Podcasting: A hot topic for direct marketing conferences?

This Business Week article on podcasting's viability as a marketing tool offers some insight into how a tier one brand marketer like General Motors might use podcasts to enhance marketing efforts.

Without doubt, it is useful to look at effective utilization of paid and organic search when considering how podcasts might compliment existing branding and direct response campaigns. Consumer use of Search can be viewed as a barometer for Podcasting efforts with respect to variables including product category, buying cycle considerations and customer call-to-action.

Consumers that use search as a research tool for big-ticket transactions (auto, real estate) may very well be inclined to actively seek out and collect product/service information for their review "on-the-go." (Other categories, with shorter, impulse-driven buy-cycles will use podcasting for brand development and extention, but let's focus on a big-ticket item for now)

At IAB's Leadership Forum: The Performance Marketing Imperative, Jack Bowen, General Director of CRM for GM, showed a DVD which served as an interactive brochure. Mr. Bowen didn't utter the word podcast during his keynote. However, it's certainly possible to imagine a group of direct marketers listening to someone who can combine the "How to's" of portable infomercial creation and distribution with proven database marketing practices. Suppose an auto podcast includes a visual representation of next years model, key competitive differentiators, product information and special offers, or any combination of information and images that align with existing customer/prospect segmentation strategies. Certainly, podcast producers will have to explain issues inlcuding cost, flexibility, scalability and accountability to brand marketers, particularly those with highly fragmented customer segments.

Revenue Strategies for Meeting Planners

Randi Rosenberg, who used to run the conference division at the American Management Association, is teaching a new course at New York University's School of Continuing & Professional Studies, Preston Robert Tisch School of Hospitality, Tourism & Sports Management:

Marketing & Revenue Strategies for Meeting Planners
October 15-16, 2005
http://www.scps.nyu.edu/departments/course.jsp?courseId=48904

If you feel like you're drowning in venue RFPs and BEOs and you don't even have time to think about maximizing your meeting's profitability, this may be a very good investment.

When Conference Topics Collide

Here's an article about innovation in the interactive advertising industry. It really caught my eye because I am actively researching conference/session ideas in corporate innovation and online advertising....but I hadn't considered combining the two.

A number of New Jersey-based consultants have spent a great deal of time considering how organizations can sustain on-going innovation without sacraficing short-term quality and productivity. Dr. Dean Robb, principal of Robb Consulting, points out through his website that

"Small, nimble competitors can emerge from nowhere, move with blinding speed, and subvert industry incumbents, because incumbents can't respond quickly and effectively. Disconcertingly, dominance can disappear almost overnight. To survive - let alone thrive - in this climate requires creating and continually renewing a spirit of disciplined entrepreneurship… "

The MediaPost article (by Michael Leo, CEO of Trafficmac)references the term ambidextrous business coined by two Harvard professors. Dr. Robb speaks of resiliency, to describe organizations that can innovate while maintaining a high level of operational efficiency. Whatever you call it, digital marketing vendors and practitioners should take heed if they want to be positioned for growth in a business climate that is susceptible to rapid shifts caused by changes in technology, performance standards, competition and regulation.

Should be an interesting topic of discussion among key industry players from publishers agencies and brand marketers.

SpeakerSelect Blog Featured by 4WebResults

Tom Parish featured my blog in his own, using it as an example of how a small business can use a blog effectively. I'm just getting started, but I appreciate the mention.

Tom is looking for ideas for interviews to include on future podcasts. He's a real SEO expert and is well versed on the intersection of marketing and technology. If you've got something to say on search, viral or podcasting, please let me know. (Of course if you've written a book or can provide a solid current case study, I'm really interested in talking to you.)

Eric

Conference Content Makes a Comeback

When I was hired by Frost & Sullivan in 1999, I was the only full time conference programming person in the events division. I was based in the old 90 West Street office which was populated primarily by salespeople - sponsorship sales, delegate sales (aka "seat sales") and account executives who sold Frost's research products.

There was alot of dot.com excitement in the air, particularly when the sponsorship group confirmed key title sponsors for an event that was to be called "Internet Marketing Strategies Conference and Exhibition." A rapidly growing list of sponsors and exhibitors, most of whom I had never heard of, were salivating at the opportunity to be a part of this program. More sponsorship sales managers were hired to return phone and email inquiries from interested vendors who were ready to write $25,000 checks with the understanding that they would have a speaking opportunity. As the program content expert, I was invited to participate on conference calls with my sales guys and a representative from interested potential sponsors (usually a marketing person). If I confirmed a speaking slot for the vendor, they wrote the check. I confirmed lots of speaking slots and the conference division collected checks totalling hundreds of thousands of dollars.

In the meantime, I was working late to finalize the agendas and speaker rosters for two conferences that were to occur before "Internet Marketing Strategies." When I had the time to work on IMS, I did some market research to create an agenda around the speakers we had confirmed. Ultimately that conference made lots of money (for all of us involved), but the delegate evaluations were less than glowing. Overcrowded panels. I got complaints from the delegate sales guys who said that their clients wanted fewer vendors on the program. Still, my schedule was filling up with sponsor conference calls to discuss speaking opportunities on upcoming programs. More sponsor sales people were hired.

Then the dot.com boom went bust and the conference industry suffered accordingly. Sponsor sales people disappeared as quickly as they appeared. But the Frost conference division leveraged this market downturn to focus on program content as a competitive differentiator.

We introduced a new highly interactive "executive summit" format. Vendors were no longer confirmed for general session speaking opportunties. Instead we created intereactive breakout sessions which were to be led by a select group of sponsoring vendors. I worked on the breakout topics with the sponsor, and we developed and enforced a strict set of guidelines to insure that these breakout sessions fostered highly interactive and informed discussions among the delegates.

I encouraged breakout sponsors to think very carefully about who from their organization to tap as "facilitator" (not "moderator" as labels are important and have nuanced meaning with respect to roles and delegate expectations). With many tech/software companies, their reflex was to nominate a senior level sales/business development executive--which worked only if that executive was also comfortable wearing consultant's shoes. One of the first questions I would ask potential breakout sponsors was "Can you tell me a little about the ongoing consultative relationship you have with your clients?"

The sales team sought to seed each breakout session with "thoughtleaders," i.e. practitioners who held positions of influence in Fortune 500 corporations. These thought-leaders were encouraged to stimulate informed discussion at the breakout of their choice. There were event marketing benefits as well. Thoughtleaders were featured in the conference brochure which served to reinforce the interactive nature of the breakouts and the conference in general.

Frost & Sullivan sponsorship revenue plateaued and dipped in alignment with the conference industry trend, but there was an upward spike in delegate approval ratings which was due to the quality of the program content (which featured case studies in addition to interactive sessions.) Sponsors were happy because they were interacting directly with prospects who were most interested in what they had to say. Stated more directly, the Frost executive summits enabled informed discussion on timely topics by speakers, sponsors and highly engaged practitioners in a specific vertical market or business discipline. In my view, it was during this period that Frost & Sullivan became known for producing great events on a consistent basis.

This focus on quality program content is a winning formula that will withstand the ups and downs of sponsorship investment. The decline and disappearance of many trade shows is --in part--a cautionary sign about an over-reliance on sponsorship revenue. Conference producers and associations that can consistently get the right people talking about the right issues are best positioned to optimize revenue (sponsorship and seat sales) in any economic climate.

e-Fluentials Team Member's Key Takaways from "Broadband & Beyond"

Broadband Changing TV Technology

Sarah Dietz, One of Burson Marstellars e-fluentials team summarizes key points from the IAB Leadership Forum: Broadband & Beyond.

Sara says:

"Here is a brief list of predictions for the future of TV-based entertainment in the US:
--> The next big thing in US television will be 3G technology, which is very popular in Asia right now. Users of this technology can watch television on their cell phones.
--> The next big thing in television will be "slice channels". MTV does this with MTV-U, which is only available on college campuses. Slice channels are television stations specifially geared to a "slice" of a demographic (i.e. young adults age 18 - 22; male adults age 35 - 45)
--> It is recommended to take cues from other media when developing online content. See what else is going on maybe offline and develop similar content for the Web (e.g., video ads).
--> Broadband is pushing demand for VOD (video-on-demand) services.
--> Television shows are going online. It's not just schedules and comments anymore."

Another Article on the SmartVideo Announcment

This article references Monday's event.

SmartVideo's announcement at Broadband & Beyond

In a previous post, I wrote that at least one speaker at Broadband and Beyond would use the venue for a major announcement. The speaker was Richard Bennett, CEO of SmartVideo, and the announcement was that they have entered into a partnership to provide free music videos through mobile devices. The service will be completely driven by ad revenues.

There were alot of unanswered questions and Mr. Bennett used his "15 Minutes into the future" segment on mobile content as a forum for self-promotion...but, in this case, it worked. Ad-supported mobile content is in its' infancy, but here's a guy who is spending a whole lot of time to make it happen. He's worth watching.

MediaPost ran an article on the new SmartVideo revenue model as well.

Thanks, Tom, for the Podcasting Insight

Tom Parish, a real podcasting & blogging guru (and a southern gentleman to boot) , writes a nice note about Broadband and Beyond. Tom, I enjoyed working with you as well, and hope we can do it again.

Eric

The Street.com covers Yesterday's IAB Broadband Event

I was expecting to see some coverage in the industry press but it was gratifying to see that The Street.com included some tidbits from Jack Myers' interview of Van Toffler as part of an article on the TV upfront season. After all, there was a lot to cover yesterday, with Jeff Zucker talking up the NBC schedule.

The Street.com article, by Sandy Brown quoted Toffler as saying that "TV networks need to experiment with different models and "not be fearful that it will cannibalize what you do on TV.""

Sold Out

Monday's Broadband and Beyond Leadership forum is completely sold out. I've had to politely decline speakers' requests for VIP event passes--instead offering the opportunity to slip in--badgeless--for a single presentation. At least one presenter says he'll use the IAB forum for a major announcement.

Write a Book and get Paid Speaking Gigs. Not so fast!

It used to be really hard to get a business book published. It took lots of time, dedication and passion. It helped if you were an acknowledged expert in your field of interest. Now, with the proliferation of self-publishing companies, the game has changed. If you want to get published, it takes money.

Self-publishing companies, or "full rights" publishing firms as they are sometimes called, market their services to aspiring business authors by promising fame and fortune on the speaking circuit. They may be members of the National Speakers Association and they sometimes offer advice about setting up book signings and other high-profile events to support the sale of your book. They provide this kind of advice because, as "full-rights" firms, the author has bought all the rights to their book, typically for an amount in the tens of thousands of dollars.

The publishing firm, which provides editorial, design, and marketing services, tells the author that conference organizers will now pay them to speak about their area of expertise. They'll make back their investment and a whole lot more. When the author gets a speaking gig, he can offer the organizer a bunch of free books to give away to conference attendees. The cost of the books is built into the fee paid by the conference organizer to the speaker/author. The author pays the publisher for the books. The speaker/author gets more gigs and more fees and buys more books. Repeat as necessary. Everyone wins.

Unfortunately, it's rarely this easy. If you're an author, by all means, mention it when you submit a proposal to speak at an event. It will help you to get the attention of the conference producer. But if you want to speak at event produced by a national conference company, don't be surprised if you are not offered a fee. Or travel expenses. Or anything other than the opportunity to speak on the program. Major conference organizers like the Institute for International Research allocate a minimal "speaker budget" for each event they produce. This budget is typically allocated to offset the travel expenses of a client-side speaker who has no interest in selling books or consulting services. You, on the other hand, have something to sell.

If you want to get paid to speak at events, you can make it happen by establishing yourself as a presenter at high-profile conference which features case studies by executives from well-known companies. Share the stage with with the speaking heavyweights, and you will become one yourself. Writing a book is an important accomplishment. Being a (self) published author will open doors for you. But if you want to get to a point where you can command a fee for speaking, you need to speak-- alot. Unless, of course, you are already famous.

Spyware and Kids-- Mainstream Media Tees up the Topic

Looks like the mainstream media hasn't yet given up on spyware as a topic. Yesterday's MSNBC article puts Claria and others on the defensive, this time with a focus on kids and tracking software. Seems to me that privacy protection and advocacy and the digital landscape (or something like that) will remain as an issue to be discussed and debated at industry events for quite a while. As we are becoming more familiar with the "Chief Privacy Officer" title, it may be worthwhile to consider other perspectives to bring into the debate. Let me know if you have any ideas. I'm listening.

Call For Presentations - Another Digital Media Event

Streaming Media West is accepting speaker proposals until the end of May.

According the website, no travel expenses will be reimbursed. Vendors and end-users have separate submission forms. Even after the official submission deadline, the organizer allows potential speakers to input information into their speaker database. Vendors--If you are really interested in this event or other digital marketing conferences/trade shows, go ahead and approach your best clients about getting involved as speakers. I'm betting that it will help to stack the odds in your favor.