Photo credit to @farrahbezner!
The 2016 ANA Masters of Media Conference has come to a close, and it certainly packed a punch. We all know the media landscape is changing, but so are businesses and advertisers. That’s created a whole lot of confusion, but the speakers in Hollywood, Florida brought back some refreshing focus. Here are some of our favorite parts:
Business Has Only 2 Functions
The event opened with a quote that summed up the conference. The quote, from legendary business consultant, Peter Drucker: “Because its purpose is to create customers, business has only 2 functions: marketing & innovation.”
The idea of applying refreshing, traditional thinking to calm the modern media storm summed up the content of the conference perfectly.
Marketers Ruin Everything
“More than I know the sun will come up tomorrow, I know marketers will ruin everything.” Must get attention w/o friction @garyvee #ANAMedia
— Rob Davis (@rob1davis) March 3, 2016
The name Gary Vaynerchuk should set off bells in any modern marketer’s head as one of the boldest thinkers and speakers in the field today. His words were a wakeup call— well, more of a slap in the face, really.
Gary asked, “Why do we act one way as people and another as marketers? Clicked on a banner ad lately?” Turns out, as you’d expect, the audience had not. They also skip through ads when they have a show on DVR. So do you, don’t deny it!
And yet, marketers lament weak ad performance. Time for Gary’s wakeup call: quit creating marketing that not even you would like.
Looking at New Media in an Old Way
Gary also came up with this gem of an analogy:
.@garyvee: “Smartphones are television. Television is radio. And it’s 1965. Snapchat, Instagram & Facebook are ABC, CBS & NBC.” #ANAMedia
— Jason Jedlinski (@JasonJedlinski) March 3, 2016
If we take this analogy to its logical conclusion, we can change the uncertainty of the future (and even the present) into the example of the past. Layer on this way of thinking and we know exactly what works and what doesn’t. Creativity is taking old ideas and applying them in new ways, and we have a complete data set to guide the way we interact with new forms of media.
Taco Bell Takes a National Campaign Into Local Space
Enjoyed hearing the Taco Bell team talk about “hacking” their media. Local Super Bowl spots with local advertising icons = genius #ANAMedia
— John Adams (@JohnSpncrAdams) March 3, 2016
Now this is smart. How can a brand connect with a national audience on a mass-personal level? By recognizing that nobody in their audience is national— every single customer is an individual. Everybody connects with local icons on more meaningful level. Taco Bell used this to their advantage, running local spots across the country instead of one national spot. Very clever, Taco Bell.
Marketers Need to Refocus
.@garyvee “We do not trade on attention anymore. We trade on data that can be manipulated to do anything you want.” #ANAMedia
— Jason Jedlinski (@JasonJedlinski) March 3, 2016
Gary’s back at it with the insights. Think back to the two functions of business: innovation and marketing. From a business perspective, innovation that doesn’t help consumers doesn’t help businesses. In the same way, marketing is for people, not for data.
“We’re living through the biggest disconnect between brand & agency KPIs: using math logic, and not business logic.” Think hard about what this means for your business and your advertising. This is a fundamental viewpoint on which all advertising needs to be based.
It Was Really Pretty
Of course, for all that heavy hitting in the auditorium, it’s important to relax outside of it. Luckily, the scenery wasn’t too shabby.
Ready for the final day of #ANAMedia, but also content not moving from this spot. Ever. pic.twitter.com/gJ4owOAspi
— Zack Sylvan (@zacksyl) March 4, 2016
