The Future of Marketing: Insights from POSSIBLE Miami 2023

This week, the marketing, media, and tech community gathered in Miami for the inaugural POSSIBLE conference. It was an exciting few days packed with insightful sessions, engaging conversations, and innovative ideas. Here are some of the highlights.

The Present & Future of Marketing are AI-Powered

Kristen O'Hara, Vice President of Agency and Brand Solutions at Google, presented a compelling case for the importance of AI in marketing. 

• AI is the third paradigm shift in technology

• AI is a business multiplier, and companies using AI-powered targeting are seeing a 35% increase in conversion

• Brands like UPS and The New York Times are already leveraging AI to enhance their marketing efforts, along with growing revenue and driving cost savings

• If you are not using AI in your marketing today, you are already behind

• AI has the potential to vastly expand the remit of marketing

• Effective creative is a proven ROI generator across campaigns

• AI has the power to unlock what humans do best: creativity, judgment, and empathy

Twitter 2.0: From Conversations to Partnerships

Elon Musk spoke with Linda Yaccarino, Chairman of Global Advertising & Partnerships at NBCUniversal, talked about the evolution of Twitter and its mission to promote the fredom of speech

• "I think ‘entertaining’ is one way the marketers in the room describe Twitter today”

• Twitter’s mission = freedom of speech. Freedom of speech, not freedom of reach

The Future Does Not Fit in the Containers of the Past

Rishad Tobaccowala, Author and Podcast Host of What's Next?, urged marketers to think differently and be open to new ideas.

• Allocate one hour every day to learn

• Once in a while, build an opposite case for what you believe is true

• Think about a theme and build, create and make 

• If advertising is relevant to users and entertaining/funny/informative, it’s actually content

The Art of the Icon

LL Cool J, entertainer and Founder/CEO of Rock the Bells, and Jim Lanzone, CEO of Yahoo, spoke with Michael Kassan, Founder/CEO of MediaLink, about finding inspiration and the power of humility in building an enduring brand.

• "You have to have a real vision. You can’t let your failures of the past constrain your future potential if you want to be successful at expanding your brand and staying relevant in the culture.”

• “Humility is a superpower. It’s a strategy.”

• "People call me a celebrity and I accept that. But I consider myself an artist. The responsibility of an artist is to create."

Amplified Intelligence: The Intersection of Generative AI, Web3, and the Metaverse

Shelly Palmer, CEO of The Palmer Group, argued that if generative marketing is not the next big thing, then nothing is. 

The Creator Economy: Stay Ahead of the Curve

Jamie Gutfreund, CMO of Whalar, spoke about the rise of the creator economy.

• Creators make content relevant!

• "Community is like a group chat. The more you let the audience in, the more they feel like they’re engaged and the more they trust you. They become part of the content.”

• Focus on Time Spent. It equals brand trust and builds loyalty. "The time spent [on a piece of content] is critical, because just like in a store analogy, the more time you spend in a store, the more likely you are to buy something. So getting people to spend time is a critical metric."

The Point of Connection: A Look at the AI Behind the Magic at YouTube

Han Wen, CDMO of L'Oreal, and Ben Jones, Global Director of Creative Works, spoke about how AI enables advertising opportunities for video. 

• "The explosion of AI is going to transform us as marketers, it's going to transform us as storytellers, it's going to transform us as consumers." 
• "Gen Z is putting a different version of themselves in different environments. [They're thinking] - "If I'm changing who I am, I epect you to change who you are."

Math & Magic: A Conversation with Bob Pittman and Jon Bon Jovi

Bob Pittman, Chairman and CEO of iHeartMedia, and Jon Bon Jovi sat down to speak about their paths navigating multi-decade careers and the digital transformation of the music business. 

• "No matter what we're collectively marketing or selling, it has to be rooted in truth"
• "Stay true to yourself - don't chase a fad. I was smart enough to not buy a flannel shirt when Seattle got popular!"

Beyond the Buzzword: How can Marketers Optimize Attention

Vinny Rinaldi, Head of Media and Analytics of The Hershey Company, spoke in a panel of thought leaders about evidence-based paths marketers can take to successfully capture consumer attention. 

💡 What’s the ideal KPI? "Sales overnight, brand overtime"

💡 "We have 1.2 seconds to get attention with “finger stopping creative” that stands out among the ~5K ads that we all see every day."

Random Tidbits

• As of 2022, the creator economy market size is estimated at $104.2B, more than double it's value since 2019
•  If advertising is not relevant and entertaining for the user, it’s spam