Advertising Week DC is underway. The week-long celebration of the best of the marketing media and advertising community is dedicated to networking, professional development and education.
The kickoff speaker, shown above, was Shelly Lazarus, chairman of Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide, discussing “Getting Noticed and Beyond”. Commenting on the presidential campaign of Barak Obama, she said “you name it, they had it,” referring to the wide range of communications tools, traditional and new media, employed to get out the then-candidate’s positions and then the vote. She said they used everything in the “marketing handbook.” In fact, she said, going “360 is the only way to go these days.” Her suggestion to those in the communications community is to “become part of the dialogue.” As examples, she suggested that organizations see how they can become part of the discussions about the relevant issues of the day, such as health care or the environment. She said communications professionals should be “addressing issues of our time … using media of the moment … and talking with people, not at them.”
ADWKDC kicked off with the domestic premiere at USA TODAY of the 2009 Cannes Advertising Festival winners. This screening, photo above, included the top film (TV), cyber and titanium/Integrated winners from around the world. Of note, the U.S. completely dominated the titanium/integrated competition, winning 11 of the 15 Cannes Lions awarded. In an unprecedented recognition, the “Obama for America” campaign” was awarded the Grand Prix in both the Titanium and Integrated competitions. USA TODAY’s role, as the exclusive U.S. representative to the International Advertising Festival, is to bring broader perspective of the festival to the U.S. ad community.
We’ll be providing ADWKDC updates and photos throughout the week, so check back often ... and check out http://www.adweekdc.com for more information about Advertising Week DC.