By all accounts South by Southwest (SXSW) was the place to be this March. From humble beginnings it’s now the world’s foremost music, film and technology festival. Industry leaders, artists and trendsetters come from all over the world and some even say that it has replaced Cannes as the must attend event for the advertising industry. All I know, is that my budget only extended to Ad:tech in Sydney this March.
However, the Ad:tech keynote certainly delivered a speaker worthy of SXSW. Brad Jakeman, Chief Creative Officer of Activision Blizzard, the company behind the games Call of Duty and Modern Warfare, delivered a buzz-worthy presentation on “There’s no such thing as digital marketing”. His provocative claim that TV networks should pay for good content certainly stirred up a great deal of conversation on Mumbrella, but from a B2B marketing perspective the key points that resonated were;
#1 It comes down to product – now more than ever, advertising cannot hide a poor product
#2 Brand Community ≠ Database – Think of your social media community as another channel, but one that is paid for with exclusive content, offers and respect. It is not a database to spam the heck out of. You must use every engagement with the community to add value.
#4 Content is King – consumers will seek out good content and not screen it out. People are seeking content online, and looking for the products and services that you offer. If you’re not creating memorable, engaging content that addresses business issues, then you are being left behind.
Brad’s presentation is available on Slideshare
And for a bit of fun, here’s the ad for Call of Duty.
It’s enough to make me want to go out and buy it, and I’m certainly not a teenage boy, well not last time I checked.