NIKESH ARORA: So I'm sure
you've look at your event
programs to see, we have six
exciting sessions for you.
I'm going to introduce the
first set of people and then
run away, because the rest of
them are just going to
come to it themselves.
Our first session is around
branding and what's
changing in that's sphere.
I met Kevin for the first time,
and the first time I met him,
he tried to explain to me a
concept called love marks.
I used to work for a stodgy
mobile company, and I
couldn't quite get it.
But hopefully Kevin can come
and share with us what love
marks is, and he's got with
him lots of exciting people.
James, who's scared that he
might turn into a phone company
soon, tells me that Sky was the
fastest-growing broadband
business last corner.
And of course, Sir Martin
Sorrell, who's very kind, who
always joins us at Zeitgeist,
he even has a new word
for us, called frienemy.
But-- you've got a
better one, OK.
But I have to tell you
how I keep myself calm.
Every time you say frienemy, I
think like it's an American
accent, he's saying,
Nikesh is a friend of me.
So I keep saying that to
myself, and don't get agitated.
So with that, we have other
people here, Robin Harper
and all of [? Goodgan's ?]
firm, Mercedes Benz, is
Mercedes Benz not Daimler
Chrysler anymore?
Soon?
Is it Daimler now, fantastic.
Well, with that, Kevin,
the stage is all yours.
KEVIN ROBERTS: Well I guess
that was worth the price of
entry, already, to see that
brilliant handling
of a question.
He gets the toughest, curliest
question I've ever seen, and he
throws it back to the
person who asked it!
That's absolutely brilliant.
Inspirational stuff.
Fantastic.
I learned that.
I was with Google in New York
in September, and this is the
first time I've ever
been asked back.
So Nikesh, thank you
very, very much indeed.
They asked me to be the panel
moderator because they
thought I could do least
damage in this spot.
OK, we're going to
prove them wrong.
So today we've got a very
distinguished panel.
OK, you've already heard it.
They're going to do about
twenty minutes each.
That would be a miracle, if we
can get them off in twenty
minutes, but we'll do our best.
And then there'll be a thirty
minute Q&A, where you can all
line up, take pot shots about
why TV content's so crap
and all that kind of stuff
you really want to ask.
OK, so the superstars
we've got.
We've got one shocking
overachiever, we've got a rebel
with a cause, we've got a fun
and games goddess, such should
give you a clue, and then
we've got a dream merchant.
The topic I was given was
branding today and tomorrow.
So we start with a huge
problem, because branding is
very yesterday, tomorrow's
already here, and I haven't got
a clue about what's going to
happen next week, let
alone next year.
So it's going to be
quite challenging.
What I do know is that for any
of my fellow baby boomers in
the audience, we got
it right all along.
In the '60s, power
to the people.
We got distracted, right,
on the way, by a couple
of other things.
But if we'd have stayed
focused, then we were right.
The consumer is boss.
Power has switched from
manufacturers, through to
retailers, to the consumer.
David talks about the I can
generation, Lafley talks
about the consumer-in-boss.
So our challenge today is to
stimulate discussion on what
that means for all of
us going forward.
Because giving up control,
giving up control to networks,
giving up control from
directors to connectors, is
easy to talk about, everybody's
yapping about it, very few
people have any idea
where that's going and
what it could mean.
And it's quite a challenge.
I live in New Zealand, and we
have a particular way of
dealing with challenge in my
country, and here's
how we do it.
[BEGIN VIDEO PLAYBACK]
Yes, a new Haka for
the All Blacks!
[END VIDEO PLAYBACK]
KEVIN ROBERTS: That's
the southern hemisphere
version of Zeitgeist.
So to set this scene for the
distinguished panel, this
is where we're rocketing.
The information age is dead,
buried, the age of knowledge
is gone, these are
table steaks now.
You know, they're not sources
of competitive advantage.
In fact, knowing how to escape
information overload, and how
to use it was velocity, what's
going to give you
ultimate victory.
Interruption marketing is dead,
you know that, permission
marketing, experience
marketing, these
are all yesterday.
The attention economy
is dead and buried.
You know, you cannot interrupt
and demand attention.
You can't yell at people.
As David Ogilvy said, the
consumer is not a moron, she's
your wife, and we cannot
keep on yelling at her.
We've moved into the
attraction economy.
It is all about engagement,
it is all about
emotional connectivity.
We've moved from interruption
to engagement, which is very
difficult for marketing
managers and for people
to give up control.
The brand is no longer boss.
We must engage, draw in,
invite, excite, stimulate, none
of the words that you ever see
in the MBA programs you study.
We've moved from transactions
to relationships, transactions
are of no interest, really,
going forward, they all
commodified, transactions
are commodified.
We've moved from brands to love
marks, it doesn't-- love marks
are brands, like Google, that
create loyalty beyond reason.
Beyond price, beyond
attribute, beyond promise,
beyond performance.
Those are table steaks.
You've got to deliver
those, but there's more.
You've got to deliver
loyalty beyond reason.
You've got to move from being
irreplaceable, which is tough
enough, to be coming
irresistible.
How do you become irresistible?
[?___Sarkozy___R
oyale___Battle___?] that
you talked about was an
irresistible battle.
You had to take a point of
view, you had to take a
position, because the
alternative was horrendous,
depending which way
you're thinking about it.
Marketing has moved, everybody
knows, mass marketing's dead,
one too many, it doesn't work,
thank goodness, great news for
advertisers, great news
for creative people.
Because it means, now, we have
to move for many to one.
[BEGIN VIDEO PLAYBACK]
[END VIDEO PLAYBACK]
KEVIN ROBERTS: I show you that
not to warn you about tonight,
or to screw up your Saturdays.
But we made that available on
the internet in New Zealand,
and 400,000 kids' parents
downloaded that, in their
population of 4 million, and
they shipped it to
their friends.
The power of that endorsement,
the power of viral, within ten
days we had a 30% increase in
calls to Care New Zealand,
asking for help.
The power of the internet,
the power of interactivity.
We've moved from reactive
to interactive.
All in five years, less, three
years, all media will be
interactive, because the
consumer is demanding
that involvement.
ROI?
It's the wrong question.
Return on investment.
The right question is,
return on involvement.
The people who can figure out
how to measure emotional
involvement, how to measure the
benefits of involvement, how to
predict it, and to value it,
will be the people to win.
Measure the new ROI,
you're a billionaire.
Heavy users are not where
the answer is today.
It's about inspirational
consumers.
The people that will talk, the
people who are viral, the
people that will recommend, the
people that will be your
champion, your advocate.
We're moving away from big
promises to intimate gestures.
Consumers are tired
of being promised.
They know that dander shampoos
get rid of dandruff.
They know the moisturizers
make you look younger.
They know that beer tastes good
and get you pissed, you know.
Unless you live in
America like me.
But generally speaking, they
know these kinds of things.
We're moving out
marketing at people, to
connecting with people.
And if you watched TV last
night, 90% of the ads on there
were still yelling, screaming,
about functions, price,
promises, and they would
not connecting at
