Tony Chapman of Capital C led this workshop.

Highlights of Tony’s presentation:

• The common element between mass and digital is attention – the oxygen of brand building.
• The first 50 years of marketing relied on one thing: He who shouts loudest wins.
• We shouted and we shouted – 3.3 million brands; 27,000 new brands launched in 2005
• We shouted at retail: saturation; consolidation; intimidation; exploitation
• We shouted on media
• Advertisers are demanding more and getting less
• And consumers stopped listening
• Consumers went from mass media to their media: watching; searching; gravitating; loitering; forging; coaching; scavenging; playing; hunting; chatting; dating; gambling; voting; listening; joining; shopping; gaming; learning; consuming
• But there is a new passtime that is sucking even more time online: CREATING – blogging; mashing; designing; performing; confessing; publishing; creative directing; do it yourself advertising; filming; animating; living on line; expressing
• Creating and expressing are the new pop culture trends
• Digital is their media
• The more time they spend with the mouse, the less time they leave the house -social isolation is increasing
• The consumer has too many choices. They give us only two seconds of their attention
• We are in a marketing revolution – moving from mass attention, where we never knew our consumers names, to a consumer-centric platform where we know our consumers names and so much more: how they feel; how they spend their time; where they shop and what they buy; what media they consume
• With that type of knowledge, mass marketing becomes Precision Marketing – as targeted as one to one
• Three simple steps to get there:

1. Connect: Push – frame the brand in the way the consumer gets it (head; heart and hands); understand the junction between the physical and emotional appeal; take advantage of the retail theatre to anticipate and respond to the mood of shoppers; take advantage of promotional media; grassroots and sampling; word of mouth; customize mass media campaigns
2. Engage: Push and pull – provide them with an online experience
3. Interact: Pull – respond to your consumer wants – value added; influence; content; access; status

• Use Advertising and PR to bring people into this process
• Tell a story that connects with your known consumer wants – e.g. iPod; Dove; Axe; the Land of Cadbury; PepBoys Auto
• Five predictions:

1. Conventional mass tactics will be rendered obsolete;
2. Consumers will hijack the creative process;
3. Consumers will have complete power over the buying process;
4. Wall street will pay a multiple on the size of your online community; and
5. More advertising dollars will be spent at retail than with the conventional TV networks.