21st April 2023

POV: POSSIBLE Conference 2023

Background:

The inaugural POSSIBLE conference took place in Miami this week, hosting over 2,500 attendees, 200 speakers and 100+ sessions focused on the reimagination of the future of marketing.

Details and Implications:

The conference, the brainchild of DMEXCO co-founder Christian Muche and launched in partnership with the MMA for its first year, saw Greg Stuart, Global MMA CEO, kicking off with a call to arms for attendees to step up to meet the multiple challenges facing the industry via greater collaboration to deliver better brand experiences for consumers and tangible business outcomes for brands. 

The event was star-studded, with panels featuring A-Rod, Gayle King, Christian Siriano, Jon Bon Jovi and most notably, Elon Musk. In a rare public appearance, he shared his future vision for Twitter, the platform’s approach to content moderation, and the role of citizen journalism, touting the system in place was what he believed to be best in the industry while continuing to support free speech on the platform. While Musk shared a general openness to hearing feedback from advertisers, he remained steadfast that the platform would prioritize the user experience over the influence of outside parties.

Alongside mainstream celebrities, notable industry execs – such as Jim Lanzone (CEO, Yahoo), Kellyn Kenny (Chief Marketing & Growth Officer, AT&T), William White (Chief Marketing Officer, Walmart), Kristi Argyilan (SVP, Retail Media Albertsons Companies) or Aaron Sobol (Head of Investments and Media Partnerships, Unilever) dove into topics such as the rise of retail media, advanced analytics and social impact and of course, the role of AI.

And it wasn’t just brands and tech leaders addressing the industry’s favorite topic. Signage throughout the conference featured AI-generated art and various creators across TikTok. Even LL Cool J shared excitement and optimism for its impact, breeding a new realm of creativity in the modern era.

MMA Global also used the event to announce the 2022 SMARTIES X and North America Awards winners on Tuesday evening, with stand-up comedian, writer and actor Zainab Johnson hosting the show.

The MMA positions the SMARTIES as ‘the world’s first marketing award recognizing innovation and business growth…the highest achievement across the globe, honoring and awarding outstanding innovation’.

Mindshare was the top SMARTIES winner overall, with 25 SMARTIES Awards representing Dove, Boost, Aquafina, Pepsi, KFC, Unilever, and more. A big thank you goes to our clients and teams who made that possible.

Summary:

Miami was sunny, warm and there was a feel good factor in the air. Following its debut, POSSIBLE is vying for its place on the marketing thought leadership circuit, alongside CES and Cannes amongst other events. Primarily a US show in its first year, it will be one to watch to see if year two can build on a largely positive start – aside from some of the usual teething issues found when launching an event at a new venue – and whether it can manage to carve out its own niche.

Further Reading:

MMA POSSIBLE | Digiday (Christian Muche Interview) | AdExchanger

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    Mindshare Global