Event review: The Insight Exchange – Creating Value with Content

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I recently attended the latest Insight Exchange event, run by Beth Etling and Ross Dawson. Here’s my review of the event (which will also be published in Marketing Magazine)

Creating Value with Content

If writing an event review about the value of content seems strangely meta that’s because it is. Welcome to a world of rampant content consumerism increasingly disrupted by the connectedness of humans and their insatiable appetite for storytelling.

The Insight Exchange series bills itself as “monthly topic driven luncheons offering executives a chance to gain valuable information in a short period of time” and the latest installment brought together prominent players from across the publishing, marketing and agency spaces to ruminate on the business of content.

The Format

Before we dive into a look at some of the content, a quick word on the format. It’s refreshing to attend an event that is so tightly curated yet still offers space for audience interaction (Q&A, Interactive Strategy Workshops) and a frothy double shot of caffeine-fueled networking.

The keynote (delivered by Gerd Leonhard) established the macro contexts for the rest of the speakers to expand on the details from their respective industry perspectives. It’s a simple model and it works. I left this degustation with lots of new tastes and plenty to digest.

The Keynote

Gerd Leonhard, media futurist

Gerd describes himself as a “media futurist specialising in content and technology” and it’s clear he understands the business he’s in. Gerd dutifully proposed four fundamental shifts (amongst a wealth of other insights) those in the business of content would do well to monitor:

Controlling consumers is being replaced by earning their trust
Data is the new oil that will fuel future content innovation
Privacy is the next major issue content providers must address
Command and control is out. Coordinate and cultivate is in.

I recommend checking out Gerd’s presentation slides on his website for more detail.

The Industry Speakers

Craig Davis, co-chairman and chief creative officer of Publics Mojo Aus & NZ

After Gerd’s planetary perspectives it was refreshing to hear next from Craig Davis, co-chairman and chief creative officer of Publics Mojo Aus & NZ. Craig took exception to the term content and proposed a world made not from atoms as your science teachers may have misinformed you, but from stories.

The takeaways?

Great communication has always been interactive, stories (not media) are social and the audience is the network. Oh, and my favourite morsel of the day: “Brands, stop interrupting what people are interested in and start becoming what people are interested in.”

Justin Lam, group brand manager at Cerebos Foods

Justin Lam, group brand manager at Cerebos Foods, served up the next segment, appropriately enough a case study on the Asian Home Gourmet brand.

Justin skirted around the numbers, which is always a little frustrating with case studies, but it was still an interesting look at how a clear content strategy and innovative partnerships can drive FMCG sales.

Check out Justin’s presentation slides over on Slideshare.

Louisa Bayles, digital sales manager for BBC Worldwide

Last up was Louisa Bayles, digital sales manager for BBC Worldwide. We all know the Beeb is an institution but did you know that 4.6% of its revenue today comes from digital sources?

You did. Hmmm, well they’re looking to grow that to 10% and are pursuing a pretty detailed third party strategy with other web publishers that you might like to look into in more detail.

Again, to get more of an idea of what Louisa had to say check out her presentation slides over on Slideshare.

The Wrap

The long lunch used to be a staple of the advertising industry. This reviewer can see it making a welcome return in the form of these nutritious Insight Exchange events.

Your say

Were you at the Insight Exchange event too? Please comment what you thought of it and if you’ve written your own review, please include a link to that in your comment.

UPDATE: Neerav was at the event and used the great live blogging tool CoverIt Live to record his and others’ thoughts on the event. It’s well worth checking out over at the getSocialAdvice blog: http://getsocialadvice.com/creating-value-with-content-strategies-for-marketing-and-advertising-insight-exchange/

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Tagged as: content, Gerd Leonhard, Marketing

Denise Tung

Good summary.
Gerd's macro view of the Content space captured the key trends being experienced in Australia and globally. I did feel that some of the predictions were already happening today rather than in 5 years' time (eg. augmented reality, mobile web). What is clearly evolving though is the consumer toolbox needs to be more sophisticated as consumers become more savvy and independent with what, when and how they wish to consumer relevant content.

Would love to see a better balance of Industry speakers who service business clients as well as the practical case studies such as those from BBC and Cerebros.

Overall enjoyed the session!