So I generally hate going to these things… a boring re-hash of the basics we’ve been talking about for years, out-of-date examples, etc. But I was pleasantly surprised at the pretty much awesome line up the Strategy Mag peeps were able to wrangle for this year’s AToMiC conference held yesterday at the Koolhaus in Toronto (good call timing it right before AdWeek in NYC).

From Alexander Manu’s interesting keynote on disruption, to “vision” guys like PHD’s Mark Holden, MS Advertising’s Jeremy Grubaugh & Saatchi & Saatchi’s Tim Leake, to corporate movers like Pepsi’s Frank Cooper III, to tech wiz’s like Toronto’s own InteraXon, everyone brought insight and an interesting viewpoint that built on the overall future-of-marketing conversation.

• It was a breath of fresh air to be somewhat confused by Manu’s complex theories first thing in the morning… but at least he was thinking about the why & how not just what & where. Not a lot of people go there!
• Pepsi’s Cooper was as smooth as I wish our Cdn politicians could be… he even evoked Jerry McGuire a couple of times, yikes. But he broke down success to a few simple rules that made sense: Humanity (people first), Imagination (change through creativity), and Truth (transparency & openness). Plus he gave a shout out to Drake, way to know your audience.
• Holden brought out gems like Graphene & went in-depth on how NUI (& Kinect in particular, near & dear to my heart, obvs) has the potential to change marketing.
• Grubaugh had some actually really good 1-, 2-, 3-screen ad examples & showed how storytellers can be thinking of incorporating new tech. I especially liked the mashup of Bing Maps, PhotoSynth & Deep Zoom… you could have a lot of fun w/ that!
• Leake I liked & agreed with his approach to more nimble marketing, but it was somewhat painful to watch coming from a PR background: “lean marketing” & “one-week challenges?” Grass is always greener dudes, you’re welcome to it.
• Really, there’s not much to say about InteraXon except go check that shit out! It’s pretty damn cool. (My fave tip from today also came from these guys: don’t even bother trying to flex the delta quadrant of your brain… duh.)

All in all, pretty entertaining & thought provoking. Even still, it was reassuring to hear we’re on the right track focusing on content & storytelling while also knowing the latest channels or opportunities and how to use them from a business perspective. Now I just need to get my own brain sensor…

After months of meetings, brainstorms, research, coding, writing, editing, shooting videos, designing and dreaming, High Road was excited to be a part of the official launch of BrighterLife.ca.

A content marketing site powered by Sun Life Financial (a High Road client for the last four years), BrighterLife.ca is designed to deliver relevant and valuable content to attract, acquire and engage an audience in a way that avoids jargon and a hard sales push. The content is all presented in plain language and focuses on topics people think about– family, health, money, working life and retirement.

BrighterLife.ca invites everyone to get involved – by reading, posing question to its columnists, contributing ideas and experiences, answering poll questions and sharing insights with those who face similar challenges.

High Road is proud to be a part of the BrighterLife.ca launch, and looks forward to working closely with Sun Life as the site continues to expand.

 Check it out at http://brighterlife.ca and in French at http://simplementbrillant.ca/.

It seems like World Wrestling Entertainment has found a new way to connect with their fans outside of their traditional television programs and PPV shows – they’re laying a smack down with social media, and it’s creating quite a buzz.

While the WWE’s popularity and profits have waned in recent years thanks in part to a fickle fan base and stiff competition from the UFC, they’ve come up with an interesting way to strengthen their brand and add a sense of realism to the scripted spectacle of professional wrestling.  A little context is needed:

Former WWE champion C.M. Punk created a stir at a recent WWE event when he gave a scathing on-air review of the company and the way it operated.  He won the title on the final night he was under contract with the WWE, forfeited it, and promptly left the company.  Or did he?

Fast forward two weeks:  The ousted champ showed up unannounced at a WWE panel at San Diego’s Comic Con.  Armed with a video camera (and an excellent guerrilla marketing strategy), he stormed into the panel and challenged another high profile wrestler to a bout.  But his videographer wasn’t the only one documenting the showdown.  Upon his entrance, seemingly half the room whipped out their smartphones and started rolling.  Within minutes, several different videos were posted on Youtube and Twitter, drawing the eyes of not only the wrestling world, but many old fans who had said “uncle” and quit the WWE a long time ago.

This particular digital strategy was a stroke of genius for the WWE, as it accomplished a few key things:

1)      It added a much needed element of realism to their product, something that’s been called into question over and over again.  They have deliberately taken to not mentioning the former champ’s name in their on-air programming  moving forward, lending credibility to the fact that this isn’t all staged (which in fact it is).  But is it interesting, blurring the lines and drawing eyes? Absolutely.

2)      Using Youtube and Twitter adds another layer for the fan base to engage with the WWE brand.  As a result of this stunt, many of these fans were able to post their videos of the showdown on Twitter and Youtube – the fans were allowed to break the news and add their voices to the narrative. What brand wouldn’t want such an engaged consumer?

3)      It’s  created a great ROI.  No major network television channels involved.  No expensive lights, cameras, and crews needed.  A camera, a compelling character, and an internet connection did the trick.

4)      It created a buzz, plain and simple.  Where will he strike next?  What will he do?  You had better check Twitter as he’s probably already hinting at it now.

You can watch the video here:

This is a great bit of engagement on behalf of the WWE, which highlights the fact that brands need to think outside the box and utilize all communication tools that are at their disposal.  It could even end up saving them from going down for the proverbial ten count…