March 22, 2009

Bob Thacker - Monday, April 6, 2009: "Chewing Gum and Bailing Wire"


UPDATE:  Another fantastic turnout this evening! Many thanks to everyone who showed up, despite the Twins home opener, for Bob's inspiring presentation. A video recap of the event is embedded below.

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Bob Thacker, Sr. VP, Marketing & Advertising for OfficeMax, the man who brought Michael Graves to Target and commissioned ElfYourself.com, joined us Monday, April 6 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. (doors
 open at 5:00 p.m.) at the Fine Line Music Cafe in Minneapolis.







Bob is infamous for exhorting his agencies to, "Don't make ads, make 
news." And his career demonstrates the strength of that direction, including roles as Sr. VP of Marketing Services at Sears Roebuck, VP of Marketing at Target and CEO/President of BBDO, Minneapolis. Bob was twice selected by Ad Age as one of the 
"Top 100 Marketers in the Nation," and was elected to the Retail Hall of Fame, which honors only one retail professional each year. He's figured out how to collaborate with traditional advertising and digital agencies and PR firms—from big shops to boutiques. 

His career includes deep experience with media planning, campaign integration, marketing technology and the challenges and opportunities that come in collaborating with empowered consumers—not to mention figuring out how to achieve more with less. 

Bob will be speaking about getting big ideas with small budgets, with obser
vations and insights from his career, focused through the lens of our turbulent times. Bob says, "I hope that I might enlighten and inspire the CATFOA audience to persevere and even prevail."

We've hosted seven events so far in this series. Here's the first that digs into the future of advertising from the client perspective. Check out this recent interview with Bob from Businessweek magazine for more insights. This is going to be
 a fantastic event. Don't miss it.

March 2, 2009

Kristina Halvorson - Monday, March 9, 2009: "Content Strategy - The Care and Feeding of Your Biggest Brand Asset"

UPDATE:  Great attendance (150+) last night! The UStream video is embedded below, along with Kristina's slideshare. 
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Kristina Halvorson, president of Brain Traffic and nationally-renowned content strategist, will be joining us Monday, March 9 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. (doors open at 5:00.m.) at the Fine Line Music Cafe.

Admission is free. No RSVP required. And we'll have free food. So tell your friends!

Kristina's presentation, "Content Strategy - The Care and Feeding of Your Biggest Brand Asset," asks us to rethink our preconceived notions of marketing and how marketing gets done in the digital age. 
Often, the way we talk about content makes it sound like something that will magically create itself, an omnipresent commodity that can be StumbledUpon with ease. But what about our core marketing messages? How are we communicating - and demonstrating - our brand positions online? With our branded content, of course. Clearly, this content is a critically valuable asset that can make or break our customers' online experience. So why are agencies and their clients constantly forgetting to consider their online content until the eleventh hour?

You've heard a lot about how to 'listen' to the customer using social media. Content strategy creates a consistent, clear roadmap for your (ongoing) online communications. What should you publish, and why? Where? How? Who will own the content, both before and after launch?
This event promises to be a must-attend for anyone involved in marketing planning, strategy, budgeting, creation and production. Kristina will bring valuable insights for creative directors, media planners and account strategists - anyone with an interest in What Gets Said.

(Did we mention it's free? And there's free food?)

Kristina will look past today's "bright shiny objects" towards a future where a company's (and their customers') content is treated as a valuable asset, not an afterthought. You'll appreciate her challenging yet very useful insights, examples and suggestions.

(Here's the video from last night. Sorry about the lighting. The club was set up for Atmosphere's show later on.)