Walking into the Consumer Insighting and Storytelling Conference 2018, I didn’t really know what to expect. It might sound shallow of me to say, but I even worried about what I was going to wear. I didn’t want to stick out like a sore thumb in a room full of professionals. But my worries were unfounde; no one looked at me and wondered what a kid was doing there because everyone was there to learn.
Although I’m not a Marketing or Advertising major, there was still a lot of interesting things discussed that even someone not from that field can apply in their lives. What was really cool was how there were two professors who showed us how even if they weren’t really Marketing managers by profession, their fields of study (anthropology and psychology) helped us better understand how marketing works.
One of the best things I heard from the discussions was “You don’t just sell the item, but the story behind it.” We all love stories, and it was really interesting having a peak into how ingenious ads are thought up. What I appreciated was how the ideas were all delivered in such a way that even a stranger like me could easily understand the topics yet still nuanced enough for seasoned professionals to draw something from it.
The speakers were really interesting and diverse as well. While all of their talks were based around the ideas of insighting and storytelling, I liked how each of them had their own unique insights that explored different perspectives and approach.
But something that I feel strongly about and want to draw attention to is how a lot of the speakers were women. Successful women, specifically, who had so much knowledge to share with the rest of us. The keynotes of Venus Navalta, CEO of IPG Mediabrands Philippines, opened the event wonderfully and set the tone for the rest of the day.
Hearing from intelligent female CEOs, strategic planners, and professors was inspiring to me. Here were women who made something of themselves through hard work and were willing to share their experiences with us.
As this is a business seminar after all, I didn’t really expect to see a social media influencer to be part of the roster, so it was a surprise for me to hear Erwan Heussaff talk about his craft. Being an influencer isn’t easy, and there is a lot more work that goes into it than just posting.
In a way, we were all students that day. And I’m certain that everyone went home after this conference with a clearer understanding of how to better themselves and their craft.
About Synergy Market Research + Strategic Consultancy:
Synergy is a visionary research company that has the experience and cutting-edge thinking expertise to imagine possibilities for its clients and transition them into realities through the development and innovation of products and services. With over 15 years of experience, Synergy has worked with Philippines’ Top 1,000 Corporations and some global Fortune 500 companies. Synergy designs studies and makes sense of available customer, online, social, other secondary data, converting these into deeper insights to help clients make more informed decisions and build a competitive edge by connecting better with their customers.
