What's the lesson? It could be that attendees crave more
wide-ranging discussions about timely topics. At the main stage
CMOs from Ancestry, eBay and Cigna largely talked about their own
campaigns. No one with a CMO title spoke on the second stage, where
the line-up included Ramsey simply riffing on eMarketer reports
about topics including voice search and advertising trends for
over-the-top and connected TVs. Kawaja's talk was actually called
"Fire your CMO: Marketing's Future Will Not Resemble its Past,"
which he used to describe why traditional brands are falling behind
direct-to-consumer startups like Airbnb and mattress-seller Casper.
Paskalis did not give a formal presentation; he just fielded
questions from ANA executive Bill Duggan, including about how the
bank hired a "brand safety officer" to help keep the bank's ads
away from questionable online content. Paskalis also revealed that
he was once a bartender, prompting this audience question from
Kassan: "Can I get a Grey Goose, up with a twist, please?"
—E.J. Schultz
12:30 p.m. ET, Oct. 25, 2018
The 'FBI' invades ANA
Credit Terry Kawaja, CEO of digital marketing investment bank
advisory firm Luma Partners, with the best self-plug this week. At
the end of his presentation on the rise of direct-to-consumer
brands like Dollar Shave Club and Airbnb, he put on an FBI jacket,
which at first blush could have been interpreted as a reference to
the ongoing criminal investigation into media buying practices,
which has agencies under the gun. Turns out Kawaja was playing off
the FBI acronym to tout his company, known for its Lumascape
graphics that bring order to the sprawling scope of several
industries. He revealed a slide that stated "Luma: Agents
Facilitating Business Investment." The reference was not lost on
Bill Duggan, group executive VP at the ANA,
which has facilitated communication between the real FBI and ANA
members about the probe. "If you walk around with this jacket,
there is something else going on with the FBI you guys may have
heard about in the trade press, you'll scare the hell out of a lot
of people," Duggan quipped to Kawaja during an on-stage Q&A.
-- E.J. Schultz
12:15 p.m. ET, Oct. 25, 2018
Drinking game du jour
Take a sip every time someone says "brand purpose." Certainly
not a new phrase for this crowd, it was hammered home repeatedly at
morning sessions from FedEx, Ancestry and eBay. In fact, Suzy
Deering, the chief marketing officer for North America at eBay,
even joked about the repetition of "trust" and "purpose" being
perfect for drinking games. "You just heard from two great
companies talking about how incredibly important purpose is,"
Deering says. Indeed, Ancestry's Executive VP- Global Chief
Marketing Officer Vineet Mehra says the brand's purpose, "to enable
journeys of personal discovery that collectively inspire a world of
greater understanding and belonging," is turning into a
movement.
And anyone with purpose fatigue won't get a break anytime
soon.
"As marketers, we are just beginning to discover the power of
unlocking purpose," says Rajesh Subramaniam, executive VP-chief
marketing and communications officer at FedEx. Deering concurs:
"Purpose is not going away." Guess we already know a key theme for
next year's conference.—Adrianne Pasquarelli
11:30 a.m. ET, Oct. 25, 2018
Heaven is a place… in Orlando
At least on Thursday morning it was, when a packed room of ANA
attendees stood up for a quick karaoke sesh led by Progressive
Insurance Chief Marketing Officer Jeff Charney. Speaking about the
importance of taking risks in marketing, Charney encouraged the
audience to stand up and sing to Belinda Carlisle's classic hit,
"Heaven Is a Place on Earth." Despite the lack of alcohol, and the
early morning timeslot, the crowd happily acquiesced.
—Adrianne Pasquarelli
10:22 a.m. ET, Oct. 25, 2018
Slow growth: 'An indictment on our
industry'
For the third consecutive year, ANA CEO Bob Liodice used his
opening remarks to urge marketing execs to "take our industry
back." It begs the question: Who's got ahold of the industry now
and why is it taking so long for marketers to retrieve it? Liodice
did not identify a single bogeyman, instead ticking off a laundry
list of issues that CMOs have been struggling with for years,
including the opaque digital media supply chain. "Just 25% of CMOs'
digital media investment reaches target audiences," he said. "This
atrocity represents more than $20 billion of marketing waste
annually and the inefficiency and ineffectiveness that comes with
it." He also cited ad fraud, saying it was costing the industry $7
billion annually.
As for solutions, the ANA under Liodice has created a seemingly
endless stream of initiatives. In his speech, he routinely plugged
the "CMO Masters Circle," a group of chief marketers ANA first
began convening two years ago to tackle major issues. (More on that
below.) The newest program is called the "ANA Center for Brand
Purpose," which Liodice says will launch next month. "Purpose" is a
well-worn phrase at ANA conferences, referring to brands that use
their marketing to plug some sort of social issue. But none of
these programs will matter if brand marketing is not boosting the
bottom line, and right now that's a problem. Liodice pointed to the
Fortune 500, saying half of the companies on the list have
experienced declining after-tax profits in the last three years.
"Ladies and gentlemen, this is an indictment on our industry," he
said. --E.J. Schultz
8:45 a.m. ET, Oct. 25, 2018
What happens in the circle, stays in the
circle
It's not quite the Illuminati, but there is elite inner circle
here at the Masters of Marketing, and not everyone is invited in.
The ANA CMO Masters Circle was established two years ago by the
ANA, but is only now experiencing a revival in attention. The group
held private meetings that were closed to press early in the week,
before the majority of the annual conference's 3,000 attendees had
yet to arrive in Orlando. Around the same time, a new Twitter
handle, @ANACMOMasters, began making the rounds with missives about
marketing talent, leadership change, growth and issues.
The private meetings, dubbed the CMO Global Growth Summit,
started earlier this summer in Cannes, an ANA spokesman says,
noting that it's a day-and-a-half of interviews and sessions with
the leading CMOs who are part of the circle. Roughly 200 CMOs
attended the sessions at ANA, and the sessions will continue in
Cannes next year
ANA CEO Bob Liodice hailed the Masters Circle repeatedly in his
opening remarks at the general session, noting that members are
working with Facebook and Google on measurement accreditation, and
furthering brand growth and relevancy. "The purpose of the Masters
Circle is to align the agendas of the chief marketing officer and
create a powerful leadership force to transform and grow the
industry," Liodice says, promising that Marc Pritchard, ANA's
Chairman and P&G's Chief Brand Officer, will take the stage
tomorrow to fill us in on the outcome of the closed door meeting.
--Adrianne Pasquarelli
5:30 p.m. ET, Oct. 24, 2018
Who's here?
ANA organizers are expecting more than 3,000 people to attend
the conference here at the sprawling Rosen Shingle Creek resort.
Registering for a conference and attending one are two different
things, of course, but the printed ANA attendee list reveals the
following:
... Procter & Gamble travels light:
Chief Brand Officer Marc Pritchard, who is chairman of ANA's
board and has a speaking slot on Friday (is there a marketing
conference at which he does not speak?) is only accompanied by
three P&G colleagues.
... But U.S. Postal Service does not:
The federal agency, a longtime ANA sponsor, is listed as having
17 people here, not including CMO Jakki Krage Strako, who is slated
to speak at a sponsored breakfast on Friday.
The agency presence is mixed
There are plenty of agency people here, as usual. But some shops
brought a lot more than others. McGarryBowen registered 13 people,
including founder Gordon Bowen and Chief Creative Officer Ned
Crowley. Leo Burnett, by contrast, only has six people here, and
DDB has only one person listed, as does 360i. By contrast,
Deloitte, which like other consultancies is pushing onto ad agency
turf, has 28 people attending representing its various divisions,
including Deloitte Digital.
The mouse is in the house
Disney, whose Orlando theme parks are nearby, has several people
here, including five from ABC. The list includes Rita Ferro,
who just added ESPN ad sales to her plate.
Digital giants log in
When it comes to the number of attendees, Google beat Facebook,
19 to 10. Twitter also brought 10 people according to the list, as
did Pinterest, which was slated to sponsor a breakfast called "Time
Well Spent" bright and early Thursday morning at 7 a.m. Those out
late partying might think their time is better spent in bed. --
E.J. Schultz
