2019 ANA Brand Activation Marketing Conference | Industry Conferences | Events & Webinars | ANA

2019 ANA Brand Activation Marketing Conference

This event is over.

The 2019 ANA Brand Activation Marketing Conference — Engage. Inspire. Impact. — highlighted companies in a variety of industries and with varied budgets who strategically drive their business results via integrated Brand Activation disciplines. CMO’s and other marketing leaders presented their coordinated brand activation strategies that provide maximum impact — not only to the brand and its growth, but to the customers and their needs. This event brought together marketers, retailers, and agencies for two-and-a-half days of inspiring and insightful sessions and networking.

Hear what attendees from last year’s conference had to say:

  • The conference included a wide range of topics from interesting brands, some established, some I had never heard of. It also really expanded my knowledge of the definition of brand activation. Super informative and entertaining!
  • The presentations were exceptional — content, quality, production value. The speakers were really great. The topics were so relevant and they really crossed all industries
  • I thought the presenters and presentations were awesome, it was fascinating to see what other brands are doing and I think most marketers would benefit from the conference

The ANA Brand Activation Marketing Conference also showcased the 36th annual REGGIE Award Gala, where the fun and networking continued and where all were inspired by the insightful case studies in all areas of Brand Activation, including Content, Shopper/Commerce, Experiential, Relationship, Influencer and Promotion Marketing campaigns.

The hashtag for this event is #ANAActivate.

Conference Co-Chairs:

  • Rob Rivenburgh, CEO, North America, The Mars Agency
  • Tina Manikas, President, FCB/Red
  • David Lee, Head of Licensing and Partnerships, MillerCoors

Agenda

TIME EVENT DETAILS LOCATION
Wednesday, May 15, 2019
8:00am
- 8:00pm
Registration Opens

Plaza Registration Desk
9:00am
- 1:00pm
Training Session (*Optional-registration required)

“BRAND ACTIVATIONS THAT DRIVE RESULTS”

For the first time at the ANA Brand Activation Marketing Conference, we are offering the popular half day workshop “Brand Activations That Drive Results” – How to Create Brand Experiences That Will Excite Your Customers.

Workshop Description:

To build profitable, long term brand loyalty, brands are increasingly looking for ways to more effectively engage with consumers beyond traditional channels. As a result, marketers are under ever more pressure to deliver “buzz”, sharable consumer experiences and sales through brand activations. This is no easy task given today’s distracted customer. To succeed you need an integrated plan, agile process, and tools to get closer to your consumers and to stand out in a crowded marketplace.

During this half day workshop, you will learn about some of the most essential and effective methods of bringing your brand to life and delighting your consumers. These include Promotions, Experiences, Events, Sponsorships and Influencer Marketing. You’ll learn the core principles of each discipline and best practices for implementing an activation plan in your business.

This workshop is interactive, with ample exercises that will allow you to build skills and practice new approaches for your brand. You will work with others on case studies and group exercises and each module is packed with insightful examples.

More Details

This workshop is normally only offered to ANA Members and at this conference space is limited. There is a $100 fee to register.
**continental breakfast and a working lunch will be provided

Simon Bradley
Senior Marketing Leader and Founder Simon Bradley Marketing
Napoli
2:00pm Conference Kickoff Sessions

Tuscany Ballroom
2:10pm
- 2:50pm

EQUIP ASPIRING MINDS: HOW TO IGNITE YOUR BRAND PURPOSE

Sallie Mae is on a journey to build lifelong customer relationships and strengthen how employees connect to its mission. To drive meaningful change and introduce the brand to a new generation of consumers, Sallie Mae developed a purpose-driven brand activation to spark engagement both internally and externally. Through what is becoming a foundational program for the company, Donna Vieira, EVP & CMO, will discuss how Sallie Mae has generated powerful, image-shifting content through storytelling, influencer marketing, and community engagement. In the process, Sallie Mae has ignited its brand purpose: to equip aspiring minds to create the lives they imagine.

Donna Vieira (@vieiradf)
Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer Sallie Mae
View Video and Presentation
2:50pm
- 3:30pm

HOW TO TAKE YOUR BRAND TO THE NEXT LEVEL - THE POWER OF OMNICHANNEL MARKETING

Touted as the “Amazon of Cars” by Fortune, Carvana is shaking up the car buying experience – and the advertising industry along the way! Through one-of-a-kind events, industry-first Car Vending Machines and creative promotions, Carvana connects with its audience in fresh and highly personal ways. Join Henrik Johansson, CEO & Co-Founder of Boundless, and Kelsey Herrett, of Carvana, to hear how the two partner together to create explosive brand growth utilizing the power of omnichannel marketing.

Kelsey Herrett
Community Engagement Manager Carvana
Henrik Johansson
Chief Executive Officer Boundless Network
View Event Recap and Related Materials
3:30pm
- 4:10pm

THE EVALUATION OF THE PR STUNT-EVENTS FOR THE PURPOSE OF CONTENT

For over a 100 years brands have been developing big ideas in hopes of getting attention.  In today’s Social Media world where earned media has quickly become pay to play, we’ll look at WestJet’s journey over the past six years to stay ahead of the curve with their branded content pieces such as the WestJet Christmas Miracle, April Fools, Vegas Desert Lights, Father’s Day and many more. Corey Evans, Sr. Manager, Content at WestJet, will take a look back at some PR stunts over the past 100 years as an introduction to WestJet’s history and where they are today. He’ll share some fun stories around the ups and downs of real people’s real stories, even that time an alligator got loose where their party was going to take place!     

Corey Evans
Senior Manager, Content WestJet
View Event Recap and Related Materials
4:15pm Kickoff Sessions End

6:00pm
- 7:00pm
Reception

DaVinci Lawn
7:00pm
- 10:00pm
REGGIE Awards Dinner

The REGGIE Awards Gala will take place on the first evening of the ANA Brand Activation Conference and will honor the winners of the 2019 REGGIE Awards. A total of 70 awards will be presented to top agencies and brands for the best Brand Activation marketing campaigns of 2018 across 23 different categories. The event culminates with the SUPER REGGIE announcement, honoring the best campaign of 2018 chosen from the Gold category winners.

Join us for an evening of entertainment, dinner, drinks, and to celebrate individuals and organizations that have achieved outstanding success. There will be a special musical performance from country music triple threat Lindsay Ell, who has been lauded as “one of the most exciting and talented young artists in country music”.

Lindsay Ell
Country Singer
Tuscany Ballroom
Thursday, May 16, 2019
7:00am
- 5:30pm
Registration Opens

Plaza Registration Desk
7:30am
- 8:30am
Breakfast

Ritz-Carlton Ballroom IV-VI
8:30am General Sessions

Tuscany Ballroom
8:30am
- 8:55am
Opening Remarks

Bob Liodice
Chief Executive Officer ANA
9:05am
- 9:50am

KEEPING BARBIE RELEVANT & GROWING - IT'S NOT CHILD'S PLAY

Lisa McKnight is the 2016 recipient of Adweek’s Brand Genius Award and serves as Senior Vice President and Global General Manager for Mattel’s Barbie brand, a role she has held since 2016. In this role, McKnight leads a global team that’s focused on brand strategy, product development and marketing execution for the iconic Barbie brand. McKnight will share how they have been instrumental in evolving the brand to make it more relevant and compelling to girls and parents around the world, leading to consistently improved retail sales and deeper consumer engagement.

Lisa McKnight
Senior Vice President and Global General Manager, Barbie Mattel, Inc.
View Event Recap and Related Materials
9:50am
- 10:35am

EMPATHY BASED MARKETING - MORE CRITICAL THAN EVER

Building brand equity through the power of experiential and purpose-driven marketing is a formula that has worked for Citi. In an evolving landscape and with the immense challenge to capture consumer attention and engagement, how are brands changing strategies to break through and connect? Recognized by Billboard in its Power 100, Citi’s Global Consumer CMO Jennifer Breithaupt will share the power of purpose-driven and experiential marketing and how they’ve helped drive growth at Citi.

Jennifer Breithaupt
Global Consumer Chief Marketing Officer Citi
View Event Recap and Related Materials
10:35am
- 10:55am
Networking Coffee Break

Tuscany Foyer
10:55am General Sessions Cont'd

Tuscany Ballroom
10:55am
- 11:40am

CRUISING TO PARTNERSHIP SUCCESS

Marketers often are wary of partnerships. They have dozens of moving parts and take great effort to put together. And for some, the perception of partnerships is that they dilute or distract from a brand’s core message. But when the fit is authentic and a partnership successfully activates by intersecting with pop culture, it’s marketing magic. Carnival Cruise Line VP Partnerships Scott Becher has spent a career reinventing his partnership game. Hear Scott share his take on best practices for selecting and working with all types of partnerships – entertainment, sports, venues, retailers and more - and the recipe for partnership success.

Scott Becher (@scottbecher)
Vice President and Head of Partnerships Carnival Cruise Line
View Event Recap
11:40am
- 12:25pm

DELIVERING PROOF ON YOUR BRAND PROMISE

Why did L.L.Bean open the first-ever outdoor co-working space last summer? The Be an Outsider at Work movement is proof of the brand’s promise to do everything it takes to help consumers experience the shared joy of the outdoors each day. Bringing its consumers’ desk jobs outside was a bold move after research revealed that 95% of people’s time is spent inside and nearly 50% of it is at the office. L.L.Bean’s Brand Engagement team combines social content, public relations, experiential and pop up retail to deliver disruptive and engaging brand activations that align with the brand’s promise. Hear from Kathryn Pratt, Director of Brand Engagement at L.L.Bean, and Ben Grossman, SVP Group Strategy Director at Jack Morton, about why brands need extraordinary ideas to power their brand proof and to deliver extraordinary results. 

Kathryn Pratt (@Kburke621)
Director, Brand Engagement L.L. Bean
Ben Grossman (@BenGrossman)
Senior Vice President and Group Strategy Director Jack Morton Worldwide (IPG)
View Event Recap and Related Materials
12:25pm
- 1:45pm
Lunch  

INNOVATIVE BRANDING: KEEPING YOUR RELEVANCY, WHILE ADDRESSING AN EVER CHANGING AUDIENCE

Established brands are navigating their way through keeping their brand’s identity, while also being able to address their current and new audience in an always increasing competitive marketplace. Erika Respress, from Bronner Bros. International Beauty Shows, shares how the Bronner Bros. 72 year old brand has entered into the 21st century, maintaining and increasing their market share, in the very competitive beauty show industry. Whether you’re addressing how to maintain and build on your core audience, without alienating them with changes, or how to address the new audience of millennials, while maintaining your historical significance, yet being new, fresh and innovative, the Bronner Bros. story will impact how you evaluate your own steps in these directions. Cherish the established, while embracing the new — and satisfy both, still being a forerunner in your industry!

Sharon Mills
Manager, Client Engagement GES Events
Shana Carr
Vice President, Client Services GES Events
Erika Respress
Trade Show Manager Bronner Brothers
Ritz-Carlton Ballroom IV-VI
1:45pm
- 2:30pm

ELEVATING BRAND LOVE THROUGH RE-IMAGINED EXPERIENCES

Scaled brands are increasingly challenged by smaller players who make their brands feel more personal and special. In this session, Amy Spiridakis will share how an enhanced focus on consumer journeys and design-led thinking have inspired PepsiCo to re-frame its approach to building more memorable consumer experiences with its brands. She will share the approach that informed where/how the consumer experience was transformed, and how they’re measuring the impact, using activations at key partners such Madison Square Garden, Jersey Mike’s & Vail Resorts as the back drop. Leave inspired to re-think how your brand “shows up” in the marketplace.

Amy Spiridakis
Vice President, Marketing and Insights PepsiCo Beverages North America
View Event Recap and Related Materials
2:30pm
- 3:15pm

THE OVERWATCH LEAGUE: GROWING THE NEXT GENERATION OF GLOBAL SPORTS FANS

The Overwatch League achieved critical success in its inaugural season as a first-of-its kind, global, city-based esports league, culminating in an electric, sold-out Grand Finals championship at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center last July. 

With the 2019 season underway, Activision Blizzard Esports League’s chief marketing officer Daniel Cherry will outline how the League plans to grow “local fans” globally through its 2019 marketing campaign, “The Best of Us.” He will also share insights into this passionate consumer base that could benefit other marketers interested in this “next gen” fanbase.

Cherry will provide the ANA audience with how Activision Blizzard connects with fans and engage them through competitive entertainment & video gaming content marketing.

Daniel Cherry III
Chief Marketing Officer Activision Blizzard Esports Leagues
View Event Recap
3:15pm
- 3:35pm
Networking Coffee Break

Tuscany Foyer
3:35pm General Sessions Cont'd

Tuscany Ballroom
3:35pm
- 4:20pm

DRIVING GROWTH FOR A NEW BRAND: HOW HP CAPTURES GAMERS' HEARTS AND MINDS

Making new friends is hard until you build their trust. And in the gaming community building trust is paramount. As OMEN by HP looked to continue to grow market share, they knew they needed to integrate into the fabric of the gaming community to make it a long-term game. Connecting with the gaming audience takes skill and a warm introduction is the perfect “game cheat”. In the summer of 2018, OMEN by HP, Fullscreen and Rooster Teeth teamed up to launch their partnership at Rooster Teeth’s RTX — the largest gathering of gaming, animation and internet culture around. Year one of this collaboration created experiential and content activations that authentically integrated OMEN into the Rooster Teeth community and drove key brand KPIs. Hear how HP leveraged this engaged community to create brand advocates while avoiding the pitfalls of traditional activations.

Ming-Chin Wu
Senior Marketing Manager HP
Jennifer Wiener
Vice President, Strategic Brand Partnerships Fullscreen
View Event Recap and Related Materials
4:20pm
- 5:00pm

HOW THE CANNABIS INDUSTRY IS DRIVING A RESURGENCE IN GRASSROOTS MARKETING

We all remember the iconic ad “This is your brain. This is your brain on drugs. Any questions?” Now imagine you have to market these same drugs in a positive way to many of the same consumers. Welcome to one of the many challenges facing the exploding cannabis industry. In addition to operating in a federally illegal category, cannabis marketers are working with little to no consumer data, fighting an intense negative stigma, combating local and regulatory challenges, and have few options for media on a national scale. When traditional marketing efforts fail, how do companies get creative within this burgeoning industry to successfully activate at the national, regional and local levels? Lisa Hurwitz, Chief Marketing Officer of Grassroots Cannabis, will discuss how her company has found success through grassroots marketing efforts.

Lisa Hurwitz
Chief Marketing and Innovation Officer Grassroots Cannabis
View Event Recap and Related Materials
5:00pm General Sessions End

5:00pm
- 6:00pm
Networking Reception

Tuscany Terrace
6:00pm Dinner On Own

Friday, May 17, 2019
7:00am
- 12:00pm
Registration Opens

Plaza Registration Desk
7:30am
- 8:30am
Breakfast

Ritz-Carlton Ballroom IV-VI
8:30am General Sessions

Tuscany Ballroom
8:40am
- 9:25am

REINVENTING THE MARKETING PLAYBOOK

Avocados From Mexico reinvents Produce Marketing by challenging the industry status-quo to drive positive disruption in innovative and unexpected ways. Alvaro Luque, Avocados From Mexico President and CEO will speak about how Avocados From Mexico has completely changed the produce industry’s marketing playbook, and will present a 360 perspective of how they have expanded the boundaries of produce marketing across all areas of marketing, changing forever the industry’s Playbook.

Alvaro Luque
President and Chief Executive Officer Avocados From Mexico
View Event Recap and Related Materials
9:25am
- 10:10am

REIGNITING THE POWER OF OLDER BRANDS

Older brands often carry with them a lot of “that’s how we’ve always done it” baggage. In his marketing leadership roles at Unilever and MillerCoors, Ryan Reis has worked to reinvigorate several established brands including the Miller and Coors beer brands and the Suave personal care brand via creative brand activation strategies.  In this session he will share a game-plan and real-world examples for finding your brand’s most powerful unique and ownable territory, reframing your powerful message for a new audience, building a plan to make everything communicate, and engaging consumers to help spread your story even while you are sleeping. Come away with key takeaways that can be applied to your business’ growth engine.

Ryan Reis (@rcreis)
Vice President, Coors Family of Brands MillerCoors
View Event Recap and Related Materials
10:10am
- 10:30am
Networking Coffee Break

Tuscany Foyer
10:30am General Sessions Cont'd

Tuscany Ballroom
10:30am
- 11:15am

ONE SHELL OF A JOURNEY: FROM CHALLENGER BRAND TO CATEGORY LEADER

Whether to save money or for the pure joy of culinary exploration, interest in cooking at home has been on the rise for over a decade. With the popularity of social channels dedicated exclusively to cooking tips, recipe ingredients are reaching new, interested consumers. The recipe nut category in the U.S. was long dominated by a national industry giant, but in 2011, Chicago-based Fisher Nuts made a commitment to overtake the category — a moonshot, if there ever was one. Today, the company previously best known as the “recipe nut you get at Walmart’s” now dominates the category thanks to packaging design, changing the consumer conversation and media innovation that connected with the new generations of would-be chefs online and on social.

Join us for this inside look of how a challenger brand unseated well known heritage brands in a commodity category with modest budgets and a shell of a lot of creativity.

Howard Brandeisky
Senior Vice President, Global Marketing and Customer Solutions John B. Sanfilippo & Son Inc. (Fisher Nuts)
Joel Walker (@reklawleoj)
Creative Director Blue Chip
View Event Recap and Related Materials
11:15am
- 12:10pm

FUTURES FORWARD STUDIO: HOW AI-ENABLED TECHNOLOGY TRANSFORMS THE PERSONALIZATION OF RETAIL

Explore what's Now, New and Next in the world of artificial intelligence in Futures Forward, a series presented by ANA Marketing Futures and R3 that will help marketers prepare for tomorrow. In this session for Brand Activation, hear and learn from some of the brightest minds developing the software and hardware changing how customers behave and buy. Case studies from brands like Vichy Laboratories, National Bank, Hotels.com will be presented to demonstrate proof of concept, and educate attendees on the immediate business application of these technologies. All attendees will receive a Martech Diagnostic Map and AI Checklist to help them identify where they are on the marketing futures journey, and what to look out for when engaging marketing service providers in the innovation space.

Moderator: Greg Paull
Co-founder and Principal R3
Martech Company 1: Tina Gaffney
Head, Customer Success Realeyes
Brand Partner: Alice Chen
Senior Brand Manager Hotels.com
Martech Company 2: Greg Pal (@gregpal)
Chief Business Officer Automat
View Event Recap and Related Materials
12:10pm Conference Adjourns


Cancellation Policy and Notes

Individual conference registrations can be cancelled in writing only via email (registration@ana.net). Phone cancellations are not accepted.

• A full refund will be granted, if written request for cancellation is received by email 60 or more calendar days before the conference start date.
• A 50% refund will be granted if written request for cancellation is received by email between 59-45 calendar days before the conference start date.
• No refund will be granted if written request for cancellation is received by email 44 or less calendar days before the conference start date.
• No refund will be granted for 'no shows.'
• Corporate packages are not eligible for cancellation or refunds.
• Unused registrations/applications have no monetary value and cannot be credited to future years or events.
• ANA will not issue refunds or credits due to failure to redeem a discount promo code during the registration process.
• A $125 processing fee will be assessed to change the name on a registration.
• Hotel room cancellations and changes must be made directly with the hotel.

Miscellaneous:
1. The conference agenda is subject to change.
2. A portion of your guest room rate will be used to offset conference costs.
3. ANA accepts no responsibility for the loss of, or damage to, personal property.
4. Registrations received after two weeks prior to the conference may not be included in the attendee list.