Everything a marketer needs under one roof

If you don’t innovate and push investment during a recession you’re going to fail. Standing still means you’re moving backwards. I know, I know, you’ve heard it all said a hundred times already and read it a hundred more. But as a publishing company with a top media brand in the marketing sector, we lead by example and like to show we are practicing what we preach.

Marketing Week Live, our new two-day show, is a perfect example of us re-examining what we do to make sure we’re wringing every drop of value out of our offering for you.

On June 30 and July 1, the Grand Hall at Olympia will host the first industry show that properly reflects the modern role of the marketer. Marketing departments have shrunk in recent times, resulting in marketers – whether they be brand managers or marketing directors with a seat on the board – now juggling more responsibilities than ever.

We aim to mirror that trend with the content of Marketing Week Live, so we’ve brought together the In-Store Show, the Data Marketing Show, the Insight Show and the Online Marketing Show. From this summer they will all sit together under one roof so that you can benefit from the varied and challenging programmes of all four events.

“I challenge anyone to attend Marketing Week Live and fail to leave with at least one golden nugget of insight”

We’ve joined all the elements together with a central stage under the Marketing Week brand. This stage will feature presentations by a host of top industry names including Marketing Week’s 2008 Marketer of the Year – Martin Glenn, CEO of Birds Eye Iglo Group, and one of the most influential marketers in the country. Other Marketing Week Centre Stage speakers include Moray MacLennan, worldwide ceo at M&C Saatchi, Simon Thompson, European managing director at Lastminute.com and former Honda marketing director and, believe it or not, the late Bob Monkhouse.

On the next few pages, we’ve selected a few choice presenters appearing at Marketing Week Live to profile, just to get you really champing at the bit. On page 29, Dominic Reilly speaks to Marketing Week about the changes he’s seen in the 15 years he has worked in sports sponsorship from his vantage point as head of marketing at Williams F1. Nick Bampton, managing director of Viacom Brand Solutions, argues the case for television as a powerhouse medium of the future on page 28. David Wheldon, global brand director of Vodafone, shares his take on attaining growth in an international business during a deep recession on page 30. And Paul Dickinson, sales and marketing director at Virgin Atlantic, reveals how to double your profits even as competitors post massive losses on page 32.

This truly is an event that your entire department should consider popping in on, if not attending in full. I was talking to More Than marketing director Peter Markey recently and having just emerged from a meeting with our events team, Marketing Week Live was on my mind.

I asked Markey if he thought events and shows are considered valuable during an economic downturn or whether they are seen as an indulgent luxury. His answer was considered. He reported: “I’d send any or all of my team to these types of events at the drop of a hat on the condition that they come back the next day with at least one idea or lesson that we can input into our business to improve us.”

I challenge anyone to attend Marketing Week Live and fail to leave with at least one golden nugget of insight.

See you there.