Commentary

Masters Of Marketing: Keepers Of The Zoo?

And here I thought it was just me. I've been with Marketing Daily for just about a year now. I came back to the field I left 20 years ago to find almost nothing was familiar. Oh, there was still Omnicom, of course, but gone were the Doyle Dane Bernbachs, the Foote, Cone, Beldings and, especially, the long, lazy lunches over which we gossiped and sipped our glasses of wine.

Then, I was editor of Adweek's AdDay, a newsletter that was delivered to agencies and clients in New York City and faxed (remember faxing?) to others throughout the country. At the time, it was at the forefront of publishing; I handled copy arriving from our editors in five major cities by ... computer.

Still, I recall feet up on desks, careful not to knock over the ubiquitous ashtrays, editors holding court while eager, young reporters (like Joe Mandese) tripped over themselves to bring the stories in. We even sent interns out to get our coffee. Heck, we had Clay Felker presiding over our newsroom for a year or two there. He'd disappear for lunch with Diane Sawyer or someone and come back two days later to rip apart the front page.

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Covering advertising, of course, was different than covering marketing. It was more focused, for one thing. Our news was centered on accounts, who won them, who lost them and why. We put together an issue, locked it up on Friday and went on our merry ways until Monday.

Two decades, two children, two states and I'm back, only this time it's about marketing and it's daily and it's online. And in the year that I've been writing about food and beverages and editing copy from our group of wonderful writers I've often wondered, am I getting it? Do I understand enough? Will I ever master this monster?

Turns out, it's not just me. The ANA's Bob Liodice tells me everyone in marketing is wondering pretty much the same thing. "It's dynamic," he says of the marketing landscape. "It's also frustrating and uncomfortable."

Which is why the ANA is gathering marketers together in Phoenix Thursday to Sunday for its Masters of Marketing Conference to discuss "Transforming the Marketing Landscape."

Chief marketing officers from the nation's largest companies will be on hand to discuss how they have met the challenges of modern media. Among them will be such luminaries as Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, Anheuser-Busch EVP/CCO Bob Lachky, AT&T SVP/advertising Wendy Clark, Home Depot SVP/CMO Roger Adams, and McDonald's EVP/Global CMO Mary Dillon. I'll be there, reporting on as much as I can.

About the marketing community (and unintentionally me), Liodice says, "We're experimenting, moving in many directions simultaneously. It's a rapidly evolving landscape, and it's a good thing. We're moving in a better direction.

"We are continuously reinventing ourselves," he says. "Twenty years ago, the pace of change was snail-like. The consumer did not require ... well, all we had was TV, radio and print. That was it. Now, authority has been given to consumers. What was once a monologue is now a dialogue.

"People are excited, engaged, entertained and confused."

He took the words right out of my mouth.

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