events: 10/07/2008

7 Oct 2008 SAS Campus, Cary, North Carolina

McKinney Chairman and CEO Brad Brinegar served as panelist/keynote speaker at the annual event attended by over 60 global executives. When asked about the health of traditional advertising in today's marketing mix, he told the group, "It's not dead. But we take the broader view at McKinney. We're using a changing kit of tools because consumer behavior is changing so dramatically." He said that focusing on customers and maintaining relevance is key to success. 

"Marketers and agencies got lazy because we had TV and could 'carpet bomb' with messages consumers may or may not want. Today, we have so many more ways to communicate and the ability to read what consumers are saying and feeling and then responding to it." 

Brinegar closed by saying McKinney trains everyone to think laterally across all engagement channels. "Companies that are listening well are capturing that information and taking it down to the segmentation level so the right message goes to the right customer." 

Later in the day, Brinegar presented a keynote address, "Defining the Big Idea."  "We're not one of the biggest agencies, but we're one of the most data-centric," he said. "We believe in customer information to help us understand our clients and the problems they face."

Brinegar asserted that too many marketers and agencies are still struggling with the concept of 360 degree integration. "360 degree is based on the belief that every way you communicate with the consumer does the same job. It doesn't let the consumer know, "I understand you." It's more about, "I know what media you consume. At McKinney, we know to be truly effective, we need to shift our focus from developing marketing communications to nurturing brand conversations. This means bringing brands to life in the most relevant and powerful ways, wherever and whenever  it comes into contact with the right people."