Marketing Conference Delivers Exciting Insights for “New Marketing Playbook”
There was an air of excitement around the Jake in the week leading up to the Kellogg Marketing Conference, one of Kellogg’s most popular events of the year. As a first-year student, I was excited to experience the conference that I had heard so much about. This year’s theme the New Marketing Playbook could not have been more fitting. The consumer and media landscapes have been changing rapidly in recent years leaving marketers wondering what new tactics or “plays” could be used to hedge out their competition.
The conference featured four exciting keynote speakers: Renee Borkowski, Group Vice President, Strategy & Insights at Razorfish; Steve Carlotti, Chief Executive Officer of the Cambridge Group; Peter McGuinness, Chief Marketing and Brand Officer of Chobani; and B. Bonin Bough, Vice President, Mondelēz International. I was especially excited to hear from Peter McGuinness, since like me he has a background in advertising (and because I love Chobani!). He gave an inspired presentation about Chobani’s journey of growth and innovation, as well as its utilization of marketing strategy to sustain its position as the yogurt market leader. This is a very exciting time for Chobani as it is preparing to launch new product innovations and will for the first time have an ad in the Superbowl. Some insightful themes from Mr. McGuinness’ presentation included defending market position, acting as an industry leader, gaining awareness and share of voice, and leveraging partnerships and sponsorships.
In addition to the keynotes, there were several break-out panels throughout the day that covered a variety of topics, such as mobile marketing, global growth, “always on” advertising and long-haul brand sustainability. They featured an impressive set of speakers from top companies such as Johnson & Johnson, Microsoft, Facebook, United Airlines, Target, Google and others. The panels, moderated by Kellogg marketing faculty members, gave an inside look into what it’s like to be a part of a major organization on the brink of change in the quickly evolving consumer landscape.
The conference was particularly relevant for me, since I worked in marketing before coming to Kellogg and hope to return to the field after I graduate. I learned several invaluable insights about the changes and innovations that we can expect from marketers in the coming years that I hope will help to equip me to be a leader in the field. It is such an exciting time to be a marketer and an equally exciting time to be at Kellogg. I’m already looking forward to next year’s conference!
Jasmine Lipford (@JasmineCie) is a first year student at Kellogg’s full-time MBA program. Prior to Kellogg she was in New York working in advertising as a marketing strategist. While at Kellogg she focuses her studies on Marketing, Management, and Strategy.