Key Issue Presentation for the Big Jump Conference 31st March 2011 - The Future of Marketing and Social Enterprise by Herb Kim. Herb Kim is a leading player in the digital revolution in the UK. In this presentation he reveals the journey his extraordinary event Thinking Digital took to become a serious platform for leaders in future and emerging technology and the marketing tricks he learned along the way.

1. Some Thoughts on the
Future of Marketing
March 2011
The Big Jump
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2. @herbkim @ThinkingDigital
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4. @herbkim @ThinkingDigital
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5. ADL Report
• Recommended that the digital technology and
media cluster be named a priority business cluster
• Advised that we focus on “the facilitation of
networking on a regional basis”
• Recommended that a dedicated organisation be
formed with staff “who command confidence and
credibility and who are themselves extremely well
networked.”
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6. • Support the Growth of the Digital &
Creative Industries of North East England
• 2002
• Not for Profit
• Software development
• Networks & collaboration
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7. • FP6; TSB wins
• 3 spinouts
• From 30 to 130 paying company members
• Successful audits
• Life is Good!... until
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9. • Audits
• Outputs/Results
• Costs
• Economic Impact
• Industry support
• But.. private income v low
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10. The Big Society: 2006
• Our “Core Costs” funding is cut with little
warning from £1.6m per year to £600k in
06/07
• Then from £600k to £0k in 07/08
• Future funding dependent on increasing
cash income by 400% in a single year
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14. Geordie TED
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16. • Go BIG or Go HOME
• Bet the company
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20. • Invested in Branding
• Great Sponsors - Microsoft, Cisco, BT
• New Website; First Blog
• Print; Online; Email
• Leaflet Drops
• Direct Sales
• Dozen Marketing Partners
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21. With this Huge
Investment
• Thinking Digital was a great success
from Day One
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22. Despite the Investment
• We were really struggling
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23. Good to Great
The TED Conference
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24. Survival
Saving Face
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25. 2008 Negatives
• Got There in the End but..
• Didn’t Sellout
• Massive Resource Black Hole
• Financial Loss Double the Forecast
• BUT we survived
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26. Roll the Dice for 2009
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30. 2009 Marketing
• Print Ads cancelled
• Online Ads cancelled
• Telesales cancelled
• 50% of marketing budget unspent
• Sellout 2 months early
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31. 2009
• Attendance 70%+
• Ticket Revenue 89%+
• Overall Revenue 40%+
• Convert a big loss into a near breakeven
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32. 2010
• Expanded conference by further 100 seats
• Soldout 4 months early
• £0.00 in media spend
• Most popular topic on Twitter for 2 days
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33. So How Did This
Happen?
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34. 2008 Negatives
• Got There in the End but..
• Didn’t Sellout
• Massive Resource Black Hole
• Financial Loss 2x Bigger than Forecast
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35. 2008 Positives
• Stellar Feedback
• 78% Respond to Online Survey
• 50% Definitely Would Return
• 30% Probably Would Return
• 0% Would Not Return
• Dedication to Content & UX Noticed!
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36. • Invested in Branding
• Great Sponsors - Microsoft, Cisco, BT
• New Website; First Blog
• Print; Online; Email
• Leaflet Drops
• Direct Sales
• Dozen Marketing Partners
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37. • Almost 0 in social media
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38. 2008 Social Media Luck
• Blogs
• Shareable Online Video
• Twitter
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39. 2008 Luck
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40. 2008 Luck
www.#nyurl.com/3rgn9n
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41. 2008 Luck
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42. Thank You Twitter!
• 2008 Google top referring website
• 2009 Google still no 1
• 2008 Twitter accounted for 3.1% of all
referrals
• 2009 Twitter accounted for 21.2% of
all referrals
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44. Social Media & the
Future of Marketing
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45. “Theory” of Marketing
• Market Segmentation: Who is your
customer? What is your target market?
• Needs Analysis: What do they want/need/
desire?
• What is your product/service offering?
• How will/can you communicate your value?
Advertising, PR, sales, promotion, etc.
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48. “Theory” of Marketing
- subverted
• How will/can you communicate your value?
Advertising, PR, sales, promotion, etc.
• What is your product/service offering?
• Market Segmentation: Who is your
customer? What is your target market?
• Needs Analysis: What do they want/need/
desire?
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49. The US Pharma
Industry
• York University, 2008
• £60bn in sales promotion &
advertising
• £32bn on actual drug R&D
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50. The power of
word of mouth
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54. Word of Mouth
• Free
• Highly credible & influential
• Bottom up instead of top down
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55. Social Tools:
putting the power of
word of mouth on
steroids
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58. “Theory” of Marketing
• Market Segmentation: Who is your
customer? What is your target market?
• Needs Analysis: What do they want/need/
desire?
• What is your product/service offering?
• How will/can you communicate your value?
Advertising, PR, sales, promotion, etc.
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59. Less Promotion
Better Marketing
Better Products
More Truth
Happier People
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60. Social Enterprise &
Social Media
• More for Less
• Increasingly time-rich but cash-poor
• More important than ever to
understand and connect with funders,
investors, customers, partners, etc.
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61. Wanna Discuss More?
www.thinkingdigital.co.uk
herb@codeworks.net
@ThinkingDigital
LinkedIn: search “Herb Kim”
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