ADMA Awards Gala and Digital Day wrap up

It has been a big week at ADMA! Earlier this week the Direct Marketer of the Year Finalists were announced with five of Australia’s top marketers in the running for the Award for Excellence. The winner will be awarded at the ADMA Awards Gala on 24th November. With only a week left, I hope that you’ve booked your seat and that I see you there! Also this week, ADMA Digital Day 2011 toured to Brisbane and Melbourne and concluded with a “standing room only” event in Sydney yesterday.

ADMA was delighted to announce the finalists in the ADMA Direct Marketer of the Year Awards this week. Finalists include Regan Yan, Digital Alchemy; Matt Batten, Wunderman; Sandra De Castro, NAB; Rob Chandler, BMF and Teresa Sperti, realestateview.com.au. I’m also pleased to announce that we have secured the A&P SUPERBAND aka THE AUSTRALIAN IDOL & X FACTOR & SONYBMG backing band for the night – the same group chosen to entertain US President Obama on his current visit to Australia! There is only a week to go, make sure you secure your spot at ADMA Awards.

Our second key focus this week was ADMA Digital Day, which saw a record number of marketers attend the event to hear insights and case studies from Australia’s leading digital experts. If you missed it, don’t’ worry. We want to ensure all members have a chance to experience ADMA Digital Day so we have recorded the most popular sessions and these will be available over the coming weeks. In the meantime, I wanted to share some key themes that have resonated with me from the event;

• The buzz word of the day was Gamification. Carlson Choi of Namco Bandai Games shared how his organisation has introduced simple gaming mechanics into marketing communications with incredible results. This message also came through clearly in a presentation by Rob Chandler, BMF who provided an insight into the CBA “Investorville” campaign. Quite simply, Gamification is an extension of loyalty marketing –driving engagement through the promise of recognition and reward. With Gartner predicting that 70% of major companies will engage in gamification within 3 years, this is a trend not to be missed.
• We are in the age of the smart consumer! Mike Handes of IBM closed Digital Day with insights into creating exceptional digital experiences – using personalisation and understanding how consumers are connecting with brands in a fundamentally new way. The mere fact that the number of over 55’s using social media has doubled must have brands reviewing how they interact and build a connection with them, alongside other consumer segments.

To get access to the speakers from the day and to hear the ‘behind the scenes’ interviews with leading digital marketers make sure you subscribe to ADMA Dialogue.