Festival of Marketing will celebrate change in the industry

This October will see the return of the Festival of Marketing. In five inter-connected events, we’ll be outlining our view of the state of marketing, and the challenges every marketer should focus on. And don’t worry, there’ll be comedy and music, parties and fringe events as well, as such the DMA’s TV Dinner on 10 October, which will give you the chance to debate the direct marketing opportunities from second-screening, VoD and online viewing.

The Festival takes its inspiration from our Modern Marketing Manifesto, and is put together with the help of Marketing Week, Creative Review, Design Week and Data Strategy.

Here’s an overview of what we’re up to:

The end of the digital beginning…
Digital marketing should no longer be seen in isolation, as marketing works best when it combines the ‘traditional’ and digital. We are at the stage now where businesses should no longer need to be convinced of the value and importance of digital. As Ashley Friedleinpointed out when looking at trends for 2013, it has now gone ‘mainstream’.

The challenge now is to adapt to the fact that distinctions between digital and offline will become more and more irrelevant. A phrase used in PWC’s Global entertainment and media outlook: 2012-2016 report sums this up well:

“The technology to deliver the enterprise with digital at its core is here now. The main challenges are around leading and marshalling the talent and innovative culture needed to make it a reality.”

The Festival of Marketing’s events aim to help marketers to adapt to this ‘new normal’ and re-engineer the marketing discipline. All of the key elements in the modern marketer’s arsenal will be covered during the Festival, design and creativity, the use of new technologies, how to use data to drive insight, and more. As Econsultancy COO Charlie Salter explains:

“The Festival of Marketing is aimed at providing a content-rich, inclusive and fun environment for marketers to learn, debate and exchange ideas on what it takes to be the marketer of the future.”

“Nobody doubts that our profession, and the tools available to it, are going through a time of turbulent change and disruption often fuelled by digital and technology innovation. The role of the Festival of Marketing is to both celebrate that change as well as provide marketers with the skills, contacts and insights they’ll need to navigate through it.”

For information on the full programme of events, visit the Festival of Marketing listings.

By DMA guest blogger Graham Charlton, Editor-in-Chief of the Econsultancy blog