Mídia Sul 2017 (Florianópolis)

Florianópolis. Could you imagine a better place to host such an amazing event for marketing lovers? The name talks for itself: Mídia Sul ’17, a conference that takes place only once every two years, and thank god, completely free and plenty of mega interesting talks. Why on earth should Umbler pass such a great opportunity to meet experts in Communication? Never in a month of Sundays! Let’s pack up and go to Floripa!

Seven experts holding golden curriculums talked for over 12 incredible hours. All of them seemed to be quite comfortable at the stage. Of course, after offering speeches in places like New York, one gets used to be in front of a demanding audience of professionals and future talents. The topic of this year: The New Technologies applied to Communication. Awesome! Just a few minutes were enough to meet all the expectations and realise how it was worth coming all the way here. Love at the first sight! ❤

In the following lines, I would like to briefly mention the highlights of some talks. I hope you can enjoy as much as we did there!

Pyr Marcondes: From consumers to THE consumer

The New Media and consumers that are more and more demanding have transformed the way public gets the message. The passive receiver has gone down in history. Consumers know now what they want and, above all, they hate being persuaded. Therefore, companies need to find out THE target for their product, and finally THE ideal consumer. Personalizing communication and attending consumer’s demands convey in a DIRECT MARKETING that is really focused on what the person feels, thinks, and finally needs. In other words, hitting the nail on the head.

In order to really fascinate customers, Marketing Agencies are focused nowadays on four pillars:

• Performance
• Conversion
• Content
• Innovation

But not only that will assure a stellar consumer experience, what really creates brand value is the creation and diffusion of awesome and incredible stories. Only through that way companies can touch the heart of audience and catch all your consumer’s attention. For that, marketers should integrate new media and innovation to facilitate cross-media stories in a simultaneous transmission through dozens of channels. The most immersive, the most successful.

And, how can companies be innovative and creative, technologically updated, and dynamic without dying trying? Here you go: INTERNS. Yes! Interns breathe all the fresh air that all kind of companies need to shine in a globalized, highly competitive, and constantly changing market. Companies should invest in talent recruitment and their formation and motivation. Leaders and managers should listen to interns’ expectations and proposals, invest in their professional development and include them in important meetings and decision-making processes. Only great leaders serve employees and offer them all the tools they need to achieve personal and organizational goals. That is all you need to survive in the business world. It doesn’t sound so difficult, does it?

Carlos Eduardo: Big Data for Business Intelligence

Those guys have developed Neoway, an application that allows companies to analyse their audiences, create a library with all kinds of relevant information, and classify them in different sections. The objective: to increase the desire and the commercial capacity by knowing THE consumer, and how do they behave, what do they look for and what do they need. Carlos claims that the good and bad things that happen to a company are always based on the marketing team. Therefore, how Marketing uses and applies post-sales information will determine how good is the strategy and how it contributes to adding the customer and creating brand value. Here are some keywords to bear in mind:

• Knowledge and development (creativity and innovation)
• Technology (converging the traditional and the digital world)
• Agility

Luiz Buono: A great company is the one that focuses on their interns

Such an inspirational speech! The longest of the day and plenty of suggestions for companies nowadays, that face challenges continuously. Success is possible when investing in interns and new talents, according to Buono, by exploiting new ideas and creativity. A key to survive would then be an organizational structure based on more autonomy for the employees, more business democracy and participation, investment in leadership talent, and finally the promotion of attitude. Yes! Attitude is an identity sign for amazing companies, where everyone dreams to work in.

The secret ingredient for becoming a Business 3.0 is creating a working atmosphere with no roles, self-management implementation and will-power. Empowering employees, and maintaining a people-oriented culture behind strong values and an inspirational vision, indeed motivates people to be part of something big. Therefore, the main leader’s attribute should be: listen to others. Applying that to the company itself, would be responding to the environment, their needs and pains and interfere on it.

Buono suggested some questions that companies should bear in mind:

• How do we want to act in the world?
• What is it that we already are?
• How to be creative?
• How to stand out from others? What makes us different?

In the end, have a business philosophy and mission that makes stakeholders remember what is the reason why the company exists. Cultivate strong values, a mission and a vision that allow the company to WALK THE TALK and act according to their beliefs.

Rodrigo Cierco: The synergy of cross media stories

The audience is becoming more and more demanding, so that a small weakness in a great marketing campaign can be translated into a loss of potential customers. How to avoid that? Well, Rodrigo talked about how consumers are constantly connected and attentive to their social medias and other platforms, expecting original stories to be shared (including ads). Going beyond, the statistics show that “73% of connected adults like advertisements that are really impressive”. If that happens, they talk and share the message becoming the best ambassadors a company can wish. And believe me, there is nothing more effective than word-of-mouth marketing. In the sense that the analysis and management of data, as well as knowing THE customer like the back of one’s hand, are the most fruitful tools to attract audience without being invasive. Just fascinating them! On the other hand, multi-media campaigns are becoming the best customer and brand experience ever.

Vivianne Camargo: The Purpose Era

Besides being the only woman speaking at the stage, Vivianne left a deep mark in the auditorium with an incredible and inspirational speech, perfectly adapted to the reality of today’s market. As an expert in branding, she suggested that “branding” is far more than just the company’s name or logo. It is also the culture, values and working atmosphere, that really shape the brand’s spirit. How stakeholders live the brand, and how they identify with it, is what speaks to the world.

Vivianne applied to her talk the theory of Red and Blue Oceans, which remains more relevant than ever. In the middle of a highly competitive world, DIFFERENTIATION is not an option, but a way of survival. When many companies are turning into “clones” of one another, Vivianne claims the need to create a new market away from looking constantly at “what the competition is doing”. The business’ product should be the answer to the company’s existential proposal, mirroring the mission and values of the company.

Companies are becoming more human, the social assets being the most important and valuable. Organizations that put people first, and reflect that in a strong mission are in the right way.

So, a great company is the one which has a strong identity and a real purpose, thinking of long terms profits. A clear Corporate Social Responsibility places that kind of companies into a world that needs, now more than ever, care and attention. That is the difference that raises a company’s value and consequently, its ROI. And not the other way around!

Applying those ideas at Umbler

Umbler knows that its greatness lies in an awesome team of professionals. Only when they grow so does Umbler. Therefore, investing in young talents and their professional careers has turned into a successful key. Constantly, workers are encouraged to attend conferences and seminars, and afterwards, present the experience to the team. Because sharing knowledge is the best way to continue growing and we believe that each of us has pretty much something essential to say and contribute. Mídia Sul has showed us that we are in the right direction, just that there is still a lot of work to do. Let’s dream big and follow the purpose with motivation and passion, encouraging and inspiring others to do the same!

Written by:

Marta Marco is a passionate marketer and freelance journalist, who really believes in the human part of business. Therefore, the best tools to achieve goals are quite simple: investing in people and caring for the environment, in which companies operate. A sustainable, ethical and responsible way of doing business is the only catalyst for companies’ success. That’s it. Currently, she is a part of the Digital Marketing Team of Umbler.