Claire Dean and I were fortunate to be granted a day out of the office to sit back in the comfort of the BFI, listening to some inspirational speakers. It was the Marketing Society’s 56th Annual Conference and the theme was #GoBeyond – challenging the audience to look beyond their typical marketing day, draw parallels from emerging trends and become more culturally connected in their approach to marketing.
Here are my top highlights:
- The Future Foundation told us we need to move beyond personalisation: brands need to feed the increasingly lazy ‘one-click’ consumers demands. This video about wonder app ‘Magic’ sums it up
- Sell people psychological benefits rather than material benefits – retool your customer offering to tap into psychological demands says Alain de Botton. Cars don’t just get you from A to B, they can facilitate your chosen lifestyle as BMW/Mini are about to launch an Airbnb style car share scheme in the States
- Dan Ariely (Professor of Psychology and Behavioural Economics) revealed that we are willing to pay for incompetence when we see it in action – consumers appreciate the effort that goes into the final product or service. Show it off!
- Turkish author Elif Shafak explained that less information = more knowledge (quite often the case when it comes to client briefs). Sometimes we are so attached to what we think we know, we need to borrow from Sufi thought and embrace ‘unlearning’ to come up with truly great ideas
- Anthony Thompson, founder of Metro Bank and now Atom Bank, understands the importance of mobile in the future of business growth – 55% of people sleep with their phone by the bed, apparently 3% sleep with it in their hand! Brands need to be willing to invest in customer experience that does not necessarily deliver a direct ROI
- Sir Dave Brailsford gave two important tips for long-term success: do not aim for perfection, only small steps can bring about great change that lasts and team conflict is not a problem. As long as you have goal harmony, a bit of infighting can be healthy
- And finally a tip from McLaren’s Ron Dennis on how to deliver performance (or marketing) excellence: Outsourcing is queuing. Clients need to balance how much they have in house with what they outsource (to agencies). Those few outsourced relationships need to be nurtured and rewarded if you want good work. Good to hear.
#GoBeyond yourself here.
