• by David Kaplan , September 17, 2004

As Madison Avenue gears up for Advertising Week in New York this week, Euro RSCG Worldwide hopes to create its own brand of buzz. The Havas ad shop will stage two versions of a "Buzz You" discussion on Wednesday: one for students, the other for industry pros.

A morning program for students will take place at City University of New York, while in the afternoon, a program for advertising professionals, business leaders, and others will take place at the Museum of Television & Radio.

"We're taking this opportunity to showcase the new directions in which our industry is heading, including the emerging discipline of buzz marketing and the recruitment of brand evangelists," said Ron Berger, CEO of Euro RSCG Worldwide, New York, and chairman of the American Association of Advertising Agencies. "Our entire industry these days is engaged in connecting consumers to brands by any and every means possible, and that's a reality that allows for far more flexibility, creativity, and ingenuity than was possible with traditional advertising. It's an exciting time to be in this business, both for us veterans and for those just entering the field."

The morning program will be held from 10:30 to 12:30 p.m. and will be open to the 1,100 students in the Advertising, Design, and Graphic Arts program at New York City College of Technology; it will take place in the Atrium Auditorium on the City Tech campus in downtown Brooklyn.

Schuyler Brown and Ryan Berger, co-creative directors of Buzz@Euro RSCG, will show reels and present case studies focusing on recent successes such as Polaroid's relationship with OutKast, and bringing Select Comfort into the fashionista world by placing Sleep Number mattresses at P. Diddy's bash this past 4th of July.