Speech Summaries

Lakish Hatalkar Emerging Media Strategist Procter & Gamble

Marketing Track: Creating New Advertising Experiences Panel

Josh Bernoff, Principal Analyst, Forrester Research

Omar Rodriguez, Vice President, Worldwide Director, Integrated Communications, The Coca-Cola Company

Rick Mandler, Vice President and General Manager, Walt Disney Internet Group & ABC's Enhanced TV, Walt Disney Company

Lakish Hatalkar, Emerging Media Strategist, Procter & Gamble

Omar Rodriguez began the discussion by pinpointing what he felt were some of the greatest challenges in advertising. In an industry flooded with buzzwords, players need to stop focusing on figuring out how to work together and focus rather on how to think together. This can be done by getting rid of the organizational and departmental lines that separate people. Metrics for measuring success need to be renovated so that multiple "outcomes" can be measured as opposed to just "outputs." Great ideas need to be extended across experiences not just in media, but also in a way that penetrates people's lives.

Rick Mandler delved into the topic of interactive TV, explaining that TV's impact on a campaign can be strengthened when paired with interactive strategies. TV shows that have an online presence that consumers can interact with while watching the show tend to keep viewers tuned in longer. An example he gave of a successful integrated television experience involved the daytime TV program "The View." This show invited America to take a "body quiz," where viewers could participate via the Internet and cell phones. This is an example of a truly successful multichannel experience, which never lost sight of the consumer.

Lakish Hatalkar noted that changing consumers are a lesson in complexity; they are time-starved yet take time in making key decisions, and they have limitless choices yet crave simplicity. To break through the clutter, Procter & Gamble's advertising strategies involve resonating with the consumer rationally and emotionally. Orchestrating an emotional connection is key for consumers to embrace their brands, but also key is taking this connection to an experiential level. For successful brand building, a company has to start with the consumer, find out when and where they will be, and establish an emotional connection that ultimately creates harmony between the consumer, brand, and product.

Questions And Answers

Q: What can you do to make integrated marketing succeed?

A: Rick and Lakish: Have the right people at your marketing table, and make sure they are ALL there. Omar; Set up clear goals that you can measure -- outcomes.

Q: How can you market to people using short messages on cell phones?

A: Omar: Consumers need to want it and not feel like it is an invasion of privacy. Rick; the nature of the message needs to match the nature of the vehicle you are using.