CMO Digital Insight Summit
On 18-20 march 2019 at the excellent Ritz Carlton in Greensboro, Georgia, the US edition of our CMO Digital Insight Summit will bring together senior decision-makers and business leaders from across the digital spectrum to discuss current industry challenges and opportunities, how to get the most out of them – and where the solutions lie for today’s digital marketers.
Key themes under discussion include: Creating a Customer Centric Culture… Building a Community: The Future Digital Consumer… Where to Find the Connected Spender; The Next Generation Marketing Executive: Skills, tools and mindsets for success
From case studies that lift the lid on operations inside best-in-class organizations, to workshops and collaborative sessions that focus on real challenges and future technology innovations, to one-to-one meetings with industry peers offering practical advice tailored to your specific needs, the summit provides you with everything you need to implement your key projects more effectively.
The summit has given me exposure to a lot of interesting technologies that I would not have otherwise found out about.
I feel better equipped to approach these projects because I’ve come across some opportunities I didn’t know about before.
We have struck up many conversations and a couple of transformation projects with suppliers GDS have introduced us to.
Our Approach
Every GDS Summit has one stated aim: to help attending executives implement their key projects more effectively. We do this by developing an in-depth understanding of those executives' project needs, the business outcomes they want to achieve, and the challenges they face in terms of hitting those goals.
Who Attends
Past Attendees
6 Challenges in Digital Marketing
- Using data effectively to drive personalized experiences and meet rising customer expectation
- Understanding how to close the loop between brand and performance marketing
- Developing a credible, authentic, consistent voice across myriad customer touchpoints and channels
- Proving the value of digital marketing efforts through effective metrics and measurement
- Creating assets at the required volume to feed the content marketing machine
- Activating cultural networks, tapping into tribes and harnessing the power of community
Summit Schedule
Grab your name badge, say hello, activate the onsite app and prepare to leave the office behind for two-and-a-half days of networking, learning and intelligence gathering.
What? When? How? Where? Join our Master of Ceremonies for a brief welcome and orientation session, where we’ll explain your itinerary for the next few days.
We live in an overwhelmingly digital world: technology has become ubiquitous, connectivity likewise. It is embedded in how we interact as consumers, as professionals, as human beings. Expectations have changed to the extent that we now feel entitled to access digital tools, services and experiences. Businesses need to respond to that dynamic. So what does that mean for marketing? More specifically, what does it mean for digital marketing?
Why you should care: We are at a critical juncture in marketing. On the one hand, customers expect ever more personalized messaging, content and offers that display knowledge of individual tastes and preferences. On the other, new regulations make using customer data for marketing purposes more challenging. The trick is to become a trusted, credible partner, using the right data to ensure greater relevance and value. So how do marketers strike the right balance in order to build greater trust?
Key questions to cover: What strategies drive the greatest engagement? Are your data strategies working? How do you do personalization at scale? How do you build a credible and authentic voice? What is the role of communities? Is this something you build, curate or piggyback? How do you harness influencers? What is the value of recommendations and reviews?
Why you should care: Only 30% of marketers see their content marketing as effective. The challenge of tying your content efforts to either the top or bottom line is huge – and organisations everywhere are wrestling with how to get measurable returns on their marketing efforts. Too many content initiatives have no direct impact on the key business metrics of revenue, growth or profitability (or at least, no way to track what that impact is). So how do you tie content and conversion together?
Key questions to cover: What is the true function of content? Is it to engage or convert? How do you connect storytelling and conversion? How do you link engagement to the bottom line? What are the metrics for measuring content success? Is ROI important in content strategy? Do always-on and impact campaigns have different content needs? How do we avoid creating wallpaper?
Why you should care: According to executive search firm Spencer Stuart, average CMO tenure is down to just 42 months. Tough business headwinds, the emergence of new technologies and changing consumer preferences and behaviours is putting pressure on CMOs to adapt quickly and come up with new solutions. The CMO is increasingly expected to drive and define business strategy – so are you ready for what is coming next?
Key questions to cover: What is the future role of the marketing function? How is it changing? What skills do we need? Does it require left or right brain thinking? Is marketing an art or a science? What are the technologies that will impact the industry? What does the advent of AI and marketing automation mean for marketers? Should technology augment or define your strategy?
Detail to Follow.
Time to kick off your heels, loosen those ties and get to know your fellow summit attendees. Relax, drinks are on us.
Time for some fun; you’ve earned it. Join us for our second night’s dinner and entertainment. Details to follow.
The most important meal of the day. Get yourself set for a productive day by joining us for coffee, croissants and more.
The title says it all: what should you have at the top of your agenda over the next 12-18 months? And what is coming down the pipe over the longer term?
TABLE 1: Short-term vs long-term thinking
Research carried out over the past couple of years has confirmed something many in the advertising community have long suspected: that marketing spend is overly focused on the short term. To what extent do you agree? Is this a problem? Do we need to introduce more long-term thinking in our marketing plans? And if so, how?
TABLE 2: Programmatic tech
Everyone knows that programmatic tech has changed media buying and disrupted revenue streams. But is it really working for your business? How is your brand approaching it, how do you find the right staff or agencies to facilitate it, and what are the barriers (and secrets) to programmatic success?
TABLE 3: Harnessing the power of voice
20% of searches today are happening without a screen – and that figure is only set to rise as familiarity with interfaces such as Amazon Echo, Google Assistant and others takes hold. What is the impact of this trend on marketing? Is Alexa a Trojan horse? And how do you successfully insert yourself in this new breed of conversation?
TABLE 4: Taking on Goliath
Amazon is the ultimate brand ‘frenemy’ – a huge competitive threat is that redefining expectations around the customer experience, but at the same time a major platform for others’ success and growth. What has been the ‘Amazon effect’ at your organisation? And what is your strategy to compete effectively?
TABLE 5: Dealing with disruption
From the impact of Brexit to the lack of digital skills, from GDPR to the rise in the national living wage to the emergence of new, disruptive technologies like AI, voice and VR: what are the big external, non-marketing-specific trends that are keeping you awake at night?
Not every brand can be a market leader. But that doesn’t automatically make everyone else a challenger. So, what differentiates a true challenger brand from everyone else? What are the attributes and ideologies that drive their success? And how can you adapt your own thinking to become a challenger in your market?
How a challenger brand successfully took on the market leader through innovative digital marketing, and what others can learn from their experience.
Take advantage of time to network with fellow summit attendees and further discuss your business transformation projects.
Details To Follow.
Gartner forecasts that 8.4 billion connected things will be in use worldwide by the end of 2017, up 31% from 2016, and will reach 20.4 billion by 2020. That’s a lot of channels for marketers to keep up with – potentially resulting in hastily integrated tools and channels and unmanageable digital complexity. So how do you streamline in an omnichannel world?
Content is seen as a critical engagement tool. Making money isn’t the immediate point of it. But is there a way to monetise content? Can you squeeze more from your content assets? And if so, how do you do it?
Worked up an appetite? Recharge those batteries with our buffet-style lunch, and prepare to meet the afternoon head-on.
Whether you have big ambitious but small resources, or your marketing budget simply faces another cut, automation is increasingly being seen as an effective way to amplify your creative ideas. But how do you do it well? Where do the pitfalls lie? And what approaches are seeing the greatest success?
Getting attribution modeling right could be the difference between focusing your team’s attention in the wrong direction, or achieving sophisticated, data-driven marketing planning. Hear how the best-in-class firms are making that leap.
Take advantage of time to network with fellow summit attendees and further discuss your business transformation projects.
Building a community of advocates, influencers and likeminded souls – to tap into their likes, dislikes and ideas, and deliver more of what they love you for – is the perfect way to get closer to your customers. Creating a community is easy; but doing it well requires something more. Find out what in this case study.
Digital marketing lessons from a true industry leader.
Time for a well-deserved break in your busy schedules.
Time for some fun; you’ve earned it. Join us for our second night’s dinner and entertainment. Details to follow.
The most important meal of the day. Get yourself set for a productive day by joining us for coffee, croissants and more.
Argument: Marketing is shifting from talking at people and focusing on transactions, to engaging with people – building meaningful, life-long, and personalised relationships. Driving engagement should be a marketer’s no. 1 priority.
Counter-argument: The focus on engagement has made modern marketers soft; they have lost the art of asking for the sale. Marketing is ultimately about driving sales, and if you don’t achieve a conversion then there is no success.
Whether it is improved search, recommendation engines, programmatic tech, forecasting or ‘conversational’ commerce through voice or chatbots, AI has a huge future in marketing. How will it impact your business?
What seperates an OK customer experience from a truly great one? How does marketing contribute to experience? And what does this mean in a digital context? Hear from a leading brand on how they made the jump from good to great.
Take advantage of time to network with fellow summit attendees and further discuss your business transformation projects.
How do we get more out of mobile? What does it mean to deliver mobile experiences that truly transform the way we engage, empower and serve consumers? And how do we capitalise on the always-on potential of mobile, so that it becomes more than just another channel?
What are the current trends and developments that are shaping the digital marketing space? What conclusions can we draw from what has taken place over the past 12 months? And what does this tell us about what will happen next?
What have been the most interesting discussion ppoints over the last few days? What are the key takeaways? Are there any immediate actions to be implemented? And what further questions have emerged?
Worked up an appetite? Recharge those batteries with our buffet-style lunch for your journey home.
Summit Location
Our events take place at some of the most prestigious venues in the world. Five-star accommodation, dining and amenities make attending one of our summits both business and pleasure. Being productive has never been so much fun.
Latest Case Study
Senior executives love our summits because of the unparalleled opportunity to meet people with ideas on how to move their key projects forward. But don’t just take our word for it…
To discuss how GDS Summits can help you solve your project challenges contact us on: 0117 921 4000 or email sayhello@gdsgroup.com.