I’m enjoying two glorious, sunny days in New York at the The Sport Business Summit, put on by Leaders.
Though some of our team has previously attended, this is my first time. It’s the third U.S. iteration of a fairly large UK event that is over a decade old, and from what I’m told by other delegates, it’s grown dramatically from 2015. They announced six hundred delegates are in attendance, but I think that’s a generous number. Regardless, it’s a well-produced, slick event in a great venue, The TimesCenter on 41st street. This Leaders group understands branding very well.
Many people ask me why I attend conferences. Hopefully it’s not because I come across as a know-it-all! No, I attend conferences for all the same reasons I pitch you in attending mine, plus one more. I love experiencing others’ events to improve my own. Whether that be through blatant theft of something amazing that I saw or experienced, or perhaps stimulated by something frustrating. Either way, being a customer is the best research in the world.
A new reason for me to attend conferences is to share my learnings (not about the event mechanics, but from the content) with you. I am very fortunate to attend so many events. I realized I shouldn’t be so selfish. So here today you get the taste of a first of a new periodic twist to my blog. No formal announcement or name. Let’s just call it a Conference Report. I will let my creative team brand it up later!
The highlight of the event for me was David Droga from Droga5, the hottest advertising agency in America right now. His firm did the trailers for The Martian, featuring a unique Matt Damon Under Armour integration.
A great example of multiple parties winning because they were an advertisement for the movie, UA, and even Matt Damon; yet to the consumer they were inspiration. I loved his line that “everything is advertising” today and that a brand needs to know what it stands for, develop a consistent “red thread” that communicates their promise, and then engage in ongoing disposable activities to communicate it. To Droga, an advert or an event or vine video is disposable. Yet they contribute to building a place for the brand in the consumer’s mind. A great example of a red thread is their client at Prudential, who relentlessly pursued a mission to Make America financially smarter. This provides a platform for all activities.
Two other groups who presented and truly get their red thread are Real Madrid CF and Williams F1 Racing. For Real Madrid it is simple. Every player, every employee, every club owner must possess Ambition. In essence the speaker proclaimed that Real Madrid is so successful because they aim to be. Simple. Powerful. At Williams F1 they have a similar red line – double entendre intended. There, every employee has one job description. To make the car go faster. The leaders at Williams F1 proclaim that every employee is a racer. That sets the stage for all brand relationships, innovations, and even new businesses they create. Williams F1 currently has thirty-six for-profit projects leveraging their auto racing technology in other industry sectors. A bizarre example? They are designing a system to reduce energy loss in grocery stores’ cool sections that makes the middle of the aisles cold.
Interesting learnings were to be had from Olympic partners BMW, Dow and P&G. BMW has used their bobsleigh success from Sochi to launch a program of building racing wheelchairs for the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games.
If you don’t remember, the car maker developed Team USA’s sleds and vaulted them to unprecedented success. Now they plan to do the same and are very proud of their focus on the Paras. I think it’s brilliant.
P&G has continued to evolve their Thank you Mom campaign if for no other reason than some of their participating brands see an 11% higher marketing spend ROI on Olympic-associated campaigns, versus those pitches that go ringless. That should be in every NSO’s pitch deck!
Dow is a unique sponsor in that they are a B-to-B company looking to create new channels, or as they say, skip a generation of traditional supply chains.
What all Olympic brands also emphasized was the positive impact on their agencies Olympic work has. Given the Games are only every two years, these brands see an increased creative effort from their partners and their internal stakeholders. It seems that their Olympic brand promise of inspiration impacts more than just young athletes.
The only other discussion that impressed me was MasterCard. They have 70,000 sponsorship assets globally. The guy who counted them all was in the room! They used to use those assets to tell stories, but have transitioned their activation approach to story making.
Leveraging their Priceless platform, they reward consumers from small surprises to once-in-a-lifetime experiences, that have been identified through data intelligence. Delivering these Priceless moments then creates the script to make stories. They are the first brand I have heard use this approach. Watch for lots more story making speeches on the conference circuit for the next two years.
Overall I was disappointed in this event. I had heard great things of Leaders and their events, but this summit missed the mark wildly. Many of the speakers talked in uncessarily broad terms at a level that wouldn’t interest a Grade 10 class. There were multiple references to speakers’ own children who watch three screens at once and other profound research. Honestly whoever created that cliché should be barred from their favourite dessert for a year. In general the speakers were not pushed or prodded to get deep.
As well, the format of the event was stale and boring. Almost every session was a moderated panel, all of whom except for Scott McCune and Bernie Mullin lacked energy, knowledge, and depth. Mullin would be a superstar moderator if he wasn’t so inclined to promoting his own firm with every question he asked. But he and McCune are keynote-worthy, so their moderating was a treat.
The networking for the event was the predictable buffet lunch and end-of-day hospitality bar. Speakers were ushered in and out of back doors like heads of state, making delegates feel almost criminal for seeking to connect with them. It felt like there were two tiers to the event. Those in a secret club, or perhaps the organizer’s clients, and the rest of the regular delegates.
Some delegates said I should see their London event, which is fine. Except I paid for the New York event.