphony" off his new album #SMYLE. Now Available!! #Tidal #AdvertisingWeek #TidalxAWXII #AWXII #WebsterHall #NYC #SnoopDogg #Jidenna #CaseyVeggies #Dusse #Cognac #OpenBar #AMiorNYC (at Webster Hall)

[nuyawkcityboy]

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I DON'T GIVE A F**K! 😝 #AWXII #BIGSEAN #VEVO #advertisingweek (at Webster Hall)