Racial justice, COVID-19, gun safety, the role of AI in accelerating public good—we stand at an unprecedented nexus of urgent issues, many of them intertwined, and we’re looking forward to sharing critical conversations with partners and thought leaders on these topics at Advertising Week 2020. Here are the four panels we at the Ad Council are looking forward to participating in. See you online.
Getting Back to the Work That Really Matters with AI
The forum: Advertising Week
The date: October 5, 4pm (EST)
The participants: Zena Arnold, Chief Digital and Marketing Officer, Kimberly-Clark; Anne Deo, Senior Vice President of Analytics, Ad Council; Eric Hadley, Executive Vice President of Marketing, iHeart; Randi Stipes, Chief Marketing Officer, IBM Watson Advertising & Weather
The pitch: Recent world events have made it imperative that brands act with purpose, agility and empathy in order to build brand preference and loyalty. Unfortunately, this is easier said than done given today’s complex and murky advertising ecosystem. That’s why, in the midst of the pandemic, IBM launched Call for Creative, an initiative that offered brands free use of their Advertising Accelerator with Watson solution to build “creative for good.”
Digital Connections & Loneliness in the Age of Quarantine
The forum: Advertising Week
The date: October 7, 12pm (EST)
The participants: Kate Emanuel, Chief Business Operations Officer, Ad Council; Derrick Feldmann, Managing Director, Ad Council Edge; Dr. Harry Owen Taylor, Postdoctoral Scholar at the Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development, Duke University Medical Center; Ralph Zimmerer, Vice President Global Brand Identity & Brand Capability, Nivea
The pitch: This panel will share results from a new global research study examining consumer mindsets around digital connections, social isolation and mental health across generations and demographics. We’ll examine the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on social exclusion and feelings of loneliness and highlight changing consumer needs and perspectives and the major consequences these findings have for marketers, brands and foundations.
End Family Fire: Saving Lives in a Polarized Time
The forum: Advertising Week
The date: October 7, 3pm (EST)
The participants: Michelle Hillman, Chief Campaign Development Officer, Ad Council; Kris Brown, President, Brady United; Jenny Nicholson, Group Creative Director, McKinney; Jason Wagenheim, President and Chief Revenue Officer, Bustle Digital Group
The pitch: Hosted by the Brady Foundation, GSA, the Ad Council and McKinney, "End Family Fire: Saving Lives in a Polarized Time" is a panel discussion in which team members will discuss the creation of their 2020 campaign to prevent gun suicide through safer gun storage. Some of the hard questions we asked in the process: What's more likely to change someone's behavior: empathy or fear? Can we highlight the dangers of our audience's actions without showing up like haters? How do we make something that has cred with the core and also makes sense to a mass audience? And...if nothing looks the same, can we still call it a campaign?
Changing the Narrative Around Racial Injustice
The forum: Advertising Week
The date: October 8, 11am (EST)
The participants: Heidi Arthur, Chief Campaign Development Officer, Ad Council ; Tara DeVeaux, Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, Wild Card; Elliot Lum, Head of Growth, ANA Advertising Education Foundation; Tiffany R. Warren, SVP Chief Diversity Officer, Omnicom Group & Founder, ADCOLOR
The pitch: While systemic racism and inequity have persisted for generations, there’s new cultural momentum and urgency behind brands speaking out on race and prejudice. With hate crimes on the rise among Black and Asian communities in the U.S., what is the role of the creative industry in changing the narrative and sparking meaningful action around racial equity?
To read our coverage of Advertising Week 2019, read: Takeaways on Gender Equality from Advertising Week 2019