What happens in Vegas… Stays in T&T
Not everything that happens in Vegas stays there. Buzz Creative Director Simone Jacelon and Finance Director Mary Fullerton went to the WorldWide Partners (WPI) Las Vegas Global Summit “Agency 2030 – The Future Starts Today” and returned with new insights into the global marketing industry. The Buzz joined up with more than 100 executives from 53 agencies representing 15 countries at the Waldorf Astoria on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. With WPI bringing together the world’s most progressive, creative and diverse marketing talent in a collaborative framework, it provided the perfect forum for diverse perspectives, ideas and skills to reimagine marketing models, practices and services for our staff and clients.
Held over 3 days, Agency 2030 was a visionary conversation exploring the practices and principles required for a thriving agency in the future. From new operating models to new technologies to new business, Worldwide Partners agencies and industry leaders emphasised the transition of mindset from“what’s now?” to “what’s next?”.
Here are a few key messages from the stellar cast of presenters:
Rishad Tobaccowala
Rishad Tobaccowala – best selling author, speaker and named as one of the top business leaders by BusinessWeek and dubbed one of five “Marketing Innovators” by TIME magazine
“Dump the Word Consumers”
In his presentation “Prepare for the Next Frontier of Marketing and Creativity” Rishad Tobaccowala went through the ABCDE of Re-invented Marketing which analysed a comprehensive range of topics in the ever-changing marketing landscape. One aspect of Audience he emphasised was the need for marketers and brands to forget the concept of ‘consumers’ and start looking at ‘people’. Looking at people through the lens of the brand (i.e. consumers) can lead to a disconnect and missed opportunities. When you truly understand people and then determine how your brand fits in to their lifestyle, then the magic happens.
Shelly Palmer
Shelly Palmer – professor, author and “Linkedin’s Top Voice in Technology“
“Solve the Trilemma”
Untangling the Web 3.0 and taking the cryptic out of crypto is probably how to best summarise Shelly’s presentation “Web 3.0: Where Does Your Agency Create Value?”
NFTs. Blockchain. Cryptocurrencies. Tokenomics. Zuckerverse. Shelly was able to sift through the ‘buzzword salad’, make concepts understandable, and explain how these new dynamic technologies can create value for companies and brands. In discussing these new technologies and how they will inevitably impact most existing businesses, he emphasised the need to address the Trilemma – which is 3 aspects of technological implementation i.e. Scalability, Speed and Security – of which you only get to pick 2.
Kristen Cavallo
Kristen Cavallo – CEO of The Martin Agency, Adweek’s 2020 and 2021 Agency of The Year
“There’s Power in Talk”
As part of her presentation “Growth Planning: The Future of Your Agency” Kristen put forward a number of real world case studies – including from her own agency – to help businesses explore the intersection of leadership and creativity as an engine for growth. As the world changes, growth is being tested like never before. And the future of business growth requires a willingness to divert from business as usual. It’s not sufficient to simply fix a broken system, but to create a new one. As she says “Defending the past is far riskier than creating the future”. She emphasised the ‘power of talk’ and showed numerous examples of ‘talked about’ brands outperforming other brands within their category. In order to become talked about, companies should utilise storytelling for their brand – and go beyond the simplistic. Storytelling should be seen as the mechanism through which the articulation of a clear, bold vision for companies and brands is told.
