Today’s global marketing leaders face big challenges, as CEOs and executive boards demand greater accountability, performance analytics and hard evidence of marketing’s value. These corporate mandates are transforming the marketing function from broad branding-based efforts with “fuzzy” results to performance-driven, outcome-centred activities that focus heavily on ROI. While part of marketing is still an “art”, marketers must now be aligned with strategic and financial goals while establishing new disciplines, best practices and technology-enabled processes that are clearly “science”-based. Cisco is in the midst of such a transformation, and senior vice president and CMO James Richardson will offer his own views on what is driving this marketing evolution, including insights into his own team’s challenges and successes in achieving a performance-driven marketing model.

As the digital revolution continues to shrink the world and open new markets, an effective global brand strategy is essential for businesses operating beyond their native borders. But marketers face significant challenges in getting the word out worldwide. With two-thirds of the world’s Internet users communicating in languages other than English, marketers must present products, programmes and policies in ways that connect with local populations. Translating brand values and qualities across borders requires consistent positioning and messaging across multiple languages, channels of distribution, and diverse business environments. Ian Ryder, international speaker, author and lecturer on the subjects of brand strategy, reputation and customer management, and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, will share his considerable experience on the complex topic of Managing a Global Brand, examining the relevance, importance and pitfalls of global brand management, and will reveal why a “humanity-based strategy” is the only way to win.

"The Case for Direct"
Stephen Yeo, Marketing Director UK - Dell

"Let the Customer Choose "
Katharyn White, VP Marketing Northeast Europe - IBM

Dell has come a long way with its celebrated direct business model—selling custom-configured products directly to customers, skipping the middleman and constantly pushing down prices. With estimates that over 85 percent of customers use dell.com in some way during the purchase process, Dell’s channel provides customer data that can be used to dynamically shape an efficient supply chain. But with customers in new markets such as Asia wanting to handle products before they buy, will consumer electronics fit the same model worldwide? IBM, by contrast, is committed to a variety of distribution channels to sell its products, solutions and services, wedding direct sales, e-commerce and more traditional selling through its network of partners and consultants. Which approach provides the best competitive advantages? Katharyn White, IBM’s VP Marketing Northeast Europe, and Stephen Yeo, Dell’s Marketing Director U.K. will discuss the value of their respective models. What are the benefits and drawbacks of each, and how might they inform your own approach to an efficient and effective channel strategy?

Empowered by the seemingly infinite number of digital channels and choices at their disposal, today’s consumers are more demanding than ever. Consumers want personalised products and services right now, and at a price that leaves little room for margins. This new Demand Economy requires businesses to deliver a seamless online/offline experience in the face of constant escalations in global competition and the drive for innovation. How can marketers thrive in this new world? What tools do they need to gain greater visibility and control of their marketplace? How can marketers effectively measure and balance the cost of innovation against the business imperative to maximize revenue? Akamai CMO Lisa Arthur will offer her insights on the Demand Economy, and discuss the new requirements for performance-driven marketing in the e-World.

With an ever-increasing number of channels and a growing variety of products and solutions offered worldwide, the practice of predictive market analysis has become as valuable as it has grown complex. Marketing analytics may not be a crystal ball, but customer behavioral data can provide a critical competitive advantage by profiling potential futures and trends, and data has never been more accessible thanks to the proliferation of online campaigns. By combining online analytics with more traditional data gathering techniques, such as end user focus groups, surveys and vendor scoring models, marketers can formulate surprisingly accurate predictions of market trends and future events. Philippe Kalmbach, Marketing Director DFIS EAMER at Kodak, and Amanda Jobbins, VP of Marketing EMEA at Symantec will explore techniques they have explored for gathering and analysing data to predict market changes and transformations.

Martyn Lambert, VP Marketing, EMEA - Avaya
Graham Fleet, Vice President - IMG Consulting
Helen Roe, Sponsorship Manager, Brand Management - Visa Europe

As the CEO clamors for hard evidence of marketing ROI, you wouldn’t think that events, sponsorships and celebrity marketing would be at the top of a marketer’s list. But sponsorships and personality-driven programmes are on the rise. Worldwide sponsorship spend approached $28 billion last year, according to IEG, and that figure will rise significantly in 2006. Technology companies are at the forefront of sponsorship efforts, but are these programmes worth it? What types of sponsorships really pay off? What do you do when your celebrity spokesperson gets busted? How can event and sponsorship ROI be effectively tracked? Martyn Lambert, VP of Marketing at Avaya, Graham Fleet, VP at IMG Consulting and Helen Roe, Sponsorship Manager, Brand Management at Visa Europe will share their insights on the most effective ways to target and leverage investments in event, sponsorship and celebrity marketing.

When Andy MacLeod joined MCI Europe in May 2003, the U.S. parent was in Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Some 20 months later, MCI emerged from Chapter 11 with 27,000 fewer employees and $6 billion in debt—not too bad for a company ready to be fed to the fishes. What motivated MacLeod, Senior Vice President and Managing Director of MCI Europe, to take on such a high profile business full of challenges? Hear how his sales, marketing and operational strategy for Europe helped MCI regain its stronghold in a highly competitive marketplace, and what bodes for the future as it prepares for a merge with Verizon.

Having a voice in the boardroom is a goal of every top marketer, but for most it’s only a pipe dream. Regaining a strategic role for marketing in the organisation requires tight alignment with executive management, and a focus on delivering relevant value that demonstrates marketing’s contribution to the bottom line. It requires not only marketing acumen, but a strong command of corporate strategy and operations. Nick Barley is the business and marketing officer for Microsoft U.K. a role that represents the merger of Business Operational Management with Marketing—or, Chief Operating Officer meets Marketing Director. It’s a title that puts marketing firmly in the boardroom at Microsoft U.K. Barley will offer his insights into the advantages and disadvantages of such a dual role, while outlining the challenges along the way and the tips and best practices to overcome them.

Many marketers are faced with shoestring budgets that just keep on shrinking. Today’s marketers must employ creative programmes that stretch investments while achieving a tangible impact on shareholder value. Effective strategies may leverage new technologies, such as outreach through blogs and podcasts, and Internet-based programmes that touch potential customers in every buying stage, or they may rely on more traditional tactics, utilizing clever direct mail pieces and long-standing guerilla tactics. Whatever the medium, marketers must come up with the unusual and imaginative to achieve success. Mark Brailey, Director, Marketing EMEA at Intel; Tony Kavanagh, VP Marketing U.K., Ireland and South Africa at Oracle; Frans Scheper, SVP and CMO at Philips Semiconductors; and moderator Torsten Oltmanns, Global Marketing Director at Roland Berger will give real-world examples of creative marketing programmes that get results.

From established conglomerates to emerging startups, it’s more important now than ever before to enhance marketing accountability and yield by analysing, restructuring and executing in all areas of marketing and sales organisations. In fact, not doing so these days can be career-breaking. Under intense pressure from cutthroat global competition, rapidly diversifying customer segments and rising demands for accountability in the boardroom, marketers have seen the need to sharply align their organisations with financial goals. Questions such as the following need to be answered: How is the marketing ROI measured, and should it be adjusted? Would specific operations be more efficient if they were outsourced? Is the spending on the channel mix fixed, or should there be constant reallocation? Can the company reposition and reallocate spending in real time if needed? Malcolm Wilkinson, Director at Deloitte, will discuss best practices now being adopted in marketing and some practical steps to implement change. Neil Morgan, VP Marketing EMEA at Siebel Systems will demonstrate how Siebel has addressed these challenges—the benefits gained and lessons learned.