The Masters of Marketing

As the ANA is gearing up for its 95^th Annual Conference: The Masters of Marketing (less than two months away!), I wanted to provide a “sneak peek” of what’s in store for this year’s event. The three day agenda will focus on those areas identified as “most important” to ANA members–Successful Brand Building and Marketing Accountability. To comprehensively address these subjects, we’ve lined up the “Grand Masters” to offer their perspectives and insights including:

• Eric Schmidt, CEO, Google
• Jim Stengel, GMO, Procter & Gamble
• Kip Knight, VP, ebay
• Jim Speros, CMO, Ernst & Young
• Jim Garrity, CMO, Wachovia
• Geoffrey Frost, CMO, Motorola
• Joe Tripodi, CMO, Allstate
• Jerri DeVard, SVP, Verizon
• Andrea Alstrup, CVP, Johnson & Johnson
• Julie Roehm, Director, Daimler Chrysler
• Lisa Baird, SVP, NFL Enterprises
• Ted Woehrle, VP, P&G
• Marilyn Mersereau, VP, Cisco
• Roger Adams, SVP, Home Depot
• Cheryl Berman, Chairman, Leo Burnett

Importantly, the ANA is conducting two very significant research initiatives whose findings we plan to release at the conference. They include:

• A fresh marketing accountability study that assesses the metrics and processes 20 ANA member companies used to improve their own marketing accountability. The analysis will include both business-to-business and business-to-consumer perspectives. It is led by Gordon Wade and our friends at the EMM Group.
• An industry study that focuses on managing a marketing organization for success. This study is conducted in strong collaboration with Booz Allen Hamilton. The study identifies specific actions a CMO should consider to strengthen their marketing organization’s impact and effectiveness.

In the weeks leading up to the event, I will be blogging conversations with a number of key speakers, so they can share highlights of their presentations and thoughts about this year’s event with you. I encourage you to comment here, with any suggested questions you would like answered by the "Grand Masters" themselves.

The 2005 Annual Conference will be held at the Arizona Biltmore in Phoenix, Arizona, October 6-9.