From predicting the rise of a more responsible form of capitalism to firsthand lessons from Obama’s campaign strategists, the final day of Mplanet continued a tradition of providing leading insights from executives and strategists that ignite conversations and catalysts in this new marketsphere. Nearly 800 marketers participated in this year’s conference, and many were on hand today to listen to Obama’s campaign communication strategist Larry Grisolano and R.K. Krishna Kumar, Chairman of Tata Coffee and Vice Chairman of Tata Tea and Indian Hotels, Tata Sons Ltd.

Some of my thoughts are below, along with additional pictures and coverage of the conference.

 Photo courtesy of Lucy A. Kennedy, Kennedy Photography

R.K. Krishna Kumar explained how Tata invests in communications and activities that establish infrastructure, increase social-justice and grow goodwill among its global constituents.

Photo courtesy of Lucy A. Kennedy, Kennedy Photography

“Anyone can be a leader.  It’s really about the followers.” Larry Grisolano provided many campaign take-aways that can be applied to marketing in countless scenarios. Through it all, marketers must grow, identify and empower their customers to shape and elevate the brand – through authenticity, credibility and consistency.
Larry also provided five common comments from campaign focus groups:

1. “Talk to us like adults.” Don’t pander to your audience; treat them with the respect they deserve.
2. “Tell us what you’re going to do and how you’re going to do it.” Be transparent and back it up through action.
3. “Be real.” Authenticity counts. Present a genuine message.
4. “Take responsibility.” Walk the talk, in other words. People are obsessed with accountability and responsibility.
5. Do what’s best for the country. Marketers have the opportunity to give people something to come together around.

For more information on Larry Grisolano, R.K. Krishna Kumar and Mplanet’s closing events, check out our full release here. Also, be sure to read more thoughts on today's presenters at AMA's Marketing News blog.

Coming soon will be a collection of posts from bloggers.

Nancy Costopulos, the American Marketing Association’s chief marketing officer, provided the above post.

Last night’s fireside chat Larry Grisolano provide me with amazing insight – both into the political campaigns process and marketing to the American public. Those revelations stayed with me throughout the night, and I wanted to share a few of them in anticipation of Larry’s larger speech today at Mplanet.

1. Marketers must clearly identify, through research and conversation, what challenges their brand. In early stages, based on research, Obama’s commitment to change politics in America was not as challenged by the other leading candidates as it was by the attitude of “cynicism” among the electorate. Seems to me, if they hadn’t figured that out, perhaps the election would have had a different outcome.

2. Brands cannot be all things to all people; marketers should leverage a clear message and brand identity. Later in the primary, there was a lot of attention paid to the difference in being a change agent v. necessity for experience to lead the country. The team learned it was difficult to be both (according to research) so it diluted Senator Clinton’s message that attempted to combine her resume with her desire to change Washington.

3. American consumers today want genuine engagement and credible message that allows them to own part of the brand experience. Obama campaign activated “a sense of national community,” similar to feeling after 9/11.

Creating a sense of national community is no small undertaking. I hope you’re able to join us today for more insights from Larry. If not, stay tuned for my later post on his presentation.

Nancy Costopulos, the American Marketing Association’s chief marketing officer, provided the above post.

Conventional wisdom says marketers should spend more in bad economic times to stand out from competitors who may be cutting their spending. But such thinking needs to be re-examined in this downturn, says David Reibstein, professor of marketing at The Wharton School and a speaker at AMA’s Mplanet conference.

Reibstein, in an interview at the Mplanet studio Wednesday, said he expects the current recession to be a long one. Cutting marketing spending in such areas as new customer acquisition and long-term brand building can make sense in a longer downturn, he contended. The challenge comes in trying to anticipate when the recession will end so spending can be racketed up as it is ending, he said.

Larry Grisolano, Senior Communication Strategist for Barack Obama's Presidential Campaign, is now speaking at 9:15 a.m. today instead of at 3:30 p.m. Stephen Quinn, Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer for Walmart, was originally supposed to speak at 9:15 a.m., but was unable to leave Arkansas due to an ice storm, AMA CEO Dennis Dunlap said this morning.

Piet Levy, Staff Writer for Marketing News, provided the above post.

Before heading off to our Discovery Center tonight for additional networking and dialogue on today’s inspiring keynotes (see previous blog posts today) and their thoughts on the new marketsphere, I wanted to share some photos and early online and media coverage from Mplanet that summarizes today’s event, speakers and professional networking. Return tomorrow for posts on remarks from Larry Grisolano, senior communications strategist to President Obama’s campaign, and R.K.  Krishna Kumar, chairman, Tata Coffee.

Click here to see our official release on today's events.

BtoB sat down with Xerox Chairman and CEO Anne Mulcahy. See the coverage here.

Brandweek and Adweek provided a summary of the year-long research project AMA's CEO Dennis Dunlap unveiled in his opening remarks.

American Express CMO, John Hayes, called on marketers to meet today's opportunity and responsibility to help lead our country to economic recovery.  Photo courtesy of Lucy A. Kennedy, Kennedy Photography.

Mary Dillon, Global CMO of McDonald's, encouraged marketers to crystallize and hold fast to their brand promise. She engaged onsite bloggers in conversation about McDonald's digital and social media projects.  Photo courtesy of Lucy A. Kennedy, Kennedy Photography.

Read a sampling of online coverage from marketing bloggers and colleagues at Citizen Marketer 2.1, Endagon Innovation's Greg Rollet's blog, and MarketingShift.com.

Nancy Costopulos, the American Marketing Association’s chief marketing officer, provided the above post.

It’s been a busy day for me at Mplanet, where I conducted 20 interviews in the Mplanet studio with speakers, attendees and sponsors. The over-riding message I heard from them is that marketing in this economy has to leave hype behind and connect with customers in genuine, real ways.

That starts by listening to your customers to discover what their needs are today and then responding with products or services that answer those needs and do it in a way or ways – whether online or off – consumers want.

“One-to-one marketing has really arrived,” thanks to the technologies available today to target messaging, said  Anne Mulcahy, chairman and CEO of Xerox. But to be effective in one-to-one, marketers need to communicate relevant and meaningful information to their customers, she said.

The initial impulse in this economy may be to pull back on marketing innovation. But the experts I interviewed agree that the opposite course – experimenting to discover new strategies and tactics that work – is the one that will produce the best long-term results.

“This is the time for marketers to really market,” said Ralph Oliva, executive director of the Institute for the Study of Business Markets.

Good advice and words that Mplanet attendees will likely take to heart as they return to their companies and organizations after the conferences ends Wednesday.

John N. Frank, editorial director, Marketing News

Mary Dillon today chatted with marketing bloggers and social media experts at Mplanet following her presentation to conference attendees. Addressing the question of what marketers at all levels should do in the current economy, Mary provided the following tips: understand your target market; engage in simple, clear problem solutions; and invest in marketing analytics. She noted that people at times fear admitting a program – be it traditional or new media – failed, but in the end it’s far better to know what failed and what delivered positive results in this economy.

Both in her session with bloggers and her keynote, Mary talked about delivering what people want in a meaningful relevant way. Whether from internal networking platforms for the McDonald’s crew or a global brand tailored to local interests, Mary and the McDonald’s marketing team ensures their brand promise is the DNA of all genuine platforms. Mary was joined today by our fellow marketing bloggers: Scott Titus, Matt O’Hern, Toby Bloomberg, Greg Verdino, Becky Carroll, Greg Rollett, Susanne Sicilian and Susan Peyton.

Similar to Mary’s conversations on brand promises and its importance today, John Hayes, noted how our generation will “be defined by how we answer the economic hurdles that we face, how we respond not only to our current difficulties, but how we prepare our future generations for security, wealth and prosperity. It’s our time to set up. I don’t care if you’re 25 or 52. It’s up to us.” He provided some tips and points for clearing those hurdles. Take a look at this summary from onsite blogger, Matt O’Hern, on MarketingShift.com.

There’s more coming, including a recap of today. Check back soon and follow us on Twitter at #mplanet2009.
 
Nancy Costopulos, the American Marketing Association’s chief marketing officer, provided the above post.