Marketing is critical to your brand. It’s where the rubber hits the road in terms of your business walking its talk in terms of reflecting your values and mission.

There are two major brands that must have their crisis public relations team working overtime. United Airlines well-known tagline of “Fly the friendly skies” can, in light of recent events, only ever be heard now as an ironic punchline. Their brand promise seems fully at odds with a recent incident when United had a man physically dragged off an overbooked flight. This incident, on the heels of United refusing to fly some young girls for wearing inappropriate clothing i.e. leggings. In an era of instant reporting through iphones, social media channels, and hashtags, United needs to regroup in a major way to stop people from voting with their wallets and flying with another airline.

A second brand that had had their marketing efforts hit the proverbial fan in terms of public response, was Pepsi with its “protest” ad featuring Kendall Jenner bridging the gap between police and protesters by offering a can of their product. The ill-fated ad was only up for 24 hours, but it continues to make the rounds of comedy shows and social media discussion for a tone-deaf marketing campaign. As author Ron Tite observed, they “put product before purpose.”

With these current marketing debacles swirling in the news, the timing of The Art of Marketing was perfect. I was honoured to graphically capture the key insights and experience from a diverse and talented line-up of keynote speakers who shared their expertise on how to do marketing right in this day and age.

Ann Handley, author of Everybody Writes: Your Go To Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good Content

Ron Tite – Author of Everyone’s an Artist: How Creativity Gives You the Edge in Everything You Do

Terry O’Reilly – Author of This I Know: Marketing Lessons From Under the Influence and The Age of Persuasion: How Marketing Ate Our Culture

Ron Holiday – Author of Growth Hacker Marketing: A Primer on the Future of PR, Marketing, and Advertising

Executive Panel Discussion

Troy Carter

Jonah Berger – Author of Invisible Influence: The Hidden Forces that Shape Behavior

Here are the top 10 marketing tips I took away from my experience at The Art of Marketing:

1. The three keys to effective marketing are bigger context, bolder marketing, and braver perspective. – Ann Handley
2. Great artists stand for something greater than their product. – Ron Tite
3. Counter-intuitive thinking can lead to remarkable things. – Terry O’Reilly
4. Growth hacking is the new VP of marketing. – Ryan Holiday
5. Dig in deeper if something makes you uncomfortable. That’s where the transformation is. – Troy Carter
6. What something signals in terms of influence depends on what others are doing. – Jonah Berger
7. Tell stories that matter. – Executive panel discussion
8. Great artists stand for something greater than their product. – Ron Tite
9. Great marketing is about taking leaps, not steps. – Terry O’Reilly
10. Your story is the start of what sets you apart. – Ann Handley