For the first time in some years, I'm attending the Belgian marketing foundation's annual congress (Stichting Marketing Congres) again this weekend (Return On Passion: Emotion & Ratio In Marketing And Management). I have to admit that there has been a time in which the annual newspeak drove me up the walls. The yearly 'new' and 'revolutionary' insights often boiled down to the same basic principle: common sense. Only was the fuzz surrounding these self-proclaimed gurus far more deafening than what they actually had to say (OK, now I'm exaggerating, but you get the picture...)
So what has made me change my mind? The fact that my boss is paying the entrance fee is certainly a nice incentive. But I noticed some interesting evolutions in this year's programme. Not only is the conference gift box bigger than ever (thank you, kind sponsors), there are even some people on the speakers' list whom I would really love to meet in the flesh. Well, from a distance, at least...
Martin Lindström is one of them: hardly one year older than I am (yes: it's my generation's turn to start calling the shots - however: where am I at compared to this guy? >;-( ), but already a C with lots of Es and Os behind his name. He is, among many other things, one of the co-founders of BBDO Interactive Europe. Being a former employee of BBDO myself, I automatically felt there was a connection (ahum, yeah, right). One of his pleas is for brands to use all 5 senses when powering up their market position. Being an enthousiastic user of my taste, smell, touch, sight and hearing (abuser at times, I confess), I am really curious to learn how he sees this happening in real life.
Another slot which I have already marked in red is that of Jan Van den Bergh, CEO of I-merge in Belgium: "How Pink and Blink Breed Brands". Can you guess? Yes: he'll be talking about consumers who are not simply consuming but who are also communicating about what they consume. Sounds familiar to all you marketing and PR bloggers out there? Exactly... Glad to notice that our small country is not completely lagging behind here. Oh: of course he also runs his own blog (or at least, his company does)...
For the rest I am already looking forward to bumping into former colleagues; to the usual exchange of smalltalk and of gossip about long-forgotten co-workers; to the bragging about how wonderful our current-day job is; and to the probably silly attempts of avoiding one of my former employers, who also chairs the congress. But then again: I might as well buy him a beer. Just to keep at least thàt sense in shape...