Hello,
This week was a pretty special one, all things considered. It saw The Marketing Academy scholars gathering once more for the return of Boot Camp. Last time we did this, we were all getting to know each other at Moor Hall, the CIM’s country retreat of sorts. This time we were imposing on some of our very kind supporters (Google, the IOD and Disney) for an intense three days of press ups, star jumps and obstacle courses marketing learning.
Typing up all of my notes would make this a record breaking blog post in length terms, so instead I thought I’d adopt a bit of a “speed learning” type concept and just put in some of the top one-liners I took away. Apologies if you were one of the speakers and I haven’t mentioned you, I realised as I began to type this my note taking was appalling at times and so I’m undoubtedly missing some superb insights. Hopefully the other scholars can fill in some blanks! Also apologies if I mis-quote you – see previous note on note taking.
So, in no particular order, my favourite quotes from Boot Camp – Part Deux:
On branding…
“Emotions and rationality are like an elephant and rider – the rider can make the elephant do some things, but a lot of what the elephant does is completely automatic and instinctive.” – Brand Learning
On media…
“Is this the year of mobile? Well, when was the year of TV? Or print? This isn’t like a lightswitch, it’s a gradual but rapid change.” – Paul Berney, Global CMO, MMA
On marketing in charities…
“In attempting to push a more strategic marketing agenda in charities, the key to selling it in is focusing on sustainability – being less tactical actually means less resource is required just to stand still.” – Alison Morris, The Media Trust
On leadership…
“Be the best, because second best is not good enough. No one should be so disrespectful and foolhardy as to lead a team into battle with anything other than the intention to be the best.” – Major General Arthur Denaro
On learning…
“The most effective way of learning is re-teaching. If someone on your team goes on a training course, ask them to teach the rest of the team. You both spread and reinforce the learning.” – Penny Ferguson, Programmes for Life
On career planning…
“Don’t get stuck on a path – be open to de-tours along the way. A career isn’t like a railway from A to B, it’s more like a tube map.” – Phil Rumbol, Former Marketing Director at Cadbury UK (and my old boss)
So just a few thoughts from some of the speakers we had the pleasure of hearing from – and this doesn’t even cover the fantastic search faculty run by Google, international marketing faculty run by Allyson Stewart-Allen at International Marketing Partners, and the first part of the exciting innovation faculty being run by Matt Hart at Industry Approved. More on the latter in the next few weeks.
Plus this also misses the entirely captivating talk given by Adjiedj Bakas, trendwatcher. I wouldn’t want to give away too many of his prophecies, but sufficed to say we’ll be seeing skyscraper livestock farms in cities in the near future… (seriously!)
(I suspect in a few years this will be commonplace and someone will read this post and think I’m like a Victorian talking about the telephone)
So another brilliant experience with The Marketing Academy. The third and final Boot Camp will take place at the end of January, and similarly the board are already planning year 2 of this incredible opportunity. Watch this space for more information on when applications open!
