Wharton Marketing Conference talks new frontiers
Katherine French, WG'07
Issue date: 11/13/06 Section: News
On Friday, October 27th, the Marketing Club presented the third annual Wharton Marketing Conference at the Park Hyatt Hotel in Philadelphia. Approximately 350 participants gathered to hear marketing industry professionals and Wharton professors speak on a range of topics. Students also took part in career recruiting with sponsor companies.
With the theme of "Leading Change through Innovation", the conference drew panelists that spoke about the frontiers of the marketing industry. Calvin Schmidt, Worldwide Vice President of Sales & Marketing for McNeil Nutritionals, a Johnson & Johnson company, presented the morning keynote address. His speech focused on the new techniques being used to market Johnson & Johnson brands to an increasingly tech-savvy and discerning audience. These non-traditional techniques include internet and viral video that targets the "digital natives" of Generation Y. Today's marketing professionals tend to be "digital immigrants" who need to be aware that current consumers of their products relate to digital media and messaging much differently.
Michael Polk, President of Unilever United States and Group Vice President of Unilever, addressed the conference participants during the afternoon keynote address. He spoke about redefining brands outside their traditional bounds. Using Unilever brands Dove soap and Axe deodorant as examples, he illustrated how this type of re-branding can be extremely powerful - and profitable. Dove now transcends soap; through the "Dove Campaign for Real Beauty" and the "Dove Self-Esteem Fund", the brand represents women proud in their unique beauty and has reaped the rewards of an audience hungry for such messaging. Similarly Axe goes beyond the appeal of physical benefits traditional to deodorants; the Axe brand has been designed with a feeling for the adventurous and unconventional, appealing emotionally to young men eager to have an edge at the dating game.
In addition to keynote addresses, conference participants took advantage of five topic-specific panels, ranging from new product planning to how a brand incorporates social responsibility in a profitable way.
With the theme of "Leading Change through Innovation", the conference drew panelists that spoke about the frontiers of the marketing industry. Calvin Schmidt, Worldwide Vice President of Sales & Marketing for McNeil Nutritionals, a Johnson & Johnson company, presented the morning keynote address. His speech focused on the new techniques being used to market Johnson & Johnson brands to an increasingly tech-savvy and discerning audience. These non-traditional techniques include internet and viral video that targets the "digital natives" of Generation Y. Today's marketing professionals tend to be "digital immigrants" who need to be aware that current consumers of their products relate to digital media and messaging much differently.
Michael Polk, President of Unilever United States and Group Vice President of Unilever, addressed the conference participants during the afternoon keynote address. He spoke about redefining brands outside their traditional bounds. Using Unilever brands Dove soap and Axe deodorant as examples, he illustrated how this type of re-branding can be extremely powerful - and profitable. Dove now transcends soap; through the "Dove Campaign for Real Beauty" and the "Dove Self-Esteem Fund", the brand represents women proud in their unique beauty and has reaped the rewards of an audience hungry for such messaging. Similarly Axe goes beyond the appeal of physical benefits traditional to deodorants; the Axe brand has been designed with a feeling for the adventurous and unconventional, appealing emotionally to young men eager to have an edge at the dating game.
In addition to keynote addresses, conference participants took advantage of five topic-specific panels, ranging from new product planning to how a brand incorporates social responsibility in a profitable way.
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