Stream....

WPP held a global conference in Athens and invited the Global Comms Planning team to attend. The following blog post was written by Caroline Slootweg and Asad Rehman:

What springs to mind when you think 'conference'?
Being talked at, powerpoints, minimal interaction during the breaks and a salesforces that try to beat you into submission and take meetings when you are back in the office....

But not at Stream--- WPP's second "UN-conference" conference where the only rule was to be kind, respectful and friendly.

It was a collection of 200 digital industry leaders (Tim O'Reily, Jory Des Jardins, Peter Hirschenberg)agenceis (Tim Davis ECD JWT, Fernanda Romano first creative to make the switch from digital to traditional to integration and Martin Sorrel) and some clients plus a collection of some of the wackier VC firms, software developers, inventors and conductors.

One of the most interesting sessions I attended was on case-studies of vineyards who had used social networking to increase their profiles, generate loyalty and increase awareness. Vineyards often don't have the big marketing budgets necessary for large awareness campaigns and in this highly competitive industry you need to stand out-- as it's all about the brand (and ultimately the wine). Many vineyards are starting groups on facebook, or creating short 5 minute educational videos that help their consumers choose a wine as well as stay loyal to the brand.

These vineyards are going directly to where they know their consumers are and are playing into their habits (social networking) and providing a service (education and information).

The evenings were filled with gadget-thons, (remote controlled cars that drive on the ceiling (something for Rexona perhaps?) to toothbrushes with game screens attached for kids (something for Close-Up) to a green power meter that shows how much power your appliances are using.

The event really did generate a stream of ideas and potential projects across a plethora of disciplines and organisations. It is almost like a breeding ground for pioneering communication ideas in the new and digital world. Examples of such ideas and technologies (that we will be working on) include potential partnerships in the area of music, new experiments in the area of interactive video, and potential new avenues of partnerships with global media platforms like MSN and Google.

But in short, the main focus was free-flowing creativity and trying to create new opportunities for partnerships and thinking by gathering this unconventional bunch of people together. In this ever-changing world of marketing and digital it's important to give pause to think, reflect and brainstorm. In this new world, good ideas can come from anywhere--- you just need to be inspired to do something about it.