By Jessie Willans & Guy Bloodworth on Thu 04 October 2018 in Placement Blog
Read all about are day visiting the TFM event!Hello everybody!
It’s Guy and Jessie here, part of the Marketing team at ProspectSoft.
As the new placements on the block, we were lucky to attend the Technology for Marketing (TFM) event with our awesome Marketing Manager, Jess. We were both immensely excited to be able to attend the event, as we were to hear from engaging Marketing gurus, and learn strategies to overcome Marketing challenges – but especially as it is the UK’s only event dedicated to martech!
So, you may be wondering what the TFM event actually is? Let us tell you more! The TFM event brings together Marketers at Olympia London, allowing them to explore and nurture their next big idea and gain actionable inspiration from a huge range of world class speakers and exhibitors – including IBM, SAP, Amazon and many more. Although initially it was a little daunting, we couldn’t wait to hear from, and network with the experts; it was a real chance to get stuck in and represent our successful and pretty amazing teams, here at ProspectSoft.
Feeling like a pair of explorers, we caught the train together into London, and although it was a tiny bit confusing navigating our way to the event (we had never been on the tube alone before!) we arrived in peace and met our ‘Marketing Mum’, Jess. We were suited and booted, and really ready to enter the world of martech!
Throughout the day we listened to a range of talks from incredible speakers, learning more and more about the world and future of Marketing. However, we each had our favourites! To give you an insight into the variety of inspirational topics we enthusiastically engaged with, we have both written about the ones that really stood out to us and our individual experience!
So on that note…
Jessie’s Experience
For us newbies, it was incredible to walk into such a huge event and see so many marketers, visitors and vibrant displays just beam from the ground. It was like a mini jungle of all things inventive and creative, I’d never seen anything like it!
As we’d never been to an event like the TFM before, it made us both feel super professional and ultimately, inspired – it was like we were thrown into the deep end with some of the world’s most influential Marketeers, making us feel like we really were members of the global Marketing community!
‘Differentiate or Die’
Now there was one talk that really stood out to me, and this was from Russell Scherwin, CMO at IBM, who delivered his keynote on digital disruption, discussing 5 winning strategies to help survive digitally, in this era. The pure passion and encouragement Russell emphasised in his speech to fight against the forces of digital disruption, was inspiring. He highlighted his first strategy: we need to begin to invest smarter and work smarter to drive competitive advantage, rather than investing more and investing harder. Contrastingly, we must exploit this idea of thinking smarter and use logic, to avoid feeling sluggish when investing harder. Nonetheless, it’s all about avoiding that feeling of strenuously investing in more and working so hard you become deliriously exhausted, because really, that will not allow for progression, just a repetitive cycle of de-motivation. We must switch our worn mindsets to smart mindsets; think logically, then the transitions will really begin.
Moreover, the pace of digital destruction is rapidly accelerating, and so Russell made us question ourselves, he asked “in the mist of this disruption, are we going to play defense or offence?”. A good question, right? The answer to this is that we need to go on the offensive to fight the forces of digital disruption, and we can do this by utilising his key strategies to proactively look for opportunities.
Additionally, Russell stated that companies need to make AI (Artificial Intelligence) part of their culture and part of their talent, not as a science project! By utilising AI and machine learning, it will provide insights into data that us humans, simply cannot do. By honing in on those data connections and communicating them back to humans, is how we really will be able to tailor our products and services to best fit the market, thus helping us advance in the fight against digital disruption.
However, ultimately, the simple strategic quote that stuck with me was ‘Differentiate or Die’. Powerful, inspiring and fearless, this quote really summarised all his strategies excellently. It empowers you to think smartly, act logically, but be daringly unique too!
Russell Scherwin really was a great speaker. He was constantly upbeat, motivational and inspiring, and I will most definitely be singing his praises and utilising his strategies.
So, thank you ProspectSoft for giving us this amazing opportunity to develop our knowledge, network with top marketers, and put all that we’ve learnt into practice – you’re the best!
Next, Guy’s Experience…
I enjoyed all the talks we attended at TFM and found the day as a whole to be a valuable experience!
However, one specific talk stood out to me and held specific worth in my opinion. This talk was organised in a question and answer format with 3 talkers from the field of Marketing. One topic that came up regarded Marketing Value, and this really stood out for me. One of the talkers mentioned how creating value within Email Marketing actually comes from withholding valuable information in the first place. The example he used mentioned releasing exclusive Whitepapers that were not available anywhere and were left out of their website, alongside their regular Email Marketing. Having 1 in 10 Emails as a valuable and exclusive source of information from a respected author such as a CEO, will increase the likelihood that an individual will not opt out of the Email Marketing. I found this idea of creating a level of exclusivity inspiring, and a strategy that should be effectively utilised to help create a loyal audience.
In reflection and admiration, the 2018 TFM event was even more insightful than previous years, and we found it incredibly useful in helping us consider, reflect and develop our very own Marketing strategies.
I would suggest to next year’s Marketing Placements that will be going to this event to make the most of it by attending as many talks as possible! There are so many influential names within the Marketing Industry that have masses of valuable information to offer, and attending this event is a great way to top up on relevant and current marketing info!