Mark your calendars once again for Monday March 7th, 2011 for The Art of Marketing Conference at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. After attending last years event I can assure you this is MUST NOT MISS! It is one of the events that will be both informative and inspiring.
This exciting one day conference will feature five internationally renowned bestselling authors, educators and industry leaders who will share an exciting blend of cutting edge thinking and real world experience on today's most critical marketing issues.
No question the biggest topic on every marketing communication practitioners mind is how to get a clearer understanding of how the marketing world is changing, what role communication now plays in the buying decision and the impact on the business bottom line and ultimately how the consumer views, interacts and positions a brand in a very crowded and over saturated marketplace.
Cutting through the clutter today is even more critical, but now consumers have a bigger say in the success and more often the failure of a strategy.
The Art of Marketing event has a stellar group of speakers on tap. Best selling authors and industry influencers include Guy Kawasaki on Creativity and Innovation, Dr. Sheena Iyengar on Consumer Behavior and the Psychology of Choice , Avinash Kaushik on Brand Measurement Metrics and Analytics, Jeffrey Hayzlett on Branding Strategy and Growth and the brilliant Gary Vaynerchuk the “Social Media Sommelier” who address the new world of "Word of Mouth" Marketing and Social Media Influence.
Hosting "The Art of Marketing" once again will be the highly entertaining and very talented Ron Tite. Trained at the legendary Second City, Ron Tite has been an actor, comedian, playwright, and award winning advertising writer and Creative Director. Recently, he was Vice President, Executive Creative Director at one of Canada’s most respected advertising agencies, Sharpe Blackmore Euro RSCG. Recently named as one of the Top 10 Creative Canadians by Marketing Magazine.
THE SPEAKERS
Gary Vaynerchuk
The day will kick-off with the brilliant and inspiring Gary Vaynerchuk (VAY NER CHUK) an online marketing trailblazer with his "Crush It" attitude and mantra of "Cash In On Your Passions". A much sought after speaker, Vaynerchuk gained notoriety for more than his business acumen but also for his foresight that combined with his pioneering, multi-faceted approach to personal branding and business. He knocked down barriers in the wine industry by creating a new generation of branding, focusing attention to leveraging social media tools such as Facebook and Twitter. He shows audiences how to find their passion, then step by step how to turn it into a flourishing, monetized business.
The 33-year-old entrepreneur whose dual identity as both business guru and "wine guy" has made him known as the “Social Media Sommelier.” A self-trained wine expert, he revolutionized the wine industry with his video blog, "Wine Library TV" grew his family wine business from $4 million to $60 million in five years. Vaynerchuk has made television appearances on Late Night with Conan O’Brien, Ellen DeGeneres, NBC’s Today Show, CNBC’s Mad Money with Jim Cramer, and The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch.
This was the first video that introduced me Gary and his dynamic style.
Guy Kawasaki
Guy Kawasaki is the co-founder of Alltop.com, an “online magazine rack” of popular topics on the web, and a founding partner at Garage Technology Ventures. He is also the author of nine books including Reality Check, The Art of the Start, Rules for Revolutionaries, How to Drive Your Competition Crazy, Selling the Dream, and The Macintosh Way. His newest book, Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds, and Actions, is due for release in March 2011.
Previously, he was the Chief Evangelist of Apple where Gary says, “When I saw what a Macintosh could do, the clouds parted and the angels started singing. For four years I evangelized Macintosh to software and hardware developers and led the charge against worldwide domination by IBM".
Mr. Kawasaki's in-depth knowledge of the high-tech industry combined with his years of management experience enable him to address a wide range of audiences. His particular strength is the ability to quickly understand diverse industries and incorporate his pre-existing knowledge into a highly relevant and customized speech. He routinely gets rave reviews from clients including trade associations, packaged goods companies, service providers, insurance companies, educational institutions, and technology companies.
You can follow Guy Kawasaki on Twitter and his writing at his website.
Jeff Hayzlett
Jeff Hayzlett is described as a big, boisterous guy who has the guts to get in your face and tell you exactly why your business isn't doing well.
I found it interesting when I read "Jeffrey Hayzlett has been called a lot of things, most of them good". Odd to include in a bio but He has been described as a “CMO on steroids". From entrepreneur to being Kodak’s CMO, piloting one of the world’s iconic brands.
Hayzlett helped to lead one of the biggest turnarounds in business history where he was responsible for the Kodak's worldwide marketing operations including the design and implementation of all marketing strategies, corporate communications, public relations and public affairs. All this during a time when Kodak was facing rapid changes in an area that was massive competition.
His expertise was developed when he led a private business development and public relations firm specializing in the technology and visual communications industries.
Hayzlett is the author of the bestselling book "The Mirror Test", a book that asks you to give your business the mirror test - is your company really breathing? In other words, "Here's how you and your company must adapt...or die".
A visit to Hayzlett's website also proves to hold some amazing insights for marketing stratigies that can be used in branding and personal branding. Reading "The 118" is amazing. An update on the classic " elevator pitch". The 118 is the 21st century version the out-of-date name for the worthy idea that you need to sell what your company offers (and you) in the span of an elevator ride. Technology has not only made things (including elevators) move faster but also has increased the need for speed and immediate relevance in pitching. In addition to the website, you can follow Jeff on Twitter.
Dr. Sheena S. Iyengar
Dr. Sheena S. Iyengar is a Professor of Business Management at the Columbia Business School. She has taught on a wide variety of topics at Columbia for MBA and Executive MBA students, including leadership, decision making, creativity, and globalization. Dr. Iyengar was also recently selected by Columbia University's President's Office to teach at the Global Leadership Fellows Program at the World Economics Forum in Geneva, Switzerland.
One of the world's experts on "choice", Dr. Iyengar received a dual degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1992, consisting of a B.S. in Economics from the Wharton School of Business and a B.A. in psychology with a minor in English from the College of Arts and Sciences. In 1997 she completed her Ph.D. in social psychology from Stanford University. During her studies at Stanford, Dr. Iyengar became interested in how people make choices, particularly the importance and universality of choice in people's lives. Her dissertation, entitled "Choice and its Discontents," received the prestigious Best Dissertation Award for 1998 from the Society of Experimental Social Psychology.
Dr. Iyengar's innovative research on "choice" has become her passion and led Dr. Iyengar down the extraordinary path of writing "The Art of Choosing". Whether mundane or life-altering, choices define us and shape our lives. In her book, Dr. Iyengar asks the difficult questions about how and why we choose: Is the desire for choice innate or bound by culture? Why do we sometimes choose against our best interests? How much control do we really have over what we choose? In our world of shifting political and cultural forces, technological revolution, and interconnected commerce, our decisions have far-reaching consequences.
To learn about Dr. Iyengar and her work on "The Art of Choosing" visit her website and follow her on Twitter.
Avinash Kaushik
Avinash Kaushik is the co-Founder of Market Motive Inc and is the Analytics Evangelist for Google. He will bring his energetic, inspiring, and practical insights to The Art of Marketing. He is noted speaker and lectures at major universities such as Stanford University, University of Virginia and University of Utah.
Through his blog, Occam's Razor, Kaushik has authored two books from in-the-trenches perspective, "Web Analytics: An Hour a Day" is a step-by-step guide that shows you how to implement a successful Web analytics strategy in his thought-provoking style, debunks leading myths and leads you on a path to gaining actionable insights from your analytics efforts. Discover how to move beyond clickstream analysis, why qualitative data should be your focus, and more insights and techniques that will help you develop a customer-centric mindset without sacrificing your company’s bottom line.
His recent book "Web Analytics 2.0: The Art of Online Accountability and Science of Customer Centricity" adeptly address today’s business challenges and presents a new framework that will permanently change how you think about analytics. It provides specific recommendations for creating an actionable strategy, applying analytical techniques correctly, solving challenges such as measuring social media and multichannel campaigns, achieving optimal success by leveraging experimentation, and employing tactics for truly listening to your customers. The book will help your organization become more data driven while you become a super analysis ninja!
Avinash puts a common sense framework around the often frenetic and often misunderstood world of web analytics and combines that with the philosophy that investing in talented analysts is the key to long-term success. He passionately advocates customer "centricity" and leveraging bleeding edge competitive intelligence techniques.
To learn more visit Avinash on his website and follow him Twitter.
REGISTRATION and TICKETS
The good people at The Art Of Marketing wanted to make a special offer to those of you who are connected here in this community, so here's the deal: if you sign up to attend The Art Of Marketing using this link you will get the special rate of $349 (plus HST) per person a saving of $50.00. Simply use the promo code: RK28 at check out.
Tickets will likely go quickly, there are two types of tickets available general admission seating which includes the full day conference and speakers fro $399.00 (plus HST). There is also VIP package that will include seating in the first 5 rows, lunch and copies of books from select speakers, this package is $599.00 (plus HST). The promo code RK28 will discount both packages. To Register simply click on the on the event logo below.
I have no idea how the producers of this event can pull off a show like this with such a high-calibre list of speakers for only $349 a ticket plus HST (Canadian, no less), but that's your gain as you can easily see this truly a stellar group of speakers coming to Toronto.
The Art of Marketing - Toronto
Monday March 7th, 2011 from 9:00am to 5:00pm
Metro Toronto Convention Centre
255 Front Street West Toronto, Ontario