This past week, marketers from diverse consumer and B2B brands gathered in San Diego to embark on a hero’s journey to create new value for their brands at the premier of The Un-Conference: 360° of Brand Strategy for a Changing World. And what a journey it was!

For two days, these intrepid marketers blazed a new trail in brand management for the 21^st century. Working together in teams of 10, and energized by an unusually informal and competitive learning environment, The Un-Conference participants brought an amazing level of enthusiasm, creativity and skill to a variety of learning exercises designed to challenge the conventional wisdom about brand strategy and brand management.

All the barriers to interactive participation were torn down – no podiums, no stages with talking heads, no formalities – just the creative energy of presenters and participants working together on the most important concepts in brand management in our post media, post marketing world.

To set the informal tone of The Un-Conference, participants gathered the evening before for a welcome cocktail reception on the rooftop of the Andaz Hotel that offered amazing 360 degree views of downtown San Diego and a wonderful opportunity to get to know one another and learn which team they were on before the conference. The uniform for all was jeans.

To get things started, Derrick Daye, Managing Partner of The Blake Project and Master of Ceremonies for the event, introduced participants to an interactive card game created especially for marketers known as “Brandingo: The Brand Management Safari”. The game of Brandingo was a critical and entertaining component that made the competitive learning sessions throughout The Un-Conference much more fun and engaging.

Based on a safari theme, participant teams could collect, trade and even gift their Brandingo cards to bolster their overall team scores during the competitive exercises created by The Blake Project Senior Partners. As in the marketplace, the competition among the teams was fierce!

The Un-Conference: Day One

Kicking off The Un-Conference, participants enjoyed a compelling story of innovation and transformation from John Sculley, former CEO of Pepsi and Apple. With grace, wisdom and humility, John shared his fascination for innovation and transformation through his early years at Pepsi, where he lead the product development and marketing initiatives that transformed Pepsi into the leading soft drink brand in America.

In discussing the idea of “creating new value” in the hyper competitive soft drink category, John shared the fascinating story of how Pepsi brought to market the two-liter plastic bottle coupled with innovative distribution strategies which changed consumer’s consumption behaviors.

While arch rival Coca-Cola focused on selling more bottles, Sculley and his team realized early on Pepsi wasn’t in the business of selling bottles, rather they focused on helping consumers at home keep a ready supply of liquid refreshment conveniently in their refrigerator. This simple insight led to the advent of the two-liter bottle and changed forever how soft drinks where marketed and sold in the grocery store channel.

Of course, participants listened intensely as John shared the critical lesson about value creation learned from Steve Jobs during his tenure as CEO at Apple at the dawn of the personal computer era – “zoom out, connect the dots, zoom in and innovate”. John shared with intimate detail the genius of Steve Jobs to see what others around him could not see, then with laser focus and hyper restrictive boundaries, Jobs and his design teams would innovate the beautiful products that would forever change the world.

Change is hard. That’s why the future can look so much like the past. And why brands and the marketers who manage them often lose their edge. For those marketers who see comfort zones as a dangerous place, we have designed a unique experience around brand strategy for you. One that challenges the thinking about brands and brand management. And one that breaks free from yesterday’s marketing conference format.

The Un-Conference: 360 Degrees of Brand Strategy for a Changing World, Featuring John Sculley of Apple and Pepsi Success

For two days next week, May 16 & 17 in San Diego, California we will focus on the most important concepts in brand strategy in a competitive-learning workshop where marketers compete and learn in teams. The walls are down — no podiums, no stages, the experts are embedded in the teams. Next, let’s look at the agenda, which does not include the BIG surprises we have planned.

Wednesday May 15^th, 2013

Meet & Greet Mixer 7:00-9:00 pm at The Andaz Hotel Rooftop Pool, where you will meet your teammates

Today on Branding Strategy Insider, another question from the BSI Emailbag. Lisa, a global brand manager from New York, New York writes:

“I recently learned about your upcoming marketing conference on brand strategy. Please tell me why I should attend yours versus other marketing conferences scheduled for 2013.”

Thank you for your question Lisa and your interest in The Un-Conference: 360° of Brand Strategy for a Changing World. Let me lead up to my answer by first sharing the heart and soul of our brand strategy event for those who may be learning about it for the first time.

The Un-Conference is dedicated solely to the art and science of brand strategy and management.  For two full days, May 16 and 17, 2013 in San Diego, California, a small, exclusive group of brand marketers will gather together with legendary marketer John Sculley and the Senior Partners of The Blake Project to create a one-of-a-kind learning and networking experience dedicated to all aspects of building successful brands for the 21^st century.

Intensive and illuminating, this workshop will equip participants with the insight, tools and techniques required to release the full potential of their brands in a new era where consumers drive and own the conversation about brands.

Why is this marketing conference unique? This is literally The Un-Conference.

• There are no attendees – only participants. Each working in a team of ten, competing with and against other participants through fun and energizing learning-exercises centered on the most important concepts in brand strategy.
• Exclusivity. Only 100 participants, 10 teams of 10, 10 tables, one room. Our focus is on deep learning and value for each participant – not how many people can be squeezed into a room. You will get to know those around you in this unique, game-based competitive-learning environment.
• The walls are down. The experts and participants are working together in the teams for greater impact, removing the distance built into the typical conference format.
• Real world impact. We will dive deep and help prepare you for the brand marketing challenges ahead.
• Not your usual talking heads. John Sculley of Apple and Pepsi success will join the seasoned marketing experts of The Blake Project.
• Jeans. We will all be wearing them. That matters as we have created a unique learning environment that addresses all learning styles – comfort is king.
• Competitive-Learning. As in your marketplace – Some will win, Some will lose, All will learn. Embedded in the workshop experience is a unique game we designed with the elements of skill, chance, learning and fun. You will be assigned to a team prior to your arrival at The Andaz Hotel in the Gas Lamp Quarter of San Diego. There will be unexpected incentives for each team to win. The San Diego Padres and others will help bring fun, competitive energy to The Un-Conference. 

Who should participate?

We have reserved these two days for those marketers who want to change the world by creating more value for those that are most important to their brand’s future. The event will consist of approximately 100 brand marketing professionals, including:

• Marketing oriented leaders
• Marketing professionals (brand managers, product managers, directors, vice presidents, CMO’s, brand strategists etc.)
• Advertising agency professionals (account executives and planners)
• All marketers faced with brand strategy issues
• All professionals charged with brand building and management
• All marketers who are officially numb to last century’s format of marketing conferences

Lisa, you can register here while team spots are available. We’d be happy to have you.

The Un-Conference is Sponsored By: QualQuant Signals, Branding Strategy Insider and The Blake Project

Have a question related to branding? Just Ask The Blake Project

Brand Marketers have a wide range of marketing conferences to choose from in 2013. The right marketing conference or workshop can help change the course of a brand. We hope you find this list of key marketing conferences helpful as you search for meaningful marketing insight.

February Marketing Conferences:

February 11 – 13 Online Marketing Summit in San Diego, California

February 19 – 22 Marketing Sherpa E-Mail Summit In Las Vegas, Nevada

February 19 WOMM Fest in Seattle, Atlanta, Chicago

March Marketing Conferences:

March 4 – 5 BRITE Conference in New York, New York

March 4 – 8 Adobe Digital Marketing Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah

March 8 – 12 SXSW Interactive in Austin, Texas

March 18-21 eMetrics Summit in Toronto, Canada

March 21st The Big Rethink: Brand Power in London, England

March 25 – 28 Search Engine Strategies in New York, New York

April Marketing Conferences:

April 2 – 4 Promotion Marketing Association Annual Conference in Chicago, Illinois

April 3 – 4 Inbound Marketing Summit in New York, New York

April 7 – 10 Licensing Executives Society Annual Conference in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

April 9 – 10 Ad:Tech Digital Marketing Conference in San Francisco, California

April 15 – 16 DemandCon in San Francisco, California

April 15 – 17 FUSE, Design and Culture, Brand Strategy and Packaging in Chicago, Illinois

April 18 – 19 Forrester Forum For Marketing Leadership in Los Angeles, California

April 22 – 23 B2B Content2Conversion in New York, New York

April 23 – 24 iStrategy Global Digital & Social Media Conference in Miami, Florida

April 27 – 30 Retail Merchandising and Marketing Conference in Scottsdale, Arizona

May Marketing Conferences:

May 8 – 10 Sirius Decisions 2013 in San Diego, California

May 16 – 17 The Un-Conference: 360° of Brand Strategy for a Changing World, Featuring John Sculley in San Diego, California — A unique, competitive-learning workshop limited to 100 participants, each working and learning in teams with the experts. As in the marketplace — some will win, some will lose, All will learn. Presented by Branding Strategy Insider. SEE The Highlights Here

May 21 – 22 BlueGlassX in Los Angeles, California