5 Inspiring Keynotes To Multiply Your Marketing
We believe good keynotes challenge business notions, but great keynotes inspire us with actionable insights to become better in everything we do.
As we reflect on this year and the keynotes and conversations we listened to across dozens of events, we’re thankful for the leaders who inspire us to be the best versions of ourselves. Going into the new year, we hope these top keynotes inspire you and your marketing in new, exciting and innovative ways that help you grow and crush your goals.
Have a favorite keynote, fireside chat, or talk that didn’t make the list? Encourage inspiration by leaving it in a comment below.
Marc Pritchard, CMO P&G, at DMEXCO
Best Quote: “Transparency is really only a foundational step, now that we have objective performance data, the real work begins.”
Why Watch: You can’t talk about top keynotes this year without discussing Marc Pritchard spreading the gospel of solving advertising fraud across the globe. He blazed the stages of Dmexco, Cannes Lions, IAB, and 4A’s harping on the need for advertising transparency while providing real tangible solutions to advertisers, agencies, and brands. We recommend watching Marc’s Dmexco keynote *before* finalizing next year’s digital advertising strategy.
Michelle Obama at WWDC
Best Quote: “Don’t forget that history, because when you start feeling scared and thinking things are bad…remember change happens incrementally..sometimes you take a few steps back…but you keep marching through.”
Why Watch: Here she is in all her glory at Apple’s WWDC back in June discussing uplifting each other, creating solutions to save our planet, and using entrepreneurship to benefit the greater good. Mrs. Obama has emerged as a top keynote speaker this year and was also featured at Hubspot’s Inbound and Dreamforce. Barack Obama has always championed technology and infrastructure and rumors of him investing in Silicon Valley continue to pop up. The Obama presidency was dubbed ‘America’s first internet presidency’ and Michelle Obama speaking at top tech and marketing conferences while her husband meets with top tech moguls has us eagerly waiting to see how the dots connect.
Equality Summit: Authentic Leadership Janet Foutty, Bozoma Saint John, and Sallie Krawcheck at Dreamforce
Best Quote: “I have managed more financial advisors than anyone on this effin’ planet.” — Sallie Krawcheck
Why Watch: The powerful group featured at Dreamforce’s Equality Summit included Janet Foutty, CEO at Deloitte Consulting, Bozoma Saint John, Chief Brand Officer at Uber, and Sallie Krawcheck, CEO at Ellevest. This powerhouse group of women brought their anecdote a-game and slayed questions around remaining true to yourself while being a leader. If you’re looking for a quick pick-me-up, turn on some Beyoncé then give this top keynote a listen (yes, we’re talking to you too).
Dharmesh Shah, CTO Hubspot, at Hubspot’s Inbound
Best Quote: “It’s not that I’m not outdoorsy, I’m just pro Netflix and pajamas.”
Why Watch: The self-proclaimed introvert introduces his “Aligning Vectors: How to Scale a Business” keynote at Hubspot Inbound with a story about meeting his ‘geek-crush’ Elon Musk and discovering Musk’s answer to that exact question…
“Every person on the team is a vector and your progress as a company is determined by the sum of all vectors”. Dharmesh Shah quoting Elon Musk.
Fast forward, and Dharmesh is deep-diving into ways sales and marketing teams can provide value throughout the funnel by working together. Seriously, send this one to your entire team or throw it up on a screen at your next lunch meeting because everyone can learn a thing or two from Dharmesh’s keynote.
(No, but really, sales and marketing alignment can lead to up to 19% faster revenue growth and 15% higher profitability.)
Piera Gelardi, Executive Creative Director Refinery29 at CreativeMornings
Best Quote: “Who hasn’t had a moment like that? Where you doubt your abilities and spiral down this road…”
Why Watch: Piera Gelardi’s “Courageous Creativity” made its way across the conference circuit including being featured at Hubspot’s Inbound, leaving in its path a new way to believe in ourselves. From her bedazzled ‘no limits’ buzzer to shaking it out improv-style in the peach pit, her unique perspective of art student turned executive will leave you feeling energized in going from the things you do well to the uncomfortable and unknown things that make us grow.
Adam Grant, Author of The Originals, at SXSW
Best Quote: “When you pitch a new idea, you’re not only hearing the tune in your head, you wrote the song…It makes perfect sense in your head…but it’s really hard to fathom what that idea is going to sound like to someone hearing it for the first time.”
Why Watch: Adam Grant’s ability to weave storytelling with data comes across in his books (The Originals, Option B, Give and Take) and even more so in-person. SXSW is a crazy, hectic mash-up of artists, brands, and people coming together at the pinnacle of experiential marketing. Adam’s ability to capture creative ideas and spread them to businesses is illustrated perfectly in this top keynote of 2017.
A Year in Rewind
Top keynotes and conversations at events bring the conversations happening digitally to reality, expressing everything we’ve been feeling in powerful and thoughtful ways. If you’re ever feeling stressed out or need a little pick-me-up midweek when you’re drowning in marketing plans, these gems will always be here for you.
Oh, and if you’re looking to ramp up your career in 2018, we’ve covered some tips on becoming an event speaker, so you can encourage and inspire just like these folks.
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