Agenda

Registration & Networking Breakfast

The Signature Chicago Breakfast ExPIERience is continental-style, including:

• Freshly Sliced Pineapple, Strawberries, Honeydew, Watermelon, Cantaloupe and Grapes
• English Muffins and Assorted Bagels
• Chicago Crumb Coffee Cake and a selection of Breakfast Breads
• Butter, Marmalade, Preserves, Cream Cheese, Honey and Nutella
• Freshly Brewed Coffee and Assorted Hot Teas
• Orange, Apple and Cranberry Juices

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Welcome

Behind the Tweets: A framework for data-driven marketing

Data. It’s everywhere within your organization – but too often it’s hard to find. It doesn’t lie – but it can help you shape the truth. It’s hard to overstate the importance of data to successful marketing campaigns – but it’s easy to forget that the data is only as good as the manner in which it is gathered and used.

In this session, Beverly will share her perspectives on data transparency, democratization, and integrity, which have enabled her teams to deliver impactful, and unforgettable, marketing campaigns.

Reimagining a More Inclusive Brand Purpose

Every marketing choice we make has the power to shape how we see each other, but too often many perspectives are excluded. Learn how you can rethink inclusion in your brand purpose, promote underrepresented groups and find inspiration from brands who are leading the path forward.

The Psychology of Marketing to a Stressed Consumer

For two years, consumers in the U.S. have been struggling to adapt to a new normal, whatever that may mean. The result has been massive stress. Just when we thought it was over: boom – inflation, supply chain issues, and war in Ukraine. Now consumer stress levels are at a multi-decade high, with little sign of waning. This mental shift has profound implications for marketing.

Consumers will not react to marketing the same way they did just two years ago. Ads and strategies that were very effective prior to 2020 may fall flat or even cause brand damage. To appeal to today’s hyper-stressed consumer, different strategies and methods must be used.

This session will review the research about consumer stress and the psychology behind it. We will discuss actionable strategies to appeal to the stressed consumer and how to create effective marketing for them.

Refresh & Recharge AM Networking Break

Featuring delectable treats at several stations:

• Chocolate and Caffeine Table: fudge cupcakes, chocolate chip cookies, chocolate-dipped strawberries and pretzels, chocolate graham crackers and chocolate mousse shots filled with praline and chocolate shavings. Plus energy drinks, pop, and freshly-brewed coffee with flavored syrups, whipped cream, cinnamon and chocolate shavings.
• The Bavarian Pretzel Table: house-made Bavarian-style pretzels with lager beer cheese, Düsseldorf, yellow, and grain mustards. And roasted peanuts, Nuts on Clark Popcorn, and hometown Cracker Jacks.
• Imagine & Build Your Own Energy Mix Table: assorted dried fruits, chocolate and peanut butter chips, nuts, granola and more.

Help Me, Don’t Sell Me: Putting the Customer into Customer Experience

What happens when you allow your website visitors to hear from actual peers? CDW realized that peers trust peers more than they trust brands, so they launched an innovative program to connect prospective customers with real-world customers in real-time that has driven higher cart conversion, incremental revenue, and increased customer satisfaction scores.

How Brands Can Make Smart Moves into the Metaverse

Tech CEOs like Satya Nadella and Mark Zuckerberg believe the metaverse will be the next leap in the evolution of the Internet. If the metaverse will be where the real and digital worlds collide, how can brands be prepared?

This panel will discuss where the opportunities are today for any type of organization (yes, even nonprofits) and the emerging trends marketers need to know to create a new reality for their businesses.

People-based Marketing Driving Consumer-centric Value

Changes within the digital ecosystem require significant shifts in how we plan and activate against data, new technology, and a refreshed data-driven approach to personalize and orchestrate messaging strategies across touchpoints.

• Prioritize deeper understanding of actual customers by leaning into opportunities for transparency, control, and direct ownership over insights and audience-building​
• Brings people-based marketing to life through an identification and data strategy detailing the addressable signals required to target prioritized audience cohorts with whom the brand must engage to achieve defined goals

Lunch will be: Dijon Mustard-Painted and Parmesan-Crusted Chicken Breast Cutlets with a Grilled Root Vegetable, Cherry Tomato, and Basil Salad, Roasted Pee Wee Potatoes, Fire Roasted Tomato Coulis and Grana Padano Shavings

Break

Designing Sonic Prompts to Show Loving Care

Companies put huge effort into product design, but what happens when it comes to the product’s sound design and the overall brand engagement experience? The same product may emit tinny chirps or piercing beeps.

Learn how Shure set about creating a sonic universe for signals and alerts that would suit the exceptional character of the engineering and design in its new line of premium products.

Building Consumer Trust & Community Connection by Investing in Local News

Chicago Public Media, home of WBEZ Chicago, recently acquired the Chicago Sun-Times, the hardest working newspaper in America — joining together two of Chicago’s most trusted news brands to invest in and strengthen local journalism in the region.

In this session, learn more about the historic partnership and changes in the media landscape; how news consumers are willing to support news they value and trust; and how brands can partner with local news organizations to reach devoted audiences of readers and listeners.

Delivering on the Promise of A Personalized, Seamless Customer Experience

We live in a world where consumers expect more from their business relationships than ever before. Companies like Amazon, LL Bean, and Trader Joe’s have raised the bar for all businesses by relentlessly focusing on customer satisfaction and delivering a seamless experience. In exchange for their valuable information, consumers expect your company to know them and give them what they want, when, and where they want it.

Hear how the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) is changing the way they do business to deliver on their strategic promise of a personalized, seamless experience for their members.

Refresh & Recharge PM Networking Break

Donut Sundae Bar

• Chocolate and vanilla donuts
• Vanilla ice cream
• Strawberry/chocolate/caramel sauces
• Seasonal berries, sprinkles, cookie crumbs, peanuts and whipped cream

Sweet Endings Platters of Chef-Selected Mini Pastries to include:

• Mini Key Lime, Apple, Fruit, Pecan, Caramel and Chocolate Tarts
• Assorted Petite Fors
• Mini Butter and Lace Cookies
• Assorted Mini Chocolate Mousse Cups
• Chocolate Dipped Oreos and Pretzels

Virtual Presentation: Quantum Marketing

BrandSmart Awards Program & Adjournment

Presented at the BrandSmart conference each year, the BrandSmart Awards recognize the very best of brand marketing from around the globe.

The BrandSmart Awards were inspired by the Golden Ratio and were created to celebrate the powerful relationship between beauty and measurement – the marriage of creativity and results.

Learn more

Happy Hour & Raffle

This free happy hour will include a raffle. 

Cocktails, wine, beer, soft drinks, juices and water

Gourmet Grilled Cheese Sandwich Station featuring Apricot and Brie, Italian Beef and Giardiniera, and Sun-Dried Tomato, Basil & Mozzarella – served with tomato gin soup

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