Annual Conference Q&A with Wendy Clark

The ANA Annual conference is here. Please find my final Q&A conversation with AT&T's Senior Vice President of Advertising, Wendy Clark below on AT&T's transformation. Please be sure to check out Marketing Maestros for up to date blogging during the conference. See you in Phoenix!!!

1. The theme of this year’s ANA Annual conference is ‘Transforming the Marketing Landscape.’ What have you done this year to transform your own brand’s landscape? This year 2007 has been one of transformation for the new AT&T. With the close of the BellSouth merger in late-December 2006, the new AT&T began its transformation into a company with mobility at its core. Our transformation has been so significant and so pervasive that we often refer to ourselves as a young company with a 100-year heritage – put simply, we aren’t the same company we were a year ago. In early 2007, we launched a multifaceted communications initiative that included advertising, customer communications, sponsorships and earned media outreach that would not only rename BellSouth and Cingular, but ultimately reposition the new AT&T in the communications marketplace.

2. Your brand has come full circle in the past couple of years while integrating other well known brands. What challenges did you face while developing the “New AT&T?”

Without sounding too Pollyanna, every brand challenge is also a great opportunity to push for better results and exceed expectations. There’s no question that there are challenges to succeeding in a competitive marketplace while re-branding a company – but when you do achieve great marketplace results AND gain strong re-branding impact, the outcome is incredible. Along the continuum of mergers and re-branding initiatives for AT&T, the biggest challenge has probably been the incredible strength of the brands that were being folded into AT&T. We really needed to ensure transference of the strengths and equities of those brands into the newly formed company. We’ve been gratified by our most recent results on the Cingular transition, but we always hold a firm belief that there is more to do.

3. What advice do you have for other marketers who find themselves in a similar situation?

Make sure your customer is “at the table” as you make decisions. It’s easy to get caught up in the doing and the deadlines and lose sight of why you’re executing this plan in the first place. We’ve found that customers accept and welcome companies’ evolutions and advancements when they clearly know what to expect and what the benefit is for them. Also, be sure to have some fun with your internal team – re-branding and repositioning companies is challenging, meaningful and rewarding work.

4. What has been the biggest transformation that you think the industry has recently undergone? What do you think the next transformation is going to be?

From AT&T’s vantage, we scrutinize our advertising investment like never before. The focus on accountability – tracking, measurement, prediction and ROI – has been among our bigger advertising transformations in the last several years. And in-turn, we’re making more informed, business-impacting decisions with every dollar. The transformation we’re currently undergoing is one of being both a purchaser and purveyor of advertising. The process of establishing our sell side business has been fascinating and is actually making us a more enlightened purchaser of media.