ANA/BMA Members-Only Event in Houston

SESSION 1:  The Rise of the Feeling Machines: Is B2B Marketing Moving to is "Post Modern" Era?

Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman famously stated that human beings “are not thinking machines that feel, we are feeling machines that think.” B2B marketers, it’s time to take heed!

Over the past decade, B2B brands and agencies have widely adopted Modern Marketing – the paradigm of inbound marketing programs driven by digital channels, served by multiple touches, measured by sophisticated technologies – and where data analysis is king. Modern Marketing has (and continues to) serve us well. But by its nature, Modern Marketing emphasizes “thinking machines” over “feeling machines that think.” So today, as Modern Marketing and data-driven approaches become ubiquitous, what will define B2B’s “post-modern” era?

One of the pioneers and most advanced practitioners of Modern Marketing, Stein IAS will offer perspective on the opportunity to build upon Modern Marketing’s foundation, and evolve B2B marketing even further. This CMO panel will share provocative views on delivering personal and powerful experiences in bold and differentiated ways that re-assert our nature as “feeling machines.”

Tom Stein
Chairman and Chief Client Officer
SteinIAS

SESSION 2:  Reinvention for Growth.

Rapid emergence of new technologies, continual dominance of mobile and social media has changed customer expectations. Also in such a disruptive and fragmented world, where customers are bombarded with information, advertising and sales calls, it is more and more difficult to stand out and be remembered.
 
In this session, Hue Du, head of Marketing for Equipment Depot, will share how her team is addressing these challenges. To position the company for growth, the team has to think differently, aligning the brand’s mission of delivering the very best service to customers with making fundamental shifts within the company to improve customer experience across all touchpoints. By aligning the brand with customer experience at all levels, Equipment Depot is working toward differentiating itself from competitors while also increasing overall customer satisfaction, retention, and loyalty.

Hue Du
Director of Marketing
Equipment Depot

SESSION 3:  Communicating Sustainability in a Skeptical World.

Understanding how companies can use sustainability to forge better relationships with their customers is the key to leveraging the balance between planet and people in order to turn a profit. No surprise that the credibility of sustainability marketing is troubled with very public exposes of companies like Volkswagen. To say there is skepticism in the marketplace would be an understatement. People aren’t just skeptical of what sustainability stands for, they’re skeptical of what’s being communicated to them about it and why they should believe it…especially when some of the biggest brands in the world have bamboozled customers for years regarding sustainability claims – it makes that message that much harder to sell for every brand, big or small, B2B or B2C.

But fear not. There is a right way to communicate sustainability. It starts with an understanding of why and how sustainability has evolved and what it means to marketers today. Deciphering the myriad of labels and certifications and the critical importance of truthfulness in sustainability claims (hearing directly from an attorney with the Advertising Self-Regulatory Council). And like any good marketing program, sustainability communications must be creative, insightful, engaging, human and yes, truthful.

The leader of Eric Mower + Associates’ Energy + Sustainability practice will share how these five tenants of great communications are demonstrated with examples from some leading brands: NUCOR, Domtar, FirstEnergy, Sensus and NYSERDA.

Stephanie Crockett
Partner, Account Director
Eric Mower & Associates