Marketing moves with the times, though Mad Men still casts a shadow
The general public do understand that marketing is important for business success, but marketers don’t impress, says Graeme Atha
The Amplify Marketing Festival is a day of inspiring speakers, discussion and debate as well as networking with many of the movers and shakers in the industry.
The day starts with the annual Ogilvy Lecture in tribute to David Ogilvy, one the best known names in marketing. A proud and passionate Scot who was educated in Edinburgh before heading to Madison Avenue, New York where he set up Ogilvy & Mather which has become one of the biggest advertising agency networks in the world. The David Ogilvy era on Madison Avenue is the backdrop to the hit TV show Mad Men.
This year the lecture will be delivered by Rory Sutherland, vice chair of Ogilvy Group UK and a highly respected veteran of the adverting industry. Rory was a copywriter and creative director at Ogilvy for over 20 years before found in gogilvy change– a behavioural science practice. There he leads a team of psychology graduates who look for “butterfly effects” in consumer behaviour. These are very small contextual changes which can have an enormous effect on the decisions people make.
The Badger Debate is named in memory of Kenny Harris, who was one of the great characters in the marketing community in Scotland and with his distinctive black and white beard was affectionately known as “The Badger”. Kenny was an enthusiastic and champion debater and believed debating was a key skill for marketers in making more of an impression in the boardroom.
The debate motion this year is: “Marketing is important. Marketers are not.” The motion was developed following research earlier in the year when a Yougov poll showed that whilst the general public realise the importance of marketing in leading to business success they do not have a high opinion of marketers relative to other professions.
There also seems to be a growing trend of marketing being removed from job titles in favour of more fashionable names such as “customer officers” or “growth hackers” in the digital sector.
Speaking for the motion will be Claire Harrison-church, former VP marketing at ASDAandChr is Greenwood, senior tourism manager at Visit scotland. Against the motion will be Gem ma gr eaves, theceoatt he marketing Society and Thomas Barta, a customer leadership pioneer and co-author of The 12 Powers of a Marketing Leader. Chairing the debate is Andrew Wilson, founding partner of Charlotte Street Partners
The final afternoon session is the Clients vs Creatives Challenge, with the teams pitching award winning campaigns from around the world and the audience voting for the winners. The campaigns are selected from the Pioneering Spirit Awards, a Marketing Society programme that uses case studies as a source of inspiration and opportunity to debate the nature of a big idea.
Last year’s winning campaign was from argentina by mac ma, a leading cancer awareness charity. To avoid social media censorship of showing female breasts and nipples they created a film using a slightly overweight male, henry, examining his“man boobs ”. Within the first week there were 48 million views of the video, delivering $1.7 million of earned media.
Making the case for the Clients this year we have Karla Castro, Edington; Peter Griffiths, Calmac; Katya Kolesnik, Maxxium; Alan Mcgarrie, Tennent’s , Kim Wallace, Scottish Government For the Creatives team; Jennifer Bailey, Multiply; Steve Hill, The Gate; Paul Mason, PUNK Creative; Pam Scobbie, Wire; Chris Watson, The Leith Agency. Chairing the ses- sion will be John Denholm, executive chair at Denholm Associates.
Rounding off the day is the legendary Mad men and women drinks party at the Assembly Club Bar – the coolest pop-up bar at the Fringe – where our
hosts will help make introductions to many of the industry leaders, marketers and creatives in attendance.
The Amplify Marketing Festival will take place on 25 August at the University of Edinburgh Business School and Assembly at George Square. Full details on marketingsoc.co/ amplify2017 Graeme Atha is a director of the Marketing Society @graemeatha @ marketingsocsco